Thread: Flat Battery Issue

Is it one of the calcium type batteries ?

My experience of these (Alko & Delkor) is that the older type alternators do not seem to deliver enough voltage to ever fully charge them. I have found that useful battery life is extended by trickle charging them up to full occasionally (eg. 24hr once a month).

They usually seem to have a longer life, but once fully discharged, IME, they cannot be considered reliable.

There is probably a good technical reason for this and Tim (drivesafe) would be a member who may be able to fill us in.

As a single vehicle bush traveller myself, I definitely would not be without two good batteries, preferably on a dual battery system.

Hi Grumbles and the two most common causes of short battery life are the Shopping Trolley Syndrome where you drive lots of short trips, denying the alternator time to fully charge the cranking battery.

And the other killer is leaving vehicles unused for weeks at a time between uses. In this case, even if you do a long drive every so often, because your cranking battery has been slowly discharging while no in use, it will also be sulphating.

Sulfation is where there is a build-up of crystallised material on the lead surface area and this reduces the amount of battery capacity that can actually be used/charged.

Over time, sulfation will totally destroy the battery.

The effects of both the Shopping Trolley Syndrome and Sulfation can be resolved by periodical SOAK charging the cranking battery, as suggested by 87County.

Most people will remove a battery charger from a battery once the charger goes into FLOAT mode, thinking the battery is fully charged.

This is partially correct. Around the time a battery charger goes into float mode, a battery’s "usable" capacity is close to fully charged.

SOAK charging is accomplished by charging a battery with a battery charger and once the battery charger goes into FLOAT mode, then leaving the battery on the charger for another 8 to 10 hours.

By carrying out a periodical SOAK charge, you will condition the battery and this conditioning will stop sulfation from occurring and in many cases ( not worst cases ) SOAK charging can reverse most of or all of the effects of sulfation.

This conditioning also mean the effects of Shopping Trolley Syndrome are also reversed in that the battery is brought back to a fully charged state.

In both cases, for the best effects with extreme battery sulfation and under charging caused by Shopping Trolley Syndrome, a Soak charge should be about 8 to 10 hours in FLOAT mode, then the charger should be turned off and the battery allowed to settle for 10 to 12 hours and the SOAK charge cycle repeated.

You will not harm the battery if you just leave the charger on all the time but after the initial 8 to 10 hours of the SOAK charge, the battery will be maintained in a fully charged state but there will be little if any additional conditioning occurring.

By letting the battery settle between each SOAK charge cycle, you cause the electrolyte to be stirred up each time you restart the charge cycle and this helps to increase the conditioning effect.

Sorry for the usual long reply, but this should give you an idea of how to prolong battery life in vehicles not being driven regularly or long enough when they are driven.

Grumbles, here one other option, if your RR is not driven for long periods of time and that is to fit a small solar panel.

A solar panel has a natural SOAK charge followed by a settling period ( over night ) and if you use a 10w or smaller solar panel, you do not need a solar voltage regulator as the battery’s internal resistance will work as a quasi voltage regulator.

Tim,
That's about as good as it gets for an explanation.
I've always known the Calcium type batteries were a good thing and wondered why I have managed up to 8 years out of them, now I know why.
It's that every so often 24 hour charging when the car is not being used.
Usually have them fitted to classic cars which are used infrequently with outstanding results.

Big thanks.

Cheers,
richard

WOW!! There is some great information here Many thanks for the effort guys.



The battery in my LSE is a Delkor NY110 – 5MP calcium with the green, red and white indicators of the state of charge.



The LSE does some small town running for a couple of days where it lives and then does a 100 km to 200 km trip. After this it is left for a week or so.

I should have added. The starter motor is brand new and only a few months old and the alternator is brand new as well and just under 12 months old.



I acknowledge the security of having a spare battery for a no start situation. In all my solo bluish running over say 35 years – just me and a dog – I have never experienced a battery no start. I have always adopted a practice of replacing my batteries every 2 to 3 years regardless of age or condition so maybe this has helped.



The current issue of allowing the battery to totally discharge was accidental - once by the mech workshop earlier in 2013 and once by me when I forgot to turn the EAS off for a longer than normal no use situation over this Christmas.