Thread: Flat Battery and Charging Through Traxide Anderson Plug

I just had an interesting couple of days due to the crank battery going flat on me. That alone would have been a hassle, but to top things off, the front of the Disco 3 was parked underneath an over-the-bonnet storage unit. The battery was so flat that the key fob wouldn't unlock the doors. So, picture this...stone dead crank battery; can't lift the bonnet; can't unlock the doors; transmission in Park; EPB engaged. But wait...there's more...the manual key entry on the passenger door wouldn't unlock the door!

The Disco is fitted with a Traxide dual battery kit, that includes an Anderson plug at the tow bar. I rigged up an adapter lead, so I could charge the battery through the Anderson plug. My thinking was to charge the auxiliary battery up to 13.2V so that the SC80-LR isolator between the auxiliary and crank batteries would cut in and the crank battery would then start charging.

I used a CTEK MXS 5.0 battery charger which indicated that I was puttting a good charge through and battery condition was steadily improving, but after 24 hours it did nothing for the crank battery. It was still dead. I figured that the charger was only seeing the auxiliary battery condition and either the crank battery was too far gone to take any charge or the SC80-LR unit wasn't cutting in to allow the charge to flow through from the auxiliary battery.

It was certainly frustrating having a charged second battery but not being able to get to it to jump it to the crank! Perhaps I need a switch inside the cabin for this type of emergency so I can bypass the SC80-LR?

Anyhow, this morning, after further liberal application of WD40 to the emergency-use door lock and much more key jiggling and cursing, the passenger door unlocked. Must have dislodged all that Cape York dust inside the lock. I now had entry to the vehicle and avoided the need to break a window.

Following a visit to MR Automotive at Redcliffe (fortunately located just down the road), two mechanics came around to my place with a trolley jack. They manually released the transmission from Park to Neutral, jacked the rear wheels off the ground with the trolley jack, and skull dragged the car out from under the overhead storage unit. It only needed to come back an inch or so to clear the storage unit.

With the bonnet now open and access to the engine bay, the new battery went in and my world returned from utter chaos to absolute bliss. Many thanks to the guys at MR Automotive - they are always very helpful and do a great job.

Lesson learned today...don't delay replacing the battery when you suspect it's starting to die...especially if you park under an over-the-bonnet storage unit!!

Cheers
Peter

Good to know. Thanks Drivesafe and Tombie for the info. Hopefully I won't find myself in the same predicament but might still do up a plug for this anyway.

Found some info on this at Charging through towing socket - DISCO3.CO.UK Knowledge Base

And BTW Drivesafe, the Traxide dual battery kit was relatively simple to instal, thanks to the very detailed and comprehensive instructions provided. Put it in last year before a trip to Cape York and had no problems with power to the 65L fridge in the back.

Cheers
Peter