Battery Life

[NOsMAN 10 1 Cars]

Just wondering if its normal for the battery to go flat so quickly whilst the car is parked up in the garage?(only a few days) . Also the battery is fairly new (bought it at Christmas time) from halfords(heavy duty 4 year type).. All electrics is turned off including the alarm as its garaged.

[welshpug 1,675]

sounds like there's a drain somewhere in the electrical system, you can trace it by connecting a multimeter inline with the battery and measuring the resistance or something similar (the actual setting escapes me, I've not done it for a while) then unplugging components and circuits in turn till the load on the battery drops.

[BackStreetRacecars 3]

If you disconnect the battery and put an ammeter (amps) inline its should show how many currents are flowing in the circuit, the figure should be almost zero with everything switched off... If there are amps a flowing there is either something switched on, or possibly broken down windings in the alternator or even a high resistance in an earth or live cable.... haynes book of lies should show you test methods for this..

[Rob_the_Sparky 10]

Or you could just take the earth lead off while parked up for any significant amount of time...although if it discharges from full in a few days you do have a problem. You might want to also make sure that the alternator is charging, two things can cause a flat battery:

 

1) Well charged battery plus too large a drain current

2) Poorly charged battery plus normal drain current

[Richie 32]

Certainly shouldn't go flat that quickly. I have the same problem, i cant for the life of me figure out where the battery drain is i need an auto electrician to have a look. I disconnect my battery when its in the garage so i can always go and start her up.

[Rom 0]

The above is how to measure for drain. General rule of thumb is 0.5 amps is the limit i think.

 

Then its a case of disconnecting things, and measuring again until you find the cause.

[BackStreetRacecars 3]

last time I had this it was a corroded connection on the live side of the alternator.

[2-Pugs 57]

Get yourself one of these

 

http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ctek-xs3600....CFZCD3gody1-BcA

 

It might not fix your problem per se. but it will keep your battery in peak condition.

 

I got one for my car (which is used infrequently) and it's great. Battery always in top condition and starts without problem.