54 minutes ago, Sanqhar said:

I mainly do short journeys and stop/start rarely activates.  I needed to do a longer journey last week and for a short period the start/stop began working again. 

I don't worry about it. 

Tom, I'm not saying you should worry but consider if your start/stop only began working for a short period then the battery hasn't been charged enough with that longer journey.  The accumulated effect of having the battery in a lower state of charge will be a shorter life for it.  This is no problem or concern unless or until it causes the battery to be low enough for the computer systems to throw up warnings and lights and perhaps unseen error codes and all sorts of unexpected issues as often reported here in threads and posts.

 

But you could just replace the battery and have the new battery 'coded' in, just more frequently than if the battery wasn't in a lower state of charge so often.

 

How old is your Karoq and its battery?

 

Edited 13 February, 20251 yr by nta16
typos

1 hour ago, NottsIan said:

If you really want to buy a Smart battery charger , these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maypole-7423A-Battery-Charger-Electronic/dp/B009A83P1E

get good reviews and are UK manufactured.

I like the look of that.

(but personally not from Amazon).

 

Unfortunately It's not manufactured in the UK - "Made outside the UK on behalf of: Maypole Ltd 162 Clapgate Lane Birmingham B32 3DE UK Maypole Touring Ireland Ltd 40 Mespil Road Dublin 4 DO4 C2N4 Ireland". 

 

https://www.maypoleltd.com/product/mp7423-4a-6-12v-electronic-smart-charger/

 

User's instructions - https://www.maypoleltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250212-MP7423-Manual-Version.pdf

 

20250212-MP7423-Manual-Version.pdf

 

 

A big differences with the two batteries above is the figure for Ah (amp hour capacity) 60Ah against 74Ah and the (unspecified specification) CCA (cold cranking amps) of 600A against 750A.

 

The higher CCA would be particularly useful for a diesel and automatic.

 

A rule of stick to is for the new battery to be at least the same Ah and CCA (EN) as the one fitted by VW when the car was new and a bit more would probably be a bit better than VW's  cost concious choices.

 

Nothing wrong with Powerline batteries it's just the brand of Tayna Batteries.

 

Bosch (like some of their stuff) is just a sticky label for Varta batteries I am told.

 

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

 

How old is your Karoq and its battery?

 

 

6 years and 26,000 miles

 

 

21 hours ago, Sanqhar said:

6 years and 26,000 miles

Thanks.  You have already done well and a lot better than some other VWŠkoda owners who have replaced their batteries at 3 and 4 years use with newer models, VW in the Owner's Manual for my wife's 2015 Mk3 Fabia has to replace battery older than 5 years and IIRC it dropped to 4 years for newer models.

 

ETA: I would expect the battery to last a lot longer with use of a battery charger maintainer particularly if the battery is recharged to full each time of use.

 

26k-miles in 6 years is a low average annual mileage but not as low as some but of course battery drain and longevity does depend on the use of the car and how much electric is consumed and returned to the battery by the alternator in car use or if an appropriate battery charger maintainer is used in accordance with the car's Owner's Manual and charger maintainer's instructions for distress and preventative rechargers.

 

You could possibly get a lot longer out of your battery by recharging it fully now, as described, previously, and occasional as required or when you feel full rechargers.

 

Or just replace and 'code' in a new replacement battery when required.

 

Edited 14 February, 20251 yr by nta16
ETA:

6.5 years and 35,000 miles and the battery is fine. Probably as nearly every journey is at least 25 miles so it gets a chance to charge. I have never used an external charger.

On 11/02/2025 at 20:12, Berisford said:

 

... - ‘we’ve noticed your battery charge is poor, battery is in good condition so it could be too many short journeys, have you got a battery charger? If not we can do the job for (currently) £40’.

As expected, when it came to my turn, I got the same spiel when I came to pay.

 

 

Did anyone take them up on their offer?  It seems an odd thing to offer when people are collecting their car - what do they do, ask people to come back for a charging session?

 

The SEAT dealer we use recommends a coolant change every 2yrs, and their booking staff get miffed if you say no.

5 hours ago, Karock said:

6.5 years and 35,000 miles and the battery is fine. Probably as nearly every journey is at least 25 miles so it gets a chance to charge. I have never used an external charger.

That's great if you do 25 mile journeys and you have checked the battery's fine,

 

Thing is it's not the same for all owners/drivers plus some are like teenagers living at home and not paying any bills with their electric use whilst driving and parked up.

 

Plus of course you have a 2018 built car those with say 2019 and later may have much higher use.

 

A number of times over the decades I have been told the battery is good  [ ETA: - by others with a problem with their cars and I look at the cars - ]  but when I check it isn't, loose battery terminal clamp(s) particularly after a battery has been replaced, by Dealerships, garages and retailers nowadays, but also often overtightened by someone with more muscle than finesse, or of course the battery is just in too lower state of charge for what is required.

