Any neat ways to stop the battery going flat in a rarely used car ?

[8thDay]

Hello all :)

The 2007 Audi Sportback Quattro 2.0TFSI which until 2 years ago was our (fantastic) daily driver has ended up being pushed into retirement due to the arrival of an electric Hyundai Ioniq - another fantastic car imo but about as different as you can get to the A3 (diabolical grip and handling, great torque and power between 0-15mph then nothing). 

I am not quite sure if the steady discharge that our battery suffers from is an inevitable consequence of the complexity of the electrical system much of which must remains live when the ignition is off or whether we have picked up some leakage to earth over the years. Whatever the cause it just happens and I now need to face up to reality. Reality is that my wife's intention (it is technically her car) to take the car for a run around once week does not happen and I am equally guilty as I fail to keep the battery topped up with our smart charger often enough. There are a couple of pathetic sounding mitigating factors like the car is always trapped behind the Ioniq in the drive and we have also been humming and harring as to whether to even keep it - in short, it has become a problem. 

Two things have now happened which mean I must to face up to reality and try and find a solution. Firstly we have decided that to sell the car for a few hundred quid would be criminal and secondly the new battery which I had to buy not long ago from an RAC patrolman at a premium price when stranded a mile away has just expired. He kept stressing that the price included a generous warranty which I thought helped but when I considered phoning to make a claim I started to feel that it was more than just a bit cheeky as I have just effectively been involved in it's destruction. That feeling did not last long though as when I told my wife she spoke to her cousin who is married to a patrolman and word came back that in these days of low car use because of C-19 they are red hot in making sure that the car has done the required number of miles to keep the warranty valid. As that mileage in our case is probably less than 10 even I can see that is not really fair :)

My MX5 was so low tech and the battery terminals so simple and well greased that I just used to pull off the earth between drives but I now wonder if there is a better way with the A3 ? Also is there any real downside to doing this all the time (other than the alarm being off) ?

Lastly, do any owners from the UK have any recommendations as to what are good replacement batteries and where best to buy them ? I was hoping that £20-£30 might get something cheap and cheerful that would suit a car doing a very low mileage but that was cloud cuckoo land I think and a bit of research suggested £80-£120 was more realistic and I suppose it was inevitable to discover that the expensive ones were much better suited to low mileage usage and the cheap end would not last long. Any truth in this ?

TIA Paul

 

 

[Steve Q]

I'd keep it on a smart charger. Like a trickle charger but one that knows when the battery needs charging etc. 

[Stevey Y]

2 hours ago, 8thDay said:

Hello all 🙂

The 2007 Audi Sportback Quattro 2.0TFSI which until 2 years ago was our (fantastic) daily driver has ended up being pushed into retirement due to the arrival of an electric Hyundai Ioniq - another fantastic car imo but about as different as you can get to the A3 (diabolical grip and handling, great torque and power between 0-15mph then nothing). 

I am not quite sure if the steady discharge that our battery suffers from is an inevitable consequence of the complexity of the electrical system much of which must remains live when the ignition is off or whether we have picked up some leakage to earth over the years. Whatever the cause it just happens and I now need to face up to reality. Reality is that my wife's intention (it is technically her car) to take the car for a run around once week does not happen and I am equally guilty as I fail to keep the battery topped up with our smart charger often enough. There are a couple of pathetic sounding mitigating factors like the car is always trapped behind the Ioniq in the drive and we have also been humming and harring as to whether to even keep it - in short, it has become a problem. 

Two things have now happened which mean I must to face up to reality and try and find a solution. Firstly we have decided that to sell the car for a few hundred quid would be criminal and secondly the new battery which I had to buy not long ago from an RAC patrolman at a premium price when stranded a mile away has just expired. He kept stressing that the price included a generous warranty which I thought helped but when I considered phoning to make a claim I started to feel that it was more than just a bit cheeky as I have just effectively been involved in it's destruction. That feeling did not last long though as when I told my wife she spoke to her cousin who is married to a patrolman and word came back that in these days of low car use because of C-19 they are red hot in making sure that the car has done the required number of miles to keep the warranty valid. As that mileage in our case is probably less than 10 even I can see that is not really fair 🙂

My MX5 was so low tech and the battery terminals so simple and well greased that I just used to pull off the earth between drives but I now wonder if there is a better way with the A3 ? Also is there any real downside to doing this all the time (other than the alarm being off) ?

Lastly, do any owners from the UK have any recommendations as to what are good replacement batteries and where best to buy them ? I was hoping that £20-£30 might get something cheap and cheerful that would suit a car doing a very low mileage but that was cloud cuckoo land I think and a bit of research suggested £80-£120 was more realistic and I suppose it was inevitable to discover that the expensive ones were much better suited to low mileage usage and the cheap end would not last long. Any truth in this ?

TIA Paul

 

 

Hi battery wise you only get what you pay for but a good mid range battery that lasts is the Yuasa 9000 series.

Steve.

[cliffcoggin]

Paul.

What a lot of words to say your battery won't hold a charge.

Driving it once per week will not replace the charge used in starting the engine unless you drive it for at least an hour. It would be better and cheaper to put it on a trickle charger overnight once per fortnight. Allowing the battery to go flat will damage it so vigilance is necessary.

As for buying a new battery for £30, I'd guess you haven't bought a battery for a few decades.

[Magnet]

He’ll Paul,

Thanks for being in touch. 
Basics:- retaining a vehicle which you don’t need, simply because it’s considered to have more ‘value’ that its actual, really is false economy, and will cost you considerably in road legal expenses alone. The space taking logistics of retaining it will also become a nuisance. 
As has been said buying a battery for £20/30 was something which disappeared with main line steam trains? 
The real world - search eBay for the believed correct battery for your car, and buy on line from specialist suppliers such as Battery Megastore, Tayna etc. I try to buy once and wisely, and buy Varta or Bosch ( their 5 year warranty grade).

I can’t now recall whether you have an ‘intelligent’ charger, but if so, simply connect it up every couple of weeks - assuming you can get it near to an electrical point! 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Greavsy]

Hi Paul, I'm a bit late to this party but I'm in a similar situation to you.  I bought a Solar Panel that charges the battery through the (what was) Cig Lighter socket . So far it's been fine . 👍

[JMKC82]

as Kev has brought this back to life, i just wanted to add my tupence.

agree with Gareth that keeping the car sounds like false economy.  The car is just going to depreciate unless it becomes a classic.

If you are keeping it, check the battery quality and it is holding charge (I'd disconnect it for a day and check the voltage drop).  Change if needed.

I use £15 (bought ages ago) 5w solar charger with long wires, and connect directly to my MOTORBIKE battery.  Absolutely fine during the winter months with zero usage.  This should in theory be okay for your car.

[8thDay]

Thanks for the replies and as I hoped, the forum has come up with the solution.

Yuasa battery (thanks Stevey Y) from Tanya - such a user friendly site (thanks Gareth).

Also thanks to Kev & Joe for the solar panel idea - seems perfect.

And oh ye of little faith Clifford - Tanya nearly hit my wishful thinking £30 price with an offer of £39.99 which I agree is higher but it is in the thirty pounds range 😉

Seriously though, I really do appreciate everyone's help.

Paul

[Magnet]

Hello Paul,

There’s been a lot of words, so please excuse me if I’ve got this wrong. 
So you’ve bought a battery from Tayna for £39.99? 
If so, I wish you luck Paul, since you are likely heading to replace it again in a relatively short space of time, as you did with the one ex breakdown. 

Once and wisely in my book, is better than once and cheaply. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[8thDay]

34 minutes ago, Magnet said:

 

Once and wisely in my book, is better than once and cheaply. 

Yes absolutely agree.

I did not make myself clear, sorry. I decided on a Yuasa and this has more cold cranking amps than the Bosch battery that the AA fitted when I broke down. Tanya did not have the 9000 range one that Stevey Y recommended but I went for the highest spec one listed which seemed good value to me and delivery is tomorrow.

All very satisfactory so far but I do feel a bit cheeky just asking what I should do ! I am keen on the solar panel idea though because I just happen to have one that is surplus to requirements and just needs some kind of regulator/charger (something new and interesting to find out about).

Paul

 

[cliffcoggin]

Little faith? Moi? I place my faith in the saying that you only get what you pay for. Nevertheless I hope it works out for you.

[Magnet]

Hello Paul,

Thanks for clarifying what you bought. No disrespects, and from someone who uses a surfeit of words, you beat me hands down every time! 
So you now have a quality battery fitted to this car which seldom gets used, lives outside, so it’s an inconvenient/impractical extension lead job to run your ‘trickle charger’. 
Sounds like a solar panel charger is the only practical way forward. Can they be used on AGM batteries?? 

Having gone through a quality Bosch battery in record time, I would be questioning whether this car is suffering from a parasitic drain. If this were mine, I would be investing in a half hour’s time with an autoelectrician to check this out. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[8thDay]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:44 PM, cliffcoggin said:

Little faith? Moi? I place my faith in the saying that you only get what you pay for. Nevertheless I hope it works out for you.

🙂 Thanks Cliff

 

On 6/8/2022 at 8:25 AM, Magnet said:

Hello Paul,

Thanks for clarifying what you bought. No disrespects, and from someone who uses a surfeit of words, you beat me hands down every time! 

My wife accuses me of trying to rival War & Peace every time I write anything anywhere .....

So you now have a quality battery fitted to this car which seldom gets used, lives outside, so it’s an inconvenient/impractical extension lead job to run your ‘trickle charger’. 
Sounds like a solar panel charger is the only practical way forward. Can they be used on AGM batteries?? 

Yes, solar sounds good but there are plusses and minus's. The Audi is parked at the top of our drive and is overshadowed by some mature beech trees that have a dense canopy of leaves in the summer which screen out any sunlight. The good news is that the solar panel I have and do not use is quite large and if put in a sunny location would be complete overkill. It is also quite old but never used and was a high end model in its day. I am fairly sure the technology just postdates the time when a whole panel could be near useless if just one part was in shade.

I am not sure if they can be used with AGM

 
Having gone through a quality Bosch battery in record time, I would be questioning whether this car is suffering from a parasitic drain. If this were mine, I would be investing in a half hour’s time with an autoelectrician to check this out. 

Yes, I agree and suspect I might have a leak to earth somewhere so will get it checked out.

 

 

[Magnet]

A short reposted suggestion:- I would get the car checked for a parasitic drain.

Kind regards,

Gareth.