Topic

Hi All,
So went out in the Freelander yesterday but first had to free off the rear brakes (bit smelly) but got going. Then I thought better check the MG as I haven’t used it for a good fortnight maybe three weeks. No stuck brakes but battery flat i.e. so flat there were no dash lights. Bearing in mind this Bosch battery was new on 27/11 last. Light was fading so left it. Removed it today and checked the voltage before putting the CTEK on it - 4.7V! Any opinions on whether it’ll recover? I put the CTEK into ‘Recon’ mode so I’ll see what happens tomorrow probably now as the 12 hours apparently required is late on tonight. As Cobber has said in my previous battery post he always removes the battery when his is not going to be used for a while. Has anyone fitted a battery isolator switch as per Rally regulations? At least that should stop the immobiliser etc draining it. Anyone know what if any insurance implications this would have given that your are effectively turning off the alarm and immobiliser. I should add that I haven’t got anything else cameras, etc that are permanently active, so unless there’s a faulty circuit I’m assuming it can only be the alarm etc. Once I’ve got a reliable battery again I’ll do some investigating to see what the drain current is.
Cheers,
Michael.

The dickheads at the insurance company wouldn’t know If the alarm was disabled…. How would they? The bloody car is gone!
Even if its recovered they would need to prove the thieves hadn’t disabled it.
But if you go putting isolator switches in, well that might give the game away.
Our cars aren’t worth the cost of them forensically testing everything , they will only give it a quick glance at best.
So long as there isn’t anything obvious they’ll just use their traditional method of swindling you by using the fine print in the policy!
Despicable lowlife bastards that they are!

Hmmm. Good points Cobber. Thanks for your input. 👍🏻

There’s really no substitute for shovelling a great chunk of rough DC current into a battery that’s discharged to that degree. These microprocessor clever chargers are great when conditioning a battery or keeping it trickle charged but they use switch mode architecture which although capable of delivering the current they are reined in by the electronics.
An old fashioned brute of a transformer & a crude metal rectifier, once in a while, is great for keeping order. Too much bullying can knacker a perfectly good battery though, so don’t connect some Frankenstein device & walk away, leaving it for weeks on end.
M

You cant beat an old fashioned transformer based charger. Mine gave up the ghost recently after 40 odd years and i replaced it with a modern switch mode type charger as thats all i could find available.
The modern charger is fine for say bringing a slightly discharged battery back from 12 volts to 12.6 volts but just turns tail and runs for the hills when expected to cope with anything that is at all seriously discharged, doesnt register its even connected to a battery. The last time this happened I had to fool the charger by putting a spare battery in parallel with it on jump leads. After charging the pair for a couple of hours I was then able to remove the leads to the 2nd battery. Pretty useless really.

Thanks Airportable and Notanumber. I know what you mean, I’ve got my fingers crossed but we’ll….I’ll see.
Since I haven’t abused it I’m expecting it to be covered by the supposed 5 year warranty. I’ll see that too.
Cheers,
Michael.

I have a 1996 Mk1 MGF and I replaced the 8 year old Bosch battery in June 2023 with a VARTA Silver 075 battery, the car is not getting used very much due to ULEZ , its locked on my drive, The car still starts after three weeks of inactivity , I will top it up with the CTEK next week ready for a run. It is the alarm and clock that pulls the battery down, the cold weather does not help batteries.

Thanks Bryan,
Yes, bad combination of cold weather and using lights, heater and fan on the last few times I did use it, on short journeys - read under 10 miles. I’ve just looked at my mileage records and I’ve only done 237 Miles on the battery.Coupled with the period of non use due to the seemingly incessant rain we’ve had up here…..
Regards,
Michael.

There you go, name checking the only two battery makes that I’m happy to pay good money for.
Lift either & you feel like you’re paying for an element from the right part of the periodic table & enough of it to fulfil its obligations. A Varta Silver 075 sits obediently under f bonnet.
On the charger front; I’d like to bet you’d find the old fashioned charger at boot sales, although the legalities might be questionable.
My grunter original had control circuitry in it until it was placed under where the hose reel lives & it involuntarily became a welder, but only for a very short time. Short being the operative term. I ripped out the charred mass, found a few fat stud diodes added an insignificant amount of smoothing & called it a day. The meter still works although the calibration is ; “a bit, some more, about half, quite a bit & my cup runeth over”, accompanied by smoke.
M

This is a meandering story so bear with me, I am selling my beloved 2005 Skoda (my drive to work car before I retired) today on Ebay, when I take it to the village garage for the MOT they always put protective seat covers on so their overalls don't get dirty! About four years ago it was struggling to start on cold mornings (old battery) and the charge light started to glow a little, I bought a new battery from Tanya batteries and a s/h alternator from Ebay, Before either arrived the problem went away and both alternator and battery sat uncared for at the back of the garage for at least two years. Eventually the battery did fail, I put that neglected battery on, gave it a quick charge and it's still good, it didn't appear to suffer from being discharged for months. By coincidence a couple of weeks later the pulley sheared off the alternator, luckily I had a spare in stock.
If you have ever wonder how far you can travel if the alternator drive belt fails in your TF then the answer is 33 miles, A few months ago the belt on ours started to squeal on a drive, we turned round and started to head for home, the alternator light came on just as it was getting dark and a quick inspection showed that the belt had disintegrated. I decided to carry on until we ground to a halt, after 33 miles we got to where I keep it, the lights had been fading for the last couple of miles though. After parking it I tried restarting but there wasn't enough power left for more than a couple of clicks from the starter motor.

I love these “and I just got home stories “. They are the nearest thing in modern parlance to the shot up Mosquito doing a belly landing & grinding to a holt in a shower of wood clippings just outside of dispersals with all the chaps looking on.
“We’ll done old boy (24) near do that time, debrief & I’ll take you for a pint. What say?”
M

What Skoda is it you have ? Ive always liked their non nonsense build ethos. Their quality seems just as good as their more expensive Audi stablemate.