 

With modern by the time the battery won't started the car it has been severely depleted sometimes, depending on previous use, abuse and neglect by owners, drivers and those supposed to be serving and maintaining, may be beyond reasonable use recovery.  Lights can look bright enough even when the battery is in a lower state of charge than the computers like. 

 

If you or anyone else doesn't want to buy or use a battery charger that is fine I'm just trying to prevent owners becoming part of the statistic of the number one cause of breakdown callouts and having all sorts of unexpected warnings and issues with their VWŠkoda.

  

Edited 14 February, 20251 yr by nta16
ETA:

20 minutes ago, nta16 said:

A number of times over the decades I have been told the battery is good but when I check it isn't,

  

 

Sorry if this offends but I have to question this........ 

 

By whom, over the decades, have you been told that your battery has been good..........

 

(No one has ever told me my battery has been good unless I have asked for it to be checked......... and only ever once required, and it was fine.)

 

You say 'when you check (yours) it wasn't', (ok).........

 

If you could check it yourself why would you ask someone else to check it ????????

 

just curious

 

2 hours ago, nta16 said:

 

ETA: I would expect the battery to last a lot longer with use of a battery charger maintainer particularly if the battery is recharged to full each time of use.

 

 

Also this is not a good statement ......... for longevity, batteries are not best charged to 100% every time........ 

 

And if storing them, should be 60 to 70% ish charge or thereabout.

Edited 14 February, 20251 yr by Tilt

3 hours ago, Tilt said:

Sorry if this offends but I have to question this.......

I'm not so sure you are sorry, you seem to me to be more adversarial but I could of course be wrong about this, I'm not offended by you asking questions why on earth should I be.

 

3 hours ago, Tilt said:

By whom, over the decades, have you been told that your battery has been good..........

No one, sorry, I put it badly, what was in my head didn't get fully typed by me,

 

3 hours ago, Tilt said:

Also this is not a good statement ......... for longevity, batteries are not best charged to 100% every time........ 

I meant others have said their battery is good when it isn't.  I will edit my post to make it clearer.

 

3 hours ago, Tilt said:

Also this is not a good statement ......... for longevity, batteries are not best charged to 100% every time........ 

The batteries are not charged to 100% every time, I meant each time of recharger use which would be very occasional  especially over the cycle of charging and discharging of use of the car particular a start/stop car.  We could also discuss 100% of what for what 100% is and when, and percentages overall, but why complicate simple things like what recharging that used to be just average driver maintenance, rather than it being stuff left to garages now or just replacing, good for the economy it might be.

 

If I've missed anything, and you have already witnessed I can before, I'm not the best typists even one-fingered, please just ask.

 

36 minutes ago, nta16 said:

I'm not so sure you are sorry, you seem to me to be more adversarial

 

 

Thanks ........

 

If you look at the previous page you will see that I 'liked' two of your posts.........

 

But if me simply querying what I think is incorrect information, makes you think I'm adversarial, well, that's up to you.

 

 

18 minutes ago, Tilt said:

But if me simply querying what I think is incorrect information, makes you think I'm adversarial, well, that's up to you.

Sorry, totally me misunderstanding and perhaps taking offence with your "sorry if this offends" I just took that the wrong way, I make many mistakes every day, probably every hour, that was another one I did put on my opening line that I could be wrong with it.  I dislike macho male types but I was dragged up on rough council estates so the black wolf sometimes slips out unnecessarily.  My personal (ex, I hope) troll is in this thread so perhaps I'm more briskly but that's no excuse to jump to conclusions with others. 

 

Please accept my apology, I misunderstood your post and was in the wrong with my wrong thought and interpretation.

 

On 13/02/2025 at 13:12, Stonekeeper said:

096 just means 278L x 175W x 175H which many don't realise.

A 096 is 278L x 175W x 190H

 

278L x 175W x 175H = 100

 

Thanks.  AG Falco

@nta16

No worries ....... 

On 13/02/2025 at 13:16, Sanqhar said:

I mainly do short journeys and stop/start rarely activates.  I needed to do a longer journey last week and for a short period the start/stop began working again. 

I don't worry about it. 

Me too, especially in the winter.

 

I have a voltmeter in the 12v socket, and at about temperatures above 10 degC, then the engine needs to be running for about 30 minutes before the voltage drops down to an "idle" value.

 

If I wasn't doing much running around, then I'd use a solar charger into the above 12v socket to keep the battery happier.

6 hours ago, JohnArm said:

If I wasn't doing much running around, then I'd use a solar charger into the above 12v socket to keep the battery happier.

That would be a reasonable prevention but it does depend on how much load is plugged into the 12v socket and left live when the car is parked up and engine not running as then that power is coming off the battery, low constant draws add up over time.

 

It also depends how low and how often the battery is in a low state of charge, if this has been going on for too long and too often then at some point even a mains battery charger maintainer can only do so much to restore as much as possible but a solar charger might help slow the decline a bit.  If the solar charger is used before the battery gets too low too often then it will help more.

 

Losing start/stop when it should be active is the first sign that the battery is in a lower state of charge and if driving the car is insufficient then the accumulated effect of the battery not being able to activate start/stop will have an effect at some point unless the issue is resolved, better sooner than late - and the effect will be more noticeable sooner on a 2023 car than most earlier years.  In my wife's 2015 model VW want to replace the expensive battery at 5 years old, then the change to 4 years old but there's no reason that most drivers/owners shouldn't get many more years life out of the batteries with simple, very easy, clean-hands occasional use of a suitable battery charger maintainer, or plugged-in as much as possible with a solar charger.

 

Some VW owners with 2019 and newer have reported they've changed their 12v batteries at 3 and 4 years old, fine for those that want to.

 

 

Edited 25 February, 20251 yr by nta16

Can you 'solar charge' an EFB/AGM battery ??????

 

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/143846/my-car-has-a-stop-start-feature-can-i-use-a-solar-charger-on-the-battery-

 

I regularly used a 4 watt solar charger in my old Octy, what with it being a (DPF free) diesel and not doing long journeys. Doesn't really charge the battery as such more that it prevented it losing charge by covering it's parasitic drain. 

1 hour ago, Tilt said:

Can you 'solar charge' an EFB/AGM battery ??????

Yes.

 

Some links below, how much it can recover is very dependant on things like I've outlined previously but if the battery has been recharged previously then if the battery is in a reasonable state of charge and health and the charger isn't going against too much load of the car and some of the stuff owners/drivers leave connected when the car is not in use then at worst it will slow the drain at least a bit, or it might be able to maintain or add to existing state of charge.  As Tesco has it every little helps (unless the battery was/is too used, abused neglected already).

 

Auto Express - Best solar chargers for car batteries 2024 - the test is for 'fun' cars that are locked up and not used over winter (what a waste of potential fun), - "These are not designed to charge a flat battery but should help with the natural discharging and power used by alarms, dash cams and clocks." 

"We also checked the conditioners would not overcharge a battery or take power out of it in darkness." - https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/exclusive/43793/best-solar-chargers-car-batteries-2024

 

Ring (pictorial) instruction booklet. - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/media/catalog/product/file/G15118871_UI_RING_Solar_Power_Battery_Maintainer_MiCh_WWW_02_2.pdf

 

G15118871_UI_RING_Solar_Power_Battery_Maintainer_MiCh_WWW_02_2.pdf

 

Edited 26 February, 20251 yr by nta16

19 hours ago, nta16 said:

Auto Express - Best solar chargers for car batteries 2024 - the test is for 'fun' cars that are locked up and not used over winter (what a waste of potential fun), - "These are not designed to charge a flat battery but should help with the natural discharging and power used by alarms, dash cams and clocks." 

"We also checked the conditioners would not overcharge a battery or take power out of it in darkness." - https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/exclusive/43793/best-solar-chargers-car-batteries-2024

 

Ring (pictorial) instruction booklet. - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/media/catalog/product/file/G15118871_UI_RING_Solar_Power_Battery_Maintainer_MiCh_WWW_02_2.pdf

 

#I wonder at what point they will put solar panels into the roof of cars for a constant tricked charge when parked?    Given the higher continual drain on car batteries with all the electronics, I seem like a no-brainer.
Especially for EV's where it could be the difference between keeping the system live, if not drivable, and a total shutdown.

What many forget about EVs is that the 12v battery is still very important and needs charge, I believe the systems are supposed to take care of that now (if they actually do in all circumstances) but with older EVs I believe things are less catered for.

 

It would make sense to me now for them to put in some sort of gauge to the 12v battery, I think some cars have something, you might need to get it to display, I don't know, but I expect that might complicate things for some modern, and older, drivers who seem to expect a button or switch to sort everything out for them so they can continue driving how they like regardless of circumstances.  The intention at one point at least was for car manufacturers to hire out their products which would be battery power and infotainment centres on wheels for those that used them with the main responsible occupant having as little as possible to do with the driving, preferably nothing and leaving it all to the computer systems and programming - wot could possibly go wrong. 😁

 

On 25/02/2025 at 20:09, nta16 said:

Losing start/stop when it should be active is the first sign that the battery is in a lower state of charge and if driving the car is insufficient then the accumulated effect of the battery not being able to activate start/stop will have an effect at some point unless the issue is resolved, better sooner than late - and the effect will be more noticeable sooner on a 2023 car than most earlier years. 

 

 

If it's cold, then the start / stop is inhibited I think, just like the dropping off of the output of the generator from 14V+ down to 13V (roughly)

51 minutes ago, JohnArm said:

If it's cold, then the start / stop is inhibited I think, just like the dropping off of the output of the generator from 14V+ down to 13V (roughly)

 

Lost my reply post (*$^£!% computers and interweb), so, just to cover the cold, apart from the battery condition and or electric load on it and generator, the engine coolant temperature needs to be between 25-100c (unless these figures have changed(?) since the system was introduced in 2009(?)).