*Urgent help needed please*Could this just be a flat battery?

WantToBeSE

I know someone that could fit it for free, i am going to see him on Friday, so maybe it could wait until then? Or do i just buy a charger instead?

Strider590

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I know someone that could fit it for free, i am going to see him on Friday, so maybe it could wait until then? Or do i just buy a charger instead?

Not to be awkward, but I have actually experienced battery explosion from trying to get more life out of a battery that was on its last legs.
Charged over night, placed back into car, tried to start and it sounded like a roadside bomb going off, covered the engine bay and wings of the car in boiling hot sulphuric acid.
It was 6am, it was dark, I couldn't see to