Battery life with Traxide Sc80 and yellow top aux 4 yrs?

[JamesH]

Hi all

I just did one of my top up sessions with my Ctek and it threw an error message at step 5 which is the stage where it checks holding charge. I'm repeating the recharge to see if it was a one off event.

The car is 4 yrs old and on its original battery but I did put one of Tim's systems on very early and I do top it with the ctek every couple of months. The car is not driven daily but is busy on weekends with quite a few half hour plus drives.

Would you say I've had a fair run out of it if it does turn out to be knackered? My gut says no but my gut is a miser.

Would you replace both? Or should I separate the batteries and try charging each and which one throws the error?

Thanks in advance

[drivesafe]

Hi James, 4 years is just average and I would expect far better from the Optima.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried the charger on any vehicle's battery.

Seems too much of a coincidence that both batteries would fail at the same time?

[JamesH]

Hi James, 4 years is just average and I would expect far better from the Optima.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried the charger on any vehicle's battery.

Seems too much of a coincidence that both batteries would fail at the same time?

No Tim I haven't recently apart from my motorcycle a while back. This is the first time it's thrown an error.

Are you implying that if it failed at the checking phase and the two batteries were joined then if one was dodgy the well one would mask this and not throw a fail?

How about if there was a "leak" in the system and a slow drain tricked the Ctek into thinking the batteries were not holding charge? Could that happen?
The car has been in to have its EAS compressor replaced recently could something there not be right?

I can borrow another Ctek charger and try that

[LandyAndy]

James.
If you need a new yellow top,yell out.
My Bro just got one for less than $300 in Jandakot.
His also failed,very similar age and in a 3.0 HSE,pretty sure with Tims gear too,so with all the parasitic draw these vehicles have it may be about the lifespan.
I can get the supplier details.
Andrew

[drivesafe]

Are you implying that if it failed at the checking phase and the two batteries were joined then if one was dodgy the well one would mask this and not throw a fail?

Hi again James, and no, what I should have been clearer about is that perhaps there is a fault in your battery charger.

By trying it on another vehicle's battery, you can see if it works OK or if it again comes up with an error.

Or you could try charging each battery separately, because as you suggested, maybe one battery is faulty and is masking the other.

[RHS58]

My D4 has the same Traxide DBS and my ctek has always thrown the same error.
I have assumed it's been detecting the parasitic draw.
My batteries have tested ok.
The ctek works fine on the missus' Honda, no error.

[JamesH]

I set it again to see if it re-appeared. The battery charged to step 7 in just three hours and the digital voltage reader in a 12v plug read 12.5. I'm going to put it on a more regular recharge and see what happens.

[eddomak]

The car is 4 yrs old and on its original battery but I did put one of Tim's systems on very early and I do top it with the ctek every couple of months. The car is not driven daily but is busy on weekends with quite a few half hour plus drives.

Would you say I've had a fair run out of it if it does turn out to be knackered? My gut says no but my gut is a miser.


For comparison's sake, mine is a MY10 with no dual battery system. It is a daily driver in the suburbs with 6-8 short trips a day (usually less than 15kms each time). :dbcry:. The original battery failed at the 3 year mark, and the replacement at the 6 year mark.

These days I am putting the CTek charger on it around once every 2 months to see if this might help me get a longer battery life out of it.

[RobA]

An interesting discussion. We use a RedArc smart charger on the AGM setting and leave it on unless the car is being used regularly and even if that is the case, vis short trips of less than one hour, then it is refreshed every two months

Having been the road service manager of an automobile association I can categorically say that most of the above mentioned failures look like deficit charging to me as the trips are far too short to fully charge a starting battery in my book.

But my yellow top is starting to show signs of not holding voltage after only two years of pretty demanding use despite all of the above care and attention.

Rob

[Meccles]

Interesting thread. Yellow top I have replaced at two years - started to bulge which Optima claim was due to overcharging (how?) and standard battery has just been replaced at 31/2 years age. Still working but showing signs of degradation. Have gone to reasonable quality batteries with reasonable warranty and reasonable price. Certainly haven't seen the benefit of expensive batteries at this point in time. Car is RRS with SC80 kit. Alternator tested by Auto elec and all good there. After replacing Optima started charging both with decent charger with AGM settings about every two months if car had only been doing shopping trolley trips.