How do I stop my battery going flat????

[keith2874]

Hello all

I keep my elise in a garage (which I own) down the road from my house but the problem is it has no electricity supply, hence it is not possible to keep the car plugged into a battery conditioner. Irritatingly, I keep finding myself with a flat battery.

I have explored getting electricity connected but this has been vetoed by the other residents as the garage is in a block, and either we all have it and split the cost or we don't have it at all.

Recently I bought and installed a solar charger - which has been as effective as a chocolate fireguard.

I was wondering if anyone else has been in this position and if so if they have any suggestions as to how to resolve this problem. I don't arm the alarm when I leave the car, and I try to drive it as often as possible but work often means it can sit for weeks without moving.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

Regards

Keith

[MattyB_]

There are some 'decent' solar chargers, but they're not cheap - even still, reviews seemed to be mixed. The £20 ones are pretty useless.

You're only other option is to disconnect the battery, and then immobilise the car in other ways (removable steering wheel, pull some fuses) but that may have insurance issues.

And when you say "left for weeks" - how long? Some of the really heavy duty batteries can last upto 3 weeks. Varta Silver, I think?

[John D.]

Surely by disconnecting the battery you have immobilised the car very effectively?

How long will the Stack dash remember the milage for without power?

[Scuffers]

John D. said:

Surely by disconnecting the battery you have immobilised the car very effectively?

Not really, as to dis the battery, you have to dis-arm the imob/alarm (unless you want it going of 24/7), when you re-connect the battery, it remains disarmed for ~30 sec's, more than enough time to start it.

John D. said:

How long will the Stack dash remember the milage for without power?

in theory, infinite, in practice, some have freaked out on power-up.

some cars are better than others, S1 with a good battery will last 3-4 weeks OK, 111R nothing like this long (ECU/Dash always powered up for some reason?).

[kambites]

keith2874 said:

I keep my elise in a garage (which I own) ...

... Recently I bought and installed a solar charger - which has been as effective as a chocolate fireguard.

Is the panel getting enough light if it's inside a garage? I've found solar chargers to be fairly effective in the past, but I'm not sure I'd expect one to work in a garage, even if that garage has a window.

[keith2874]

Thanks for your responses

The solar charger I bought I installed on the roof of the garage - and I think I paid £50 for it so it wasn't a real cheapo one

The battery is a bosch - and is pretty recent

I think as there's no other obvious solution I may explore the possibility of getting a more heavy duty solar panel and see if that works

Regards

K

[Scuffers]

keith2874 said:

Thanks for your responses

The solar charger I bought I installed on the roof of the garage - and I think I paid £50 for it so it wasn't a real cheapo one

The battery is a bosch - and is pretty recent

I think as there's no other obvious solution I may explore the possibility of getting a more heavy duty solar panel and see if that works

Regards

K

what car have you got?

typically, static draw is ~20-30ma, so if your going to counter this with solar, your going to need ~150ma+ output for daylight hours

[keith2874]

the solar panel I have is 138ma so maybe that's the issue - a beefier one may be worth a try! Any suggestions as to brand/ model etc?

k

[keith2874]

car is elise s1 sport 135

[John D.]

Good answers Scuffers, cheers.

[Scuffers]

keith2874 said:

the solar panel I have is 138ma so maybe that's the issue - a beefier one may be worth a try! Any suggestions as to brand/ model etc?

k

more importantly, it need to be more like 150ma @14V or so, if it's only 12V it's never going to charge the battery...

[MrCheese]

I had a dealer fitted battery switch which was an excellent way of dealing with the problem of not using the car for weeks on end. Of course the alarm isn't going to work with this.

I'd try getting the solar panel outside and make sure it is south facing at the correct angle. The solar panel won't produce enough power if it doesn't get a good look at the sun.

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Get a decent battery as well that copes with deep discharge - Bosch Silver Top is v. v. good, can get a better capacity rating for the same physical size that is fitted in most Elise.

[worldwidewebs]

Scuffers said:

some cars are better than others, S1 with a good battery will last 3-4 weeks OK, 111R nothing like this long (ECU/Dash always powered up for some reason?).

To be fair, that's not my experience. My S2 R has lasted for up to 5 weeks, my S1 never more than 2 - both on new batteries.

[Scuffers]

worldwidewebs said:

Scuffers said:

some cars are better than others, S1 with a good battery will last 3-4 weeks OK, 111R nothing like this long (ECU/Dash always powered up for some reason?).

To be fair, that's not my experience. My S2 R has lasted for up to 5 weeks, my S1 never more than 2 - both on new batteries.

who knows? there are batteries and batteries...

all I do know is that the static current draw of the yota cars is significantly higher...

[ESOG]

Either get an Optimum Red Top battery, they are expensive but well worth it, or you can purchase a battery tender for around $50 that has a quick release and attach for the battery terminals. Quick and Easy.

[Scuffers]

ESOG said:

Either get an Optimum Red Top battery, they are expensive but well worth it, or you can purchase a battery tender for around $50 that has a quick release and attach for the battery terminals. Quick and Easy.

don't agree with that, Optima version that will fit is only 44AH vs the Bosch Silver Plus is 52AH (and £184 vs. £60).

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Yup, think I paid about £40 + VAT for my silvertop, it'll last 3.5-4 weeks even in the cold in my 111R.

[fuzzymonkey]

Remove or unplug the alarm siren as it contains a very old ni-cad battery that will put a load on your existing car battery.
Or if you still want the alarm, take the siren apart and remove the battery.

[ESOG]

Scuffers said:

don't agree with that, Optima version that will fit is only 44AH vs the Bosch Silver Plus is 52AH (and £184 vs. £60).

Cool, I didn't know Bosch even made batteries. That and a quick attach/release tender should do just fine. How many cold crabking amps does the Bosch have?