Battery life

[zazwaldo]

Hi guys, I'm away to do a 3 week stint offshore will my battery be flat when I return? Dont think the garage Im letting when I'm away has power reluctant to disconnect battery for alarm purposes inscurance etc any ideas how long it takes to drain battery?

[Bob the Planner]

I have been leaving mine at my parents for upto 4 week periods with no problems (alarm on). I have done a good 120 mls beforehand therefore the battery should be fully charged.

IMO it should not be a problem.

Bob

[salty-nlv]

I am very fortunate in that I have a fantastic battery, I left it for 5 weeks over xmas (due to holidays and work committments) and it started first time no problems.

I know Whitey has battery drain problems due to his tracker so keeps a battery charger handy at all times.

[powerlord]

get yourself down to your local bike dealers.

They will do you a battery conditioner for 30-40 quid.

Basically you wire it to the battery and have the wee plug somewhere easily accessable (or attach it to your jumpstart lead I suppose in tvr land).

Then whenever the car/bike is in the garage, plug it in.

It's meant to be plugged in contantly. It charges the battery, going through complex cycles/desulpharing/etc and keeps it in tip top condition.

I alternate mine between the blade and the 300zx TT and it works a treat. Will do the same trick should I ever find my tuscan to replace my Z...

stu

[NCE 61]

powerlord said:

get yourself down to your local bike dealers. They will do you a battery conditioner for 30-40 quid. Basically you wire it to the battery and have the wee plug somewhere easily accessable (or attach it to your jumpstart lead I suppose in tvr land). Then whenever the car/bike is in the garage, plug it in. It's meant to be plugged in contantly. It charges the battery, going through complex cycles/desulpharing/etc and keeps it in tip top condition. I alternate mine between the blade and the 300zx TT and it works a treat. Will do the same trick should I ever find my tuscan to replace my Z... stu

Would agree totally with your comments, I have used one on the Tuscan for the last three and a half years and they are very good my orignal battery lasted over three years , but

zazwaldo said:

Dont think the garage Im letting when I'm away has power

Maybe one of the solar charges placed on the roof of the garage might help.

Nick

[TUS 373]

There is a battery conditioner called an Accumate, available from Leven, and greatly favoured in TVR circles. However, the problem here is that there is no power to the garage to use such an item.

My experience on a battery 2-3 years old is that it can just make it to 3 weeks with the alarm on and still start the car. It looks like others here are having considerably more luck than that. The alarm is a big drain on the battery, this is where the biggest issue is.

Also, the temperature at which the battery is may affect how it keeps its charge and how easy it is to start the engine. Age and condition of battery, and how fully charged it was before putting it away will make a difference too.

At a meeting last week, the parts chap from TVR was telling me that the batteries used in TVRs hate to get discharged! If they go below (I think he said) 40% then they will never be quite the same again.

Maybe another option is to get a Leven jump start lead (that plugs in to the Tuscan's charger socket near passenger footwell) and connect a fully charged spare battery to it and leave it like that?

[powerlord]

sounds sensible to me. Get some big thing from halfords for 40 quid, and it'll hardly drain at all keeping your wee tvr one topped up. You then just need to charge that up once every few months.

[Graham66]

Any wet cell battery that is discharged too much will not like it, it isn't just TVRs!

Also, TVR batteries have top up holes to keep the fluid level above the plates - hands up who has ever topped up their batter......nope, thought not (didn't even know they were there until I replaced the battery, and given the amount of time to get to the damned things, I am guessing they don't get done at services either!)

Graham

[andyvdg]

I was thinking that a couple of days ago. How do you top the fluids up - take it out ???? Nah, just call the AA when it fails.

btw if I plug in one of those electric cool boxes from Halfords into the cigar lighter socket when I'm at the Le Mans this year, how long will the battery last with the engine off. 1 week or 1 hour ?

Cheers,

Andy.

[j_s_g]

andyvdg said:

I was thinking that a couple of days ago. How do you top the fluids up - take it out ???? Nah, just call the AA when it fails. btw if I plug in one of those electric cool boxes from Halfords into the cigar lighter socket when I'm at the Le Mans this year, how long will the battery last with the engine off. 1 week or 1 hour ?

Why not mitigate against both problems... take a spare fully charged battery, and swap them over at some point/if necessary.