Jump to content
SAU Community

Dry Cell Battery Discharge

Ishman

By Ishman,
in General Maintenance

 Share

Recommended Posts

Ishman Enthusiast

Ishman

Posted
Posted

Hi, I let my car sit for a month while I had a shoulder reconstruction (old man was supposed to take it for a drive but didn't) now my few month old dry cell battery is completely flat- car only just manages to beep. It is a special Mazda MX5 battery because needed to fit in boot $400!

- Is it likely that the immobilizer system would have drained it in that time, or is it a sign of some other problem?

-What's the chances I can recharge this with standard charger, and any likely issues?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/363838-dry-cell-battery-discharge/
Share on other sites
tridentt150v Grand Master

tridentt150v

Posted
Posted

Try recharging, but the cells on a dry cell battery calcify pretty easily. You can recharge the battery but it will go flat quicker from now on. And you lose battery life as well. Any 12 volt charger is fine, but even though you recharge, you cannot reverse the damage - sorry.

The best solution is to use a trickle charger all the time if you don't drive it regularly. I actually use a solar panel and a SP regulator because I work away from home a bit [at Bourke NSW now, so miles from home].

I had two dry cell batteries stuff up on me from sitting around. So I thought with this one that I'd do something about it - and it is working OK so far. Battery is always topped up and ready to go.

Ishman Enthusiast

Ishman

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Try recharging, but the cells on a dry cell battery calcify pretty easily. You can recharge the battery but it will go flat quicker from now on. And you lose battery life as well. Any 12 volt charger is fine, but even though you recharge, you cannot reverse the damage - sorry.

The best solution is to use a trickle charger all the time if you don't drive it regularly. I actually use a solar panel and a SP regulator because I work away from home a bit [at Bourke NSW now, so miles from home].

I had two dry cell batteries stuff up on me from sitting around. So I thought with this one that I'd do something about it - and it is working OK so far. Battery is always topped up and ready to go.

Thanks for that. It is my daily driver so it usually wouldn't be a problem. Did yours go flat in as short a time? what was the life of the discharged batteries after recharged?

wedge_r34gtr Mentor

wedge_r34gtr

Posted
Posted (edited)

I did the same thing, left car in storage for about 6 weeks and the dry cell battery went kaput (it was even disconnected...)

I didn't trickle charge the battery after this (jumped it and went for a drive) and it never held proper charge again (couldn't start the car with it). So my adivice is to trickle charge as tridentt150v mentioned or check out the manual that came with the battery and see what it says.

Also, as you mention that your battery is relatevly new, it is probaly still under warrenty...to state the obvious: if you do start having issues with it, try and claim a new one.

Edited by wedge_r34gtr
tridentt150v Grand Master

tridentt150v

Posted
Posted

I would only get around 18 months of battery life after letting it go flat and then recharging.

To make matters worse, you will be using the battery, driving along fine, no warning at all. You will pull up to get fuel or a drink and go to start and it will be as dead as a maggot. I was stuck at a servo in the country at 1.30 in the morning like this. My battery was fine all day, no hint of a problem and then it was flat. I eventually got a push start and it went OK, but when I got it home [around 100km later] it would not take a charge, the charger didn't want to do it = dead short or wide open circuit. ie the charger doesn't see a battery at all.

t_revz Grand Master

t_revz

Posted
Posted

Try recharging, but the cells on a dry cell battery calcify pretty easily. You can recharge the battery but it will go flat quicker from now on. And you lose battery life as well. Any 12 volt charger is fine, but even though you recharge, you cannot reverse the damage - sorry.

i agree but...when i was an apprentice either my lecturer or one of the tradies said sometimes if they arent too bad they can be brought back from the dead by rapid charging and heating up the plates. alternatively shorting out the posts for a few seconds. all the batteries in my cars have completely died so havent trtied

Ishman Enthusiast

Ishman

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the replies guys.

Is this especially the case for dry cell batteries? - going flat even when disconnected- I don't recall any of my other batteries going dead so fast. I think I'll try and claim it on warranty- this sort of info would have been helpful when I bought the damn thing!

tridentt150v Grand Master

tridentt150v

Posted
Posted

Dry cells are more prone to it, but all batteries hate being unloved!!!

If you use a battery in a daily driver you will get 4-6 years out of it. If you use them in a special car with infrequent use then you will be lucky to see 12-18 months.

You can try it on warranty, but you'll have to bend the truth to suit if they start asking questions.

Buy a trickle charger or a solar panel and regulator [i'm lucky we use them at work]

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • MBS206
      Slight brake pedal stutter after new pads

      By MBS206 · Posted

      Jack the back of the car up, pull that wheel off, pull that sensor out, and put a bore scope into the hole to inspect the outer casing, see if anything looks damaged before you pull the whole thing apart.
    • PranK
      Slight brake pedal stutter after new pads

      By PranK · Posted

      Ergh... So I pulled the speed sensor out again and the tip was shiny so I think it's rubbing the bearing. The bearing contains the magnets for the speed sensor so I think when the first sensor broke it damaged the magnet ring on the bearing.  This is just a Google image, but there is a hole going to the bearing. So when the tip broke off the old sensor I'm guessing it fouled the bearing... As the magnet is only protected by a plastic cover it would be easy to damage it. So I guess I'm doing a bearing again.   
    • GTSBoy
      Unknown sound similar to BOV on positive boost with partial throttle RB26

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      My thinking is that if the O2 sensor is shot then your entire above described experience is pure placebo.
    • silviaz
      Steps to DIY sanding car back ready for respray....

      By silviaz · Posted

      Here is the mess that I made. That filler there was successful in filling dents in that area. But in the middle area. I can feel dents. And I've gone ocer it multiple times with filler. And the filler is no longer there because i accidently sanded it away. I've chased my tail on this job but this is something else lol. So I'm gonna attempt filler one more time and if it doesn't work I'll just high fill primer the door and see where the issues are because guidecoat is of no use atm.
    • silviaz
      Steps to DIY sanding car back ready for respray....

      By silviaz · Posted

      Ok, so I think I sort of figured out where I went wrong. So I definitely overthinked it, and I over sanded, which is probably a large part of the problem. to fix it, I ended up tapping some spots that were likely to be high, made them low, filled them in, and I tackled small sections at a time, and it feels a lot better.    I think what confused me as well is you have the bare metal, and some spots darker and some are lighter, and when I run my finger across it, it' would feel like it's a low spot, but I think it's just a transition in different texture from metal to body filler.    When your finger's sliding on the body filler, and crosses over to the bare metal, going back and forth, it feels like it's a low spot. So I kept putting filler there and sanding, but I think it was just a transition in texture, nothing to do with the low or high spot. But the panel's feels a lot better, and I'm just going to end up priming it, and then I'll block it after with guide coat.   Ended up wasting just about all of my filler on this damn door lol  
×
×
  • Create New...