Calcium vehicle batteries.

[Huge]

What, you think I'm lying?

Not just an alarm. I never managed to measure the current, since the inrush current upon connecting the battery blew the 2 amp fuse in my ammeter.

[:::Jerry::::]

I think that *you* might have problems, not that you are lying about any fault you might have / had with the car, battery or self...

current.

That about sums this all up.... :~(

[Dave Plowman (News)]

On my SD1, connecting the battery operates the central locking. So to find out the true quiescent current, use a jumper in parallel with the DVM (ie short it out) in ammeter mode until things have stabilised then remove it.

FWIW, I found the central locking to be a major culprit - drawing about 30 mA all the time. Thank you Lucas. So I made a new controller using CMOS

7555 timers which got it down to 0.018 mA.

[Ed Sirett]

I'm fairly happy about the state of other aspects of the vehicles electrics. There was no problem when the van was idle for about 8 days a couple of times over the summer. There is no screeching when a high current load is switched on at low revs. Then van would run fine once started even with it's dead battery (which is how I got it to Halfords).

I just reckon that a 2.5 year old normal lead acid battery would have not succumbed to one episode of deep discharge.

[usenet]

A drain of 30mA is hardly worth worrying about is it? I doubt if it makes much difference when compared with the inherent self discharge rate of the battery. If you have a (say) 50Ah battery a 30mA discharge will take something like two months to discharge it.

I suppose that's a bit faster than self discharge, but not much.

[Huge]

[32 lines snipped]

I'm afraid it would.

[John Schmitt]

I rather get the impression that the car only gets used on sunny Sundays. I used to have a BSA 1951 Tour of Britain Sports in almost mint condition. That only came out of the shed on special occasions. It certainly wasn't as sure-footed as my modern racer, but it had a certain character. Both were victims of bicycle thieves. :-(

John Schmitt

[adder1969]

The battery on my second and not used very often car went flat not long ago and wouldn't take much of a charge. It is a halfords calcium one with a FOUR year warranty but I couldn't find the receipt. I think the alternator belt had been slipping a little bit. I topped up one of the sections with battery water added some of those battery rejuvinator tablets and started a cycle of charging, then turning the engine over on the starter motor, then charging again and after a few days the battery now holds enough charge to keep the car going. I'm not sure how long it'll last but may be worth a try in your case. All depends on your attitude to risk I guess.

[manatbandq]

See

the story of what happened to one guy trying to jump start his DB7 which drains it's battery if left for more than a few days. S short quote "Many Astons have starting problems. Their electrical systems drain a 12-volt battery if left for more than a few days, and only the newest ones have a sleep mode. In four years of DB7 ownership I have got through three batteries".

MBQ

[manatbandq]

Kids are back in school, :::Jerry::::s back with his childish posting. Did the teacher leave you alone in the IT lab again?

MBQ

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yes - although depending on work patterns it might get used several times a week - or not for several.

There are several things drawing current all the time - radio, OBC, alarm/immobiliser and central locking. So I'm trying to reduce the total to under 50mA.

The central locking came under attention first because it wasn't working properly anyway.

[Huge]

[21 lines snipped]

In 13 years of Cosworth ownership, I got through a battery every 8 months. (I only paid for every second or third one, depending on whether they came with 1 or 2 years warranty...)

[John Laird]

I think you're right. They just don't like it (Captain Manwaring).

[Huge]

'Fraid so.

... up 'em!

[:::Jerry::::]

Yes, the idiot trolls, with their Hotmail account and posting via Google groups, have access to college or school computers again...

[Ed Sirett]

So when occasionally the battery went flat on vehicles I had in the past I was lucky that they always recharged OK?

[Huge]

I'd say so. My experience in this is long and depressing, I'm afraid.

[Chris Bacon]

Lance-Corporal Jones, not Capt. Mainwaring. Must be an attack of the Fuzzy-Wuzzies. Stupid boy.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They probably won't have quite the same capacity as before, but might still work ok.

The calcium battery in my SD1 has been run so low the indicator says 'replace' but has been ok with a long external recharge, and gone back to 'green'.

[manatbandq]

Sorry Jerry, but I was serious, not trolling, and you'll see I've been posting throughout the holiday. I can't get access to any news servers through the firewall here and Google groups works for me so what the heck.

MBQ