battery advice

[james butler]

ok im getting royally pissed off with batteries going wrong on me. im on my 4th battery now over 4 years every year the winter cold kills them off to the point they wont hold a charge.
before i fork out a fortune down the main stealer at shirly can any recommend any brands of battery i should be looking at? i presume the vw one will be a bosch battery? = mega money.
ive tried lion (not lithium ion but the brand lion) batteries to no avail and excide batteries again to no avail.
i know my alarm is what is draining the batteries but that takes two weeks at least to drain, so if i have left the car any longer then a week i take the battery off and stick it on trickle charge over night.
my current battery has an indicator on the top which is green telling me its charged but when you put a meter on it its reading 9.8 - 10 volt max and obviously wont crank the car over. tried charging it but still wont work so im guessing some plates have buckled in the battery. every year around this time when it gets cold my battery gives up
one more thing all these batteries i have tried have been "maintenance free " is this where im going wrong?
to be fair i had an old style battery ages ago on a golf that never gave me any trouble. it just needed topping up after every winter due to excessive use in the colder months, running lights, fan heater and demister etc

[mazellann]

I've had battery problems with my Scala since i bought it in 94, they would last approx 3 days before going flat if the car wasn't used, i had it checked over numerous times and no one ever found out what the problem was.
My starter motor packed up a couple of years ago and since i fitted a new one its been a lot better, the battery will last about 2 weeks now!

Dont know if this is of any help!

cheers
Tony

[ianaudia4]

Bosch batteries from Euro Car Parts are about £40, and come with a guarantee for 3 years minimum.

[james butler]

from what ive heard bosch definately seems to be the better make of battery. im thinking of replacing all the leads goin from alternator to starter then to battery with new cable see if that helps with the charging side of things.

[Neillyboy]

You clearly have something draining your battery and I would address that first. My scirocco hasn't moved since July and it started first time with a three year old battery. If it is your alarm then replace it as you'll have the same issues again even with a new battery.

[Dutch GT]

I don't think any battery likes to be on repeated charge. Different from being charged from the alternator. At least, that what I read when looking into similar issues that I have on my golf (mk4). How do you know it's the alarm? Mine will last a week or so.

Halfords give 4 year warranty, swapped mine with no questions asked, but as above, I'd fix/swap the alarm!

[bluestreak56]

Some Varta batteries (the Silver edition from memory) will come with a 5 year warranty. I bought the Bosch Silver from ECP with 3 year warranty and its served me well although as above it wont help you if you have a drain. Try and get that sorted first..

[mr.brown]

If the car is kept outdoors get one of those solar chargers that you keep plugged into the cigarette lighter to top the battery up - 15 quid on Amazon - probably available in Halfords too?

[bluestreak56]

If the car is kept outdoors get one of those solar chargers that you keep plugged into the cigarette lighter to top the battery up - 15 quid on Amazon - probably available in Halfords too?

Definitely on ebay and worth every penny. Check the charge values though and ensure they have good electrical wiring, mine snapped after a year..

[fonzooorooo]

they don't like discharge/recharge... Are you sure your alarm is where the current drain is? Try to quantify the drain, and be CERTAIN of where it's from. If it is the alarm, and it's working fine, I'd be tempted to leave well alone, and get a solar charger to offset the drain (once you know how much drain there is, you'll know what output of charger you need!)

The parts factors round me seem to stock Lucas, they do a 3 year battery, and they seem to last for the intended 3 years. (before they expire to coincide with the 2 week anniversary of the end of the warranty)

[bluestreak56]

Should be pretty easy to test if its the alarm.

Lock the car with the alarm on and note the voltage on the battery every couple of hours. Create a spreadsheet and note it down.

Then do the same but locking the car with the key only.

See if there is a drain via the alarm..

If not it could be the stereo or some other item. I had this issue when I put my new stereo in..

[Nate]

if it's dropping by roughly 2V, that would suggest a cell has died. have you checked the charging voltage to make sure it isn't overcharging them? much over 14v at the battery, and you may start having problems. have you put a much higher power output alternator on, but still running a tiny 063 battery? have you measured the parasitic drain on the battery? disconnect the -ve, then connect it back via a multi meter with everything on the car switched off (even the interior light) and see what the current draw is. you're wanting it to be as low as possible, obviously, but anything up to 25 - 30 mA is ok

every lion battery i've seen has had a 1 year guarantee on it. they have this for a reason - i.e. the maker don't think it'll last 2 years. for preference i'd fit a Deta (personal fave) varta, yuasa, bosch or lucas, with a 3 (or preferably 5) year guarantee on it. never had a problem so far. you gets what you pays for ;)

[james butler]

thanks for the replies peeps. im going to investigate further later on today. but its just got worse. my alarm is now unresponsive and only opens the doors. the immobiliser is now stuck permenantly on. i bought a new battery. got a bosch silverline for 60 from halfrauds. but when i tried it on the car i cant get the alarm to disarm so i arm supecting the alrms had it now.when i first got the car you could leave it for months and it would start fine.
its ever since ive had the alarm the battery only lasts for two weeks tops. but at the time it was my daily driver so i never noticed untill i went on holiday for a week and it went flat.
im gonna do as suggested and try disconnect the alarm and test for parasitic loads.
wish me luck.
its really demoralising though as ive spent loads of time money and effort on her the last couple of months and all i want is for her to go through her mot successfully and this is al what i get
serves me right for leaving it so long i supose.

[james butler]

your not gonna believe this!!
mazellan you were right bang on mate!!
it was the starter moter, the solenoid had fused internally, it was causing such a current draw you wouldnt believe!!
when i put the new battey on the car you could smell it cooking.
one new starter later and £80 lighter, hey presto shes alive hahahaha.
at least i killed two birds with one stone.
this must have been the root cause of my power drain over the years.
and there was me about ready to rip the imobiliser out.
dunno why it effected it so badly though??
at least its fixed and a step closer to being back on the road.
cheers for the help everybody.
james

[mazellann]

Glad you got it sorted, like i said i had this problem for about 15yrs on my Scala, i'd given up on finding the cause and just disconnected the battery when the car wasn't being used.
Everyone i spoke to said it was something draining it such as the alarm but i had the car checked numerous times and nobody could find any problems with it.
Always thought the starter seemed a bit slow, but never thought to change it until it broke down, but even then i wasn't expecting that to have caused the battery problem!
I still disconnect the battery when i am not using the car, done it for that long i cant help it