Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jereboam]

Sorry I haven't been around much.  My Omega is still sitting on the driveway.  Bought another car, as multiple problems (ABS/ECU, speedo, etc.) put it out of action and I needed a car to go on holiday.  Came back from holiday, Omega dead, couldn't get in as locked shut, very busy, finally got the garage to get the car open yesterday.  Tried to charge battery - no response.  Turned out my charger had died - not the fuse.  Tried my jump starter box - nothing, but the leads got hot.  Voltmeter shows battery giving 0.32v - definitely not good. 

Tried a jump start from my other car this morning.  No sign of life from the Omega and the jump leads started smoking within 30 seconds.  Nearly burnt my fingers removing them before the whole lot went boom. 

It's a newish battery (earlier this year), good brand (Bosch).  Now suspect whatever is wrong killed my charger - that's £40 down the drain!  What's wrong?  What do I do next?  Why didn't I ask the bloke from the garage to start the car while he was here?

Anybody wanna buy a dead Omega?

[dbdb]

you definitely need (another) new battery.  I expect that will get the car back into the state it was before.  Why did it die though?  Could be a drain or fault on the car charging side.

Dead batteries can kill chargers especially the fancy ones like Ring.  Often though the charger will trip out and reset after a while unplugged. 

Make sure you use quality jumper leads but anyway full starting curent (plus more if your battery is shorted) will challenge any leads. 

[jereboam]

Yeah, that's the question - what killed it?  The last battery (not an expensive one) lasted 2 years, then died quite suddenly - I had to keep charging it earlier this year, so I bought what I assumed was a good battery to replace the dodgy one.  Looks like some fault in the car circuitry has finished this one off too.

Don't want to spend another £100 on a battery - the car's got to go.  Probably cheaper to pay someone to tow it to the local scrap yard.  I hated saying that.  

[albitz]

I would imagine the local scrap yard will come and collect it and pay you in the region of £150,if you choose that option.

[dbdb]

£36.26 inc VAT  http://www.tayna.co.uk/065-Numax-Car-Battery-P966.html  Not the best batt in the world but would do.

Actually that CCA is low you would be better with an 096 battery currently £48 delivered on ebay

It's quite easy to check the charging system and for leaks with a voltmeter. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

You cant deep discharge vehicle (starting) lead acid batteries without damaging them.

Even when ok there will be a 20-30mA drain at all times and hence a good battery will be absolutely flat after 100 days.

A common occurance is that the battery grows internal whiskers shorting the plates out (and hence the short in the battery and veru low voltage).

If leaving a car for any time you must either disconnect the battery, regularly charge the battery or leave a fully managed battery charger connected.

[jereboam]

Even when ok there will be a 20-30mA drain at all times and hence a good battery will be absolutely flat after 100 days.
If leaving a car for any time you must either disconnect the battery, regularly charge the battery or leave a fully managed battery charger connected.

I only left it for 18 days!

[dbdb]

I can recommend these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121166629325 he must be running low as previously he was selling them at as low as £5 delivered.

[jereboam]

£36.26 inc VAT  http://www.tayna.co.uk/065-Numax-Car-Battery-P966.html  Not the best batt in the world but would do.

Actually that CCA is low you would be better with an 096 battery currently £48 delivered on ebay

It's quite easy to check the charging system and for leaks with a voltmeter.

How do I check for leaks?  The car was in and out of the garage for a couple of months and they were supposed to be looking for the problem.  (Don't use that garage any more - utterly useless.)

Is the problem with the jump leads heating up caused by very high internal resistance in the completely dead battery, or is there another problem causing it?

Since I bought the battery only a few months ago, is there likely to be some sort of guarantee I can claim on, or are they (quite justifiably) going to blame the car?

[dbdb]

£36.26 inc VAT  http://www.tayna.co.uk/065-Numax-Car-Battery-P966.html  Not the best batt in the world but would do.

Actually that CCA is low you would be better with an 096 battery currently £48 delivered on ebay

It's quite easy to check the charging system and for leaks with a voltmeter.

How do I check for leaks?  The car was in and out of the garage for a couple of months and they were supposed to be looking for the problem.  (Don't use that garage any more - utterly useless.)

Is the problem with the jump leads heating up caused by very high internal resistance in the completely dead battery, or is there another problem causing it?

Since I bought the battery only a few months ago, is there likely to be some sort of guarantee I can claim on, or are they (quite justifiably) going to blame the car?

open bonnet, put brick on bonnet alarm switch, double lock the car wait 15 minutes then put a clamp ammeter round the battery earth connector. Should read below 80ma. Without a clamp meter it is not quite so simple but not difficult, have a search on the forum.  These devices are good for pinning down the faulty fused circuit http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350781232763 if you need to keep it simple.

[Andy B]

....

open bonnet, put brick on bonnet alarm switch,  ....

Just disconnect the switch - same thing electrically as pushing the plunger down ...... far easier than finding a brick 

[Andy B]

....

Is the problem with the jump leads heating up  .....

Cheapo or decent jump leads? 

[dbdb]

Is the problem with the jump leads heating up caused by very high internal resistance in the completely dead battery, or is there another problem causing it?

It's either the battery being completely flat and cheap jump leads trying to carry all the starting current and/or a short in the battery (very low internal resistance).  I suppose it could be a severe short to earth in the car, unlikely though.  Try taking the battery out and jumpstarting the car with decent cables, check if they get warm after connection but before trying starting. If so a bad short to earth/negative, remove them.

Since I bought the battery only a few months ago, is there likely to be some sort of guarantee I can claim on, or are they (quite justifiably) going to blame the car?

defo worth a try

[jereboam]

open bonnet, put brick on bonnet alarm switch, double lock the car wait 15 minutes then put a clamp ammeter round the battery earth connector. Should read below 80ma. Without a clamp meter it is not quite so simple but not difficult, have a search on the forum.  These devices are good for pinning down the faulty fused circuit http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350781232763 if you need to keep it simple.

No offence, but I didn't understand that. 

• as far as I know, there isn't a bonnet alarm
• I'm definitely not double locking the car - I had to call the garage to open it
• Haven't got a clamp ammeter - don't even know what it is - don't want to buy one as I would hope never to need it again
• wouldn't have a clue how to interpret any results

But thanks anyway.

[jereboam]

....

Is the problem with the jump leads heating up  .....

Cheapo or decent jump leads? 

As far as I know, they are (or were) fairly good ones.  Had a cheap set once, but they looked so flimsy, I was too frightened to use them.  The insulation isn't quite what it was before I tried to start the car this morning, so I may have to replace them.