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[tunnie]

Although I have no personal experience of it I seems to remember the reading that a known villan for this problem is the heated rear window relay.

That and cdl motors. However, they kill the battery in hours....

The longest it has gone is 4 weeks before going flat...

[TheBoy]

Although I have no personal experience of it I seems to remember the reading that a known villan for this problem is the heated rear window relay.

That and cdl motors. However, they kill the battery in hours....

The longest it has gone is 4 weeks before going flat...

I would say that 4 weeks is acceptable...

[Kevin Wood]

If you can put the battery on charge for a few hours before you leave it that might be useful. At least you'll know it was fully charged before you left it.

Just checked and the quiescent current drain limit for a factory spec. vehicle is 50ma. That's enough to use 50% of the capacity of a 70Ah battery in 4 weeks, and before any additional items have been added.

This also assumes that it's parked up with a fully charged battery. How many miles does it do between being parked up and how many engine starts? It might be that it's not getting a chance to fully charge. I'd expect it to take an hour or two's driving without any engine starts to get the battery back to fully charged.

Kevin

[tunnie]

Thanks for looking into this Kevin, really appreciate it  

Figures crossed its the sub, if not I will have to do some popper investigation in a few weeks. (got my major project due in 2 weeks)

[Andy B]

.....
 and the quiescent current drain limit for a factory spec. vehicle is 50ma.  ......

:-?  :-? The what?    

[Taxi_Driver]

I dont think it will be your active sub.....as you say it gets it power from a ciggie lighter feed....and these turn off when ign is off as you pointed out.

Check the boot light is turning off......and all interior lights..... single 5w bulb staying on is enough to drain a battery in a few days.

Tho if the new GO battery lasted 4 weeks initially.....and has been gradually getting worse....then it might just be that leaving it for a week or weeks at a time is slowly killing the battery.

Remember car batteries like to give high current for a short period and then recharged immediately.....they do not like being slowly discharged and then recharged and will shorten their life quite dramaticly.

If you carnt find the receipt for it....that maybe a prob taking it back......vx dealer will be able to tell how old it is and test it.....but doesnt prove which dealer you bought it from...but then that may not matter....so worth a go....btw i think GO batteries are 3 years warranty  

If you do get a new battery for it.....i would suggest when you know you arent going to use for a week or two or longer......pop the negative off the battery.....lock the doors from the inside and use the key on the drivers door. Ok a bit of a pain.....and no alarm (no great deal imo) but i think this will help you from killing batteries

[TheBoy]

I dont think it will be your active sub.....as you say it gets it power from a ciggie lighter feed....and these turn off when ign is off as you pointed out.

Check the boot light is turning off......and all interior lights..... single 5w bulb staying on is enough to drain a battery in a few days.

Tho if the new GO battery lasted 4 weeks initially.....and has been gradually getting worse....then it might just be that leaving it for a week or weeks at a time is slowly killing the battery.

Remember car batteries like to give high current for a short period and then recharged immediately.....they do not like being slowly discharged and then recharged and will shorten their life quite dramaticly.

If you carnt find the receipt for it....that maybe a prob taking it back......vx dealer will be able to tell how old it is and test it.....but doesnt prove which dealer you bought it from...but then that may not matter....so worth a go....btw i think GO batteries are 3 years warranty  

If you do get a new battery for it.....i would suggest when you know you arent going to use for a week or two or longer......pop the negative off the battery.....lock the doors from the inside and use the key on the drivers door. Ok a bit of a pain.....and no alarm (no great deal imo) but i think this will help you from killing batteries

IIRC, the main power feed for sub is direct from battery, via inline fuse.  The 'remote on/off' switch is taken from ciggie...

[Taxi_Driver]

I dont think it will be your active sub.....as you say it gets it power from a ciggie lighter feed....and these turn off when ign is off as you pointed out.

Check the boot light is turning off......and all interior lights..... single 5w bulb staying on is enough to drain a battery in a few days.

Tho if the new GO battery lasted 4 weeks initially.....and has been gradually getting worse....then it might just be that leaving it for a week or weeks at a time is slowly killing the battery.

Remember car batteries like to give high current for a short period and then recharged immediately.....they do not like being slowly discharged and then recharged and will shorten their life quite dramaticly.

If you carnt find the receipt for it....that maybe a prob taking it back......vx dealer will be able to tell how old it is and test it.....but doesnt prove which dealer you bought it from...but then that may not matter....so worth a go....btw i think GO batteries are 3 years warranty  

If you do get a new battery for it.....i would suggest when you know you arent going to use for a week or two or longer......pop the negative off the battery.....lock the doors from the inside and use the key on the drivers door. Ok a bit of a pain.....and no alarm (no great deal imo) but i think this will help you from killing batteries

IIRC, the main power feed for sub is direct from battery, via inline fuse.  The 'remote on/off' switch is taken from ciggie...

Ah rite.....wasnt clear in Tunnie's post......Tho i still think the weeks of no use is probably killing the battery.....if it went 4 weeks after fitting new battery and its now much less

[Kevin Wood]

Batteries don't seem to like occasional use but recover if used more frequently.

My kit car gets little use in the winter but I give the battery a charge every so often. About this time of year it starts getting used regularly and it's often a pig to start for a few weeks and then it's back to normal.

Using a battery conditioner like an Optimate is supposed to help because they automatically put the battery through charge / discharge / rest cycles  but you need to get a mains supply to it, which is OK if the car is garaged. They're also not cheap whereas the trickle charger I built from the mains adaptor from an old modem (remember them?) was free.

Kevin

[tunnie]

I dont think it will be your active sub.....as you say it gets it power from a ciggie lighter feed....and these turn off when ign is off as you pointed out.

Check the boot light is turning off......and all interior lights..... single 5w bulb staying on is enough to drain a battery in a few days.

Tho if the new GO battery lasted 4 weeks initially.....and has been gradually getting worse....then it might just be that leaving it for a week or weeks at a time is slowly killing the battery.

Remember car batteries like to give high current for a short period and then recharged immediately.....they do not like being slowly discharged and then recharged and will shorten their life quite dramaticly.

If you carnt find the receipt for it....that maybe a prob taking it back......vx dealer will be able to tell how old it is and test it.....but doesnt prove which dealer you bought it from...but then that may not matter....so worth a go....btw i think GO batteries are 3 years warranty  

If you do get a new battery for it.....i would suggest when you know you arent going to use for a week or two or longer......pop the negative off the battery.....lock the doors from the inside and use the key on the drivers door. Ok a bit of a pain.....and no alarm (no great deal imo) but i think this will help you from killing batteries

IIRC, the main power feed for sub is direct from battery, via inline fuse.  The 'remote on/off' switch is taken from ciggie...

Ah rite.....wasnt clear in Tunnie's post......Tho i still think the weeks of no use is probably killing the battery.....if it went 4 weeks after fitting new battery and its now much less

Yep sorry should have made it more clear, TB is correct big fat cable running from the battery to the sub.

Today i have removed the fuse... going  to leave it a few days and see how well it cranks.

However it did have issues when it was factory standard, but it did have the battery for a 2.0 on it rather than 2.2 so i put it down to that.

If its not the Sub or Steering wheel controls, i feel it maybe the Alternator  

[Taxi_Driver]

How often do you use your 2.2 Tunnie?

Alternator...i dont think....i think at the mo its just lack of use...

[tunnie]

How often do you use your 2.2 Tunnie?

Alternator...i dont think....i think at the mo its just lack of use...

Well at the moment, not very much... i only took it for a run today cause i knew it won't get used for another 2 weeks.

Usually its fine on day to day use, and left for say a week at a time.

I left it for a week while i brought the Senny down to London, came back and it started fine. I went to Slough last week, only just started and it had only been left about a week, again another week and its dead... so something is taking a slow drain.

Be interesting to see if the Senator starts when i get back, that would have been left around 4 maybe 5 weeks.

[crowman]

If I do'nt use mine very often I Trickle charge it in situ. Lead out the window. You might be using more than your putting back especially in the dark. Starting. Lights on. Heater on. Short trip Etc = More out than in.
This could be the problem in your case. I would think that the extra load you have put on the battery, combined with the short charging time (ie short runs) are contributing to your problem. If you only start/run once a week or fortnight or month, trickle charge to bring the battery back up and you will have no probs. I had the same problem when I stopped using mine every day, and using for short trips. It's just that your using more than your putting back. I almost bought a new battery till I thought about it an trickle charged. Saved me about £90. Try it let us know.
Good luck.

[x25xe]

How often do you use your 2.2 Tunnie?

Alternator...i dont think....i think at the mo its just lack of use...

Well at the moment, not very much... i only took it for a run today cause i knew it won't get used for another 2 weeks.

Usually its fine on day to day use, and left for say a week at a time.

I left it for a week while i brought the Senny down to London, came back and it started fine. I went to Slough last week, only just started and it had only been left about a week, again another week and its dead... so something is taking a slow drain.

Be interesting to see if the Senator starts when i get back, that would have been left around 4 maybe 5 weeks.

I have the same with either car I leave standing for a couple of weeks or more.  Both cars have virtually brand new batteries on them.  I now swap them around more frequently.  I agree with what crowman has said.  I don't trickle charge the batteries though as I am too lazy to reset the radio, clock etc when the battery is reconnected.  I just take the car for a good run which usually sorts it (and does the car good at the same time).

[Kevin Wood]

I don't trickle charge the batteries though as I am too lazy to reset the radio

There's no need to disconnect the battery if you're using a well behaved trickle charger. It's only charging at higher rates with crude battery chargers that is likely to harm the car's electronics.

Kevin