How long before you battery goes flat?

[ciano125]

Just got back from six days in New York and the damn thing wont start .

Its a 2007 FR TDi with 24k on the clock. I would have thought that it would be ok stood for a fortnight never mind just six days. I'm guessing its the alarm that has flattened it, the wifes Punto started as if it had been left for 6 hours!! I got it jumped and went for a run down the motorway to get some charge in it and it started fine this morning. Nearly all my journeys are to work and back, 25 miles of the M1 each way, so its not as if i'm killing the battery with lots of little journeys either.

Anyone else have this problem? How long can you leave yours before it dies??

 

[Tom.]

Im guessing something electrically must have been operating to use up the charge. Wouldnt have thought it would lose that much power otherwise.

 

[pow]

My 130 Sport 02 reg jumped into life after a month of being sat still

 

[RichIbizaSport]

Battery water levels all ok?

 

[Deleted member 33999]

Batterys can often go flat in very cold conditions, and with the recent weather, it wouldn't suprise me. Possibly a number of factors, but I would expect a battery in a diesel to be OK, mine was after over 2 weeks in November...

 

[Aimez]

Yeh the cold and manye the car is not used to being left or maybe something was driaing the power, in my old job I jump started at LEAST 5 cars every day parked at the airport was frequently no obvious sign as to why it was flat. Wouldn't worry

 

[ciano125]

Battery water levels all ok?

I thought it was a sealed unit actually (although I could be wrong, it has been known!) It doesnt worry me as such, its just annoying knowing that I cant go away without it going flat!

 

[Deleted member 33999]

You could always spend some pennys

all the w's dot machinemart.co.uk/shop/categories/search/battery-chargers-engine-starters-2

I must admit I do have a charger myself, if I was going to leave mine for a long time, a trickle charger would be a must...

 

[NickyJam]

mine was recently stopped for 9 days before my sis started it and no probs...batteries shouldn't go that quickly

 

[RichIbizaSport]

im pretty sure the batteries arent sealed, i've had to top them up once before. Should be able to open them with a 2p. Fill up with de-ironised water.

 

[Yella Beeza]

I've also had problems with mine - a coincidence it's also a 2007 FR TDi??

At the moment if it's left standing for a week, the battery voltage drops below 12V from a full charge. And I don't leave the alarm on (garaged), interior light in the 'off' position. Don't think the time of year makes any difference to mine - I was having to keep it charged from the middle of last year.

Wonder if it's a characteristic of these cars? There's nothing wrong with the alternator and the battery voltage is fine after it's charged (the indicator dot on top of the battery is green), but it drops off to about 11.7V after not much more than a week.

I've ordered a Gunson Keep-Alive thing, which plugs into the cigarette lighter and gives 12V DC via the mains. I'm going to disconnect the battery and see whether it keeps it's charge - hopefully that way I'll establish if it's a duff battery. I want to use the Keep-Alive thing so all the settings are kept rather than just disconnecting the battery and leading to problems with memory loss.

The other thing I've noticed is the battery's rated at 61Ah. I think it's maintenance-free so shouldn't need topping up. According to Varta's website this is the wrong battery for a diesel. This is recommended for a petrol engined Seat. And it too small for the battery compartment. It should be something of the order of 75Ah.

 

[Fl@pper]

check the ah (amphours) rating of the battery as an average diesel will be around 60ah-72ah i would be expecting

ah rating is how many hours it will last with a 1a constant current draw so for e.g.

if you had a 60ah battery in a car and left the boot light on (approx 0.5a) would mean your battery would be DEAD flat in 120 hours (5 days)

throw in climate conditions etc it's pretty easy to flatten a battery nowadays and short journies when in use will drag it down in no time at all

 

[Yella Beeza]

Easy to disconnect it or charge it up if the car's not been used for over a week, but more difficult if you go away on holiday say for two weeks and leave the car in the airport car park.

Batteries will deteriorate if not charged at regular intervals. Mine was fine in the first year of ownership from new (March 2007), it's the second year when it started playing up. I've put it down to possibly one of the cells being damaged in mine.

I've not changed anything electrical either apart from adding LEDs to the interior/boot light - but that was middle of 2007 and things were fine for a year before the symptoms started appearing. And anyway the current drawn from the tiny LEDs is a lot less than the 10W normal bulbs.

 

[Nick_J]

I have a 56 plate Fr Tdi, (Although I think I saw somewhere its a 2007 chassis, brought it in oct 2006) its never skipped a beat and most of my journeys are withing a couple of miles max. (Brought a deisel to commute then stopped commuting!)

Also left it for 3 weeks previously never had a problem....

 

[Yella Beeza]

When I get this Keep Allive Memory 12V thingy so I can disconnect the battery, I'll see what's what.

If it doesn't go flat then I must have a current drain somewhere (apart from the normal things like clock).

 

[ciano125]

Never heard of the Keep Alive thing, however IF i had electricity in the garage then I think i'd get a Cetek battery charger/optimiser, however, like someone has said, that's no good for when I go away for a fortnight and leave the car at the airport!

I'll check the battery at the weekend and see if it needs topping up etc, I wouldnt have thought it would need changing after only 18 months to be honest.

 

[Yella Beeza]

I've so far waited nearly 2 weeks for this to be delivered. Probably much in demand at this time of year http://www.toolsbypost.com/product.php?id=3288&category=

 

[depresion]

My 04 FR tdi keeps it's charge for over 2 weeks. (I tend to alternate cars fortnightly) stick a multimeter on it and monitor the current draw with the car parked.

 

[truCido]

I'll check the battery at the weekend and see if it needs topping up etc, I wouldnt have thought it would need changing after only 18 months to be honest.

I wouldn't top up a maintenance free battery....yes you can open it up but I'm sure it doesn't work in the same way that older batteries used to work.

You can goto a place that deals with batteries and get them to test your current battery when standing still and they should be able to test the alternator as well.

If I were you I'd get a decent calcium battery, should last longer and they normally come with something like a 4 year warranty!

 

[immersion]

Ive a factory fitted battery in my 1.2 6yrs later no issues