gingeRS

How long should a battery last? I have recently made my focus RS a weekend car so it now doesn’t get any attention during the week, and isn’t even used every weekend, as I don’t have a garage the car sits on the driveway and is subject to the elements.

Having used it almost everyday for 3 years, I have never had a problem with the battery, if I went on holiday, there may be a period of 2 weeks without using it, and it would always start on the button when I returned.

Now it seems me not using it and a combination of short journeys and cold weather have killed the battery, luckily I have a halfords trade card, so will get another one, but I’m trying to plan the best way of not killing the next battery. Would a conditioner help, or am I best just starting it each weekend, I’d have thought starting it would do more harm than good due to the high current draw (especially now its sub 5Deg at times) and the short charge time. Theres also the issue of it being on the drive and not the garage, and the running of a mains lead to the car.

Battery wise it runs a standard 075 battery, I noticed the tray is the same as my folks diesel and therefore could fit a much larger battery (670 amp/hrs), would this be worthwhile?

The car runs the standard for alarm/immob and also the factory fit GT alarm as fitted to all FRS’s. From what I can see there is little current draw on the battery when stationary. There are led bulbs in the car and on the number place which can illuminate due to their sensitivity to current but these should be insignificant.

Any suggestions would be great? Also considering a new alarm as I only have 1 fob for the GT and would like a Clifford with Intellistart etc, but is this gonna create a bigger problem?

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

I had a similar problem with mine..... I now disconnect my Scangauge as that was causing a drain and all is hunky dory..!!

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

I never had issue and my car could sit anything up to 4 weeks while i was abroad. i NEVER used the extra alarm though so that might be the difference. Cobra or whatever it is.

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

Optimiser would do it no harm at all.probably find that due to the regularity of being used before now it's never been an issue,but with the cold weather and irregular starting you can kill a battery pretty quickly.

There's ways of testing for current drain if your not sure how to do it,just send me a message although in this case I'd say it's pretty natural.

gingeRS

that could be it, as mine is plugged in 24/7

will make sure i unplug it when its not in use

any idea whether its worth going for the bigger battery or is that uneccessary?

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

I've only got an 063 on mine due to the front mount..... Since I started unplugging my ScanGauge I've had no probs. Started the car last night after 3 weeks sitting and was 100% spot on, before with the SG plugged in the battery would be so flat even the led on the dash wouldn't be lit after 2 weeks. I also don't use the GT alarm at all.


Steve

tabetha

A larger battery with a higher ah rating will obviously cope better, but not necessarily cope totally.
You could use a conditioner, this will exercise your battery and 99.9% will revive to perfection your existing battery, the better ones use high frequency charging, and if the correct type can be left on 24/7, they also charge massively faster, my 3.5 amp conditioner charges way faster than my 20 amp charger, due to better technology.
All batteries lose charge when not in use, but AGM(gel) lose so much less, around 1/30th the amount from natural drain, they also have a vastly better performance in ah and CCA, but cost is the issue as not cheap, they don't however suffer any damage from being fully flattened if this occurs.
Maybe another option is a booster pack kept plugged in ciggy lighter(if live all the time), if not can be hooked into boot lite etc, then just take pack out once a week and charge overnight put back in, about £25, and you get a porty power pack into the bargain!!
tabetha