FLAT BATTERY - How long does your hold charge
Discussion
Jumped in the Cerb yesterday to find the battery flat as a pancake after 5 days of inactivity 
Just called my dealer to be told that this is "normal" and that "the car has to be driven". I do realise that Tivs need usage to keep them working well, but I refuse to believe a late model Cerbera (2000, 4.5 LW) will drain in just 5 days.
I know this was a problem in the past - e.g. my 96 Chim was a nightmare for draining quickly, but my 98 450 Chim was way better (e.g. I once left it for 4 weeks when i was abroad and it started first time). I was told this was because TVR changed the alarm/immobilisers they used as the old ones drained too quickly.
I am curios to learn how long other Cerbera owners can leave their cars without the batteries draining, especially those with similar models and year to mine.
My problem is that I work my nuts off in the city during the week and don't get home until ridiculous times of an evening, so generally only get the chance to drive the Cerb at the weekends. I cannot put the car on a trickle-charger as it is parked away from the house, so therefore has no access to power.
The car had a new battery about a month ago, so it cannot (or at least should not) be the battery itself.
And, if the charge does indeed only last a few days, why the hell do TVR make the batteries so inaccessible? It's a major job to remove a 4.5 Cerbera battery - and the last time I had the RAC to the car they refused to take it out stating that they "were not allowed to remove the panels covering the battery"
It's absolutely fcuking ridiculous.
Just a little pissed off!!!!!
Just called my dealer to be told that this is "normal" and that "the car has to be driven". I do realise that Tivs need usage to keep them working well, but I refuse to believe a late model Cerbera (2000, 4.5 LW) will drain in just 5 days.
I know this was a problem in the past - e.g. my 96 Chim was a nightmare for draining quickly, but my 98 450 Chim was way better (e.g. I once left it for 4 weeks when i was abroad and it started first time). I was told this was because TVR changed the alarm/immobilisers they used as the old ones drained too quickly.
I am curios to learn how long other Cerbera owners can leave their cars without the batteries draining, especially those with similar models and year to mine.
My problem is that I work my nuts off in the city during the week and don't get home until ridiculous times of an evening, so generally only get the chance to drive the Cerb at the weekends. I cannot put the car on a trickle-charger as it is parked away from the house, so therefore has no access to power.
The car had a new battery about a month ago, so it cannot (or at least should not) be the battery itself.
And, if the charge does indeed only last a few days, why the hell do TVR make the batteries so inaccessible? It's a major job to remove a 4.5 Cerbera battery - and the last time I had the RAC to the car they refused to take it out stating that they "were not allowed to remove the panels covering the battery"
It's absolutely fcuking ridiculous.
Just a little pissed off!!!!!
). Gixxer1000.
I have a '96 4.2, which I appreciate isn't quite the same as your newer car, but to start the ball rolling....
I find that the length of time that the battery lasts depends upon the length of the run that you gave the car before you put in the garage. I have heard of cars whose batteries have lasted 2 weeks, and the car has just about started.
I would guess that these people use their Cerbs everyday, for a decent run.
I don't get to do long journeys in mine very often, and so I got a trickle/top-up charger from Halfwits, which I keep the battery topped up with. It wasn't dear (maybe £10).
I think this might be an ideal workaround for you, so that you can enjoy the car on the occaisions that you get to drive it.
Steve
I have a '96 4.2, which I appreciate isn't quite the same as your newer car, but to start the ball rolling....
I find that the length of time that the battery lasts depends upon the length of the run that you gave the car before you put in the garage. I have heard of cars whose batteries have lasted 2 weeks, and the car has just about started.
I would guess that these people use their Cerbs everyday, for a decent run.
I don't get to do long journeys in mine very often, and so I got a trickle/top-up charger from Halfwits, which I keep the battery topped up with. It wasn't dear (maybe £10).
I think this might be an ideal workaround for you, so that you can enjoy the car on the occaisions that you get to drive it.
Steve
madasahatter said:
I don't get to do long journeys in mine very often, and so I got a trickle/top-up charger from Halfwits, which I keep the battery topped up with. It wasn't dear (maybe £10).
I think this might be an ideal workaround for you, so that you can enjoy the car on the occaisions that you get to drive it.
Steve
Steve, guess you missed the bit in my post that said the car is parked away from the house and therefore not near a power source. I cannot use a tricke-charger unfortunately.
Bummer.
gixxer1000 said:
madasahatter said:
I don't get to do long journeys in mine very often, and so I got a trickle/top-up charger from Halfwits, which I keep the battery topped up with. It wasn't dear (maybe £10).
I think this might be an ideal workaround for you, so that you can enjoy the car on the occaisions that you get to drive it.
Steve
Steve, guess you missed the bit in my post that said the car is parked away from the house and therefore not near a power source. I cannot use a tricke-charger unfortunately.
Bummer.
Arse. Sorry mate.
:makesnotetoreadpostabitmorefirstnexttime:
I bought the 1.8W version of...
www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=030610120941732&moduleno=33317&modulecode=
It was on offer for £15.
The lead is long enough to go from the front to the back of the car so I leave it on with the dash top or the back shelf. Plugs into the cig lighter.
Works well so far...
D.
www.maplin.co.uk/products/module.asp?CartID=030610120941732&moduleno=33317&modulecode=
It was on offer for £15.
The lead is long enough to go from the front to the back of the car so I leave it on with the dash top or the back shelf. Plugs into the cig lighter.
Works well so far...
D.
Maybe consider switching to AA. My battery will last two weeks before going flat, have had to call the AA out twice and they have a surrogate battery which they attach. You can fire the car up after a couple of seconds and then take it on a run to put some charge back. All in all, once they turn up, less than 5 minute job.
Okay here goes,
Mine lasts at least two weeks but as mentioned before it does depend on the length of the run it had before it was parked.
The other thing it depends on is ambient temperature. Batteries don't work well in the cold so in Winter it can be a bugger to start, I don't leave mine more than a week.
The other tip to avoid calling out the AA is to buy a spare battery. The size doesn't matter but get a really heavy one because they have lots of lead in and produce loads of power (mine delivers 690 amps @ -20C for 30 secs). You simply use the spare battery to jump start your car and it is always in a good state because you keep it charged up. Simple.
Rob.
Mine lasts at least two weeks but as mentioned before it does depend on the length of the run it had before it was parked.
The other thing it depends on is ambient temperature. Batteries don't work well in the cold so in Winter it can be a bugger to start, I don't leave mine more than a week.
The other tip to avoid calling out the AA is to buy a spare battery. The size doesn't matter but get a really heavy one because they have lots of lead in and produce loads of power (mine delivers 690 amps @ -20C for 30 secs). You simply use the spare battery to jump start your car and it is always in a good state because you keep it charged up. Simple.
Rob.
Have had similar problems with other (mainly italian) cars in the past. I don't know how accessible the cerbera fuses are but normally if you measure the current across each fuse with the ignition off you can see which circuit is draining the battery. If your alternator is OK then its often an earthing problem with a FBG car.
Batteries also need the occasional decent run to keep them healthy.
The other thing that is very successful (tho will cut all supply to the car & may require a bit of rewiring to fit) is to fit a battery master switch into the positive feed from the battery (upstream from the feed to other circuits, could be downstream from alarm feed tho.) and turn off when not being used. Also quite a good security thing if you fit it somewhere devious.
Batteries also need the occasional decent run to keep them healthy.
The other thing that is very successful (tho will cut all supply to the car & may require a bit of rewiring to fit) is to fit a battery master switch into the positive feed from the battery (upstream from the feed to other circuits, could be downstream from alarm feed tho.) and turn off when not being used. Also quite a good security thing if you fit it somewhere devious.
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