I am needing to store my 2015 Octavia 1.4 Hatchback for 2 months in storage . Can I disconnect battery ? Will doors unlock with key as there will be no battery connected? Any advice regarding powering on again after reconnecting?

If you have an AGM stop-start battery, you should be able to start the car after 3 months even if you don't use the car and keep the battery connected.

 

This is because AGM batteries have a much lower self discharge rate than normal lead acid car batteries.

 

Disconnecting the battery might be a good idea if you have the car in storage for a long time and you are not going to charge the battery during this time. It depends if the car's electrics cause much of a drain when the car is not in use.

 

Maybe just keep an eye on the battery voltage during those 2 months, and see how quickly it is dropping.

 

Edited 18 February, 20224 yr by Carlston

3 hours ago, Carlston said:

If you have an AGM stop-start battery, you should be able to start the car after 3 months even if you don't use the car and keep the battery connected.

 

This is because AGM batteries have a much lower self discharge rate than normal lead acid car batteries.

 

Disconnecting the battery might be a good idea if you have the car in storage for a long time and you are not going to charge the battery during this time. It depends if the car's electrics cause much of a drain when the car is not in use.

 

Maybe just keep an eye on the battery voltage during those 2 months, and see how quickly it is dropping.

 

Agree 100% about the car starting after 2 months storage. Mine regularly stands for 2 or 3 months without being used and always starts. That's with the original nearly 9 yr old battery.

3 hours ago, hillsider21 said:

I am needing to store my 2015 Octavia 1.4 Hatchback for 2 months in storage . Can I disconnect battery ? Will doors unlock with key as there will be no battery connected? Any advice regarding powering on again after reconnecting?

The doors won't unlock with the remote until the battery is re-connected. Before disconnecting the battery, have the bonnet open, lock the car with the remote, disconnect the battery but don't secure the bonnet completely. Re- connect the battery when you're ready and unlock with the remote. If the battery is flat you can unlock the drivers door with the emergency lock in the door handle.

Thank you all for your comments. Unfortunately I will have no access to the car for the time away so I cannot keep an eye on the voltage.

It is an AGM battery , 6 years old but even from new I had warning after a week or so that on starting the car the battery  needed charging. The stop/start never worked very well until a good many miles had been run on a motorway. I do have a key so I assume that with the battery disconnectedI will have to manually enter the car via the driver`s door lock.

1 hour ago, ords said:

The doors won't unlock with the remote until the battery is re-connected. Before disconnecting the battery, have the bonnet open, lock the car with the remote, disconnect the battery but don't secure the bonnet completely. Re- connect the battery when you're ready and unlock with the remote. If the battery is flat you can unlock the drivers door with the emergency lock in the door handle.

That will either not lock because the bonnet is open or if you work your way around that then the alarm siren will sound when you disconnect the battery.

 

OTOH deciding to unlock with the key at the end of the term still causes problems because you can only lock/unlock the drivers door and you have to find a way to lock the other doors.

 

With a lot of head scratching and experimentation I did find a way to achieve battery disconnection without sounding the alarm and being able to lock all the passengers doors leaving the drivers door to lock manually with the key, of course I cannot now remember how but at least i know it is possible.

 

With a battery that shows 75% life remaining on a proper electronic tester, one which cranks the engine quickly and always starts the car without hesitation you are unlikely to be able to start the vehicle after 8 weeks with the battery connected, the alarm and central locking reciever etc are always active and draining the battery, you may find it wont even open the doors.

 

The same battery left disconnected would be fine.

3 hours ago, J.R. said:

That will either not lock because the bonnet is open or if you work your way around that then the alarm siren will sound when you disconnect the battery.

 

OTOH deciding to unlock with the key at the end of the term still causes problems because you can only lock/unlock the drivers door and you have to find a way to lock the other doors.

 

With a lot of head scratching and experimentation I did find a way to achieve battery disconnection without sounding the alarm and being able to lock all the passengers doors leaving the drivers door to lock manually with the key, of course I cannot now remember how but at least i know it is possible.

 

With a battery that shows 75% life remaining on a proper electronic tester, one which cranks the engine quickly and always starts the car without hesitation you are unlikely to be able to start the vehicle after 8 weeks with the battery connected, the alarm and central locking reciever etc are always active and draining the battery, you may find it wont even open the doors.

 

The same battery left disconnected would be fine.

I didn't know the siren had its own battery.

This looks promising 

 

I can only speak from experience with my own car that starting it after 2 or 3 months is not a problem.

I'm sure mine would with the new battery currently fitted, the problem is that an older battery may have more than enough oomph to start the engine on the coldest of days but not enough capacity to counteract its own self discharge and the cars quiescent consumption (which can be quite high on some) over an extended period of 3 months.

 

I think the alarm battery also plays a part in this, they are supposed to last for 5 years, many don't but while they are still working but on the way to failure they themselves self discharge and are a considerable draw on the vehicles battery replacing that charge, a quiescent current on one car might be 20ma, an identical one where the alarm battery is failing may be drawing 50ma on shut down, the first car will restart after 3 months, the second will refuse after a month or so.

21 hours ago, ords said:

I didn't know the siren had its own battery.

This looks promising 

 

I can only speak from experience with my own car that starting it after 2 or 3 months is not a problem.

 

I didn't think of doing the above, I assume my car has those plugs and the manual locking mechanism, doing it that way would not set the alarm off either.