Anyone else's battery flat after lockdown?

Pras

A2OC Donor
I thought I better check as we haven't used the car for at least 4 weeks and sure enough dead as a dodo.

Charging it with my motorcycle battery charger at the moment.

When I first started charging it the alarm started to beep and only stoped once I put the key in the ignition and turned it (no dash lights).
 
Mine died on me two weeks ago after the easter break. Went to go to work on the Tuesday and it turned once then stopped. Ended up going to Halfrauds and paying £72 for a new one. Fires up really fast again! ine was getting worse over a long period and had a hunch it might fail. Luckily we have spare cars so took the Bimmer..
 
I run mine for 30-40 mins once a week whilst I'm checking the lights tyres etc to hopefully prevent an early expiration of the battery. It's not like I can drive it anywhere at the moment due to the lockdown living in London.
John
 
Stupid question that came to my mind....but if you do unplug the terminals in order to avoid battery drain, will you be able to lock your car?
I believe the alarm will disabled as well, right?
 
The more important question to know the answer to is how easy can I get to the battery afterwards in a locked boot?
 
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The more important question to know the answer to is how easy can I get to the battery afterwards in a locked boot?
I'm assuming that your question was rhetorical @audifan - your posts seem to be those of an expert - but, for those who don't know the answer, the tailgate can be released by pulling gently on the emergency cable, the end of which is located on the upper edge of the tailgate inner trim panel. The plastic rectangular 'handle' has a slot to allow the key to pop it out and, unless the cable has been displaced, a gentle pull, so as not to break the cable, does the trick. All the above depends on being able to open a door to get in the car!
 
A good smart charger such as the one I bought from CTek is just the ticket for vehicles laid up for months - hook it up and forget about it.

As a bonus, if I have a dying battery this charger has proven revitalisation technology too! Here is the link to it - I understand the ones Lidl sells are similar and a lot cheaper, although I'm not sure if the tech behind them is the same.

Ctek MXS 5.0
2020 Autoexpress battery charger test

Good practise for battery health if you do a lot of short journeys is to hook up the charger every 2 or 3 months, especially in colder half of the year.
 
I was preempting the flood of questions as to how to get to their battery. Yes I know as do many others it was done to make people think before they disconnect the battery. Many people do not have a usable garage, driveway or off road parking for their vehicles making it very difficult to get mains power to the car to charge the battery. The easiest option is a solar charger ( no do not work for a manufacturer of them ) that can be left plugged in, provided there is enough light for the panel to work. I would not recommend leaving a second battery or a jump pack permanently connected either. Jump pack, jump leads and plug in lighter socket leads on;y really to get the engine running.

I suggest everyone has a practise run to find where the tailgate emergency release is, how to use it and that it actually works. Beter to know now than find a problem when you need to use it. Also worth finding the fuel flap emergency release if the drivers door microswitch or b pillar button fail. You will find this behind the right hand rear lights access panel where you will find the metal rod on the actuator, pull down on the rod to release the fuel flap.
 
For those without off-street parking:


RAB
 
A Solar panel would seem to be a good solution - especially as the cigarette lighter on the A2 is fed by a permanent live.
 
I thought I better check as we haven't used the car for at least 4 weeks and sure enough dead as a dodo.

Charging it with my motorcycle battery charger at the moment.

When I first started charging it the alarm started to beep and only stoped once I put the key in the ignition and turned it (no dash lights).
Hi Pras,
I’m using an AA solar charger that I got from amazon £19.99 if I recollect, it comes with conventional clips or a OBD plug which is under the fuse board on the drivers side
(Easy to get to!)
Keeps a trickle charge going in when laid up
& has kept a charge in previous Vehicles for over a year.
Hth
Keith
 
I can leave my spare motorcycle trickle charger on it no problem.
Just surprised it went flat in just 4 weeks.
 
Probably too late for anyone on this thread but why not just take the car for a run. Lockdown rules as I understand them do not preclude shopping for essentials (whatever that means). One could argue that if you buy a newspaper, why would you need toilet roll? There is no specification on how far you drive to your local shops, so I take a very circular route to the supermarket never going more than a couple of miles from my house. This is not illegal and does not spread the virus any more than if I take the most direct route.

As I am retired and pre-Covid on a lot of normal weeks would ONLY move my car to go to the supermarket, I would take the scenic route in order to warm up and properly run the car. I cannot see why more people are not doing this now.

I must add that in my area, the police have been acting sensibly and breaking up blatant big gatherings but leaving normal reasonable people alone.

I have only seen the police once during the lockdown and they were on a dual carriageway trying to catch speeders. They very nearly caught me!
 
Honestly, should be ok as it stands (depending on your battery). I bought my A2 a few years back now with a Yuasa YBX3096 of indeterminate age in it and my mind was blown! My old A4 had a Bosch battery that needed regular attention and driving or it would just not bother cranking at all. I left my A2 in the garage a few months back (ironically) and it started first time nice and strongly. If anyone is looking for a good battery, totally recommend a Yuasa YBX!


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I've now charged my battery twice during the lockdown. Since my mileage reduced considerably when I retired a few years ago, I've had a number of winters when the battery has needed topping up.

As it is such a bother to get to the battery I connected a mains 5amp cable to the battery with the crocodile clips (wrapped in insulating tape) and coiled the other end of the cable (which has a 2 pin continental plug) in the boot. So it's now a quick job to run the cable out of the boot (being 5amp it goes out at the bottom corner of the tailgate) and then feed it at the bottom side of the garage door to the charger. I then run that at the low level which is about 1amp for about 20 hours.

The charger cable has a 2 pin continental socket and both the plug and socket are marked with red on one side to ensure correct polarity. In the summer I just move the coiled cable down to the next level with the spare wheel.

PS I used 2 pin continental plug/socket simply because I had some spare after living in Europe - never throw anything away that might come in useful decades later, but then a case of finding it amongst all the other stuff kept "just in case" ;)
 
I have one of those solar chargers and it is a trickle charger at best, even under direct sun (I have measured the output). However, if you're leaving the car in an airport car park for a couple of weeks then they are probably worth the assurance/investment.
 
CTEK chargers come with a fly lead with eyelets which fit the battery terminal clamping bolts and terminates in an insulated plug with a push fit blanking cap. When needed the charger cable just plugs in and off you go. They also a fly lead with crocodile clips for easy access battery installations.

Cheers Spike
 
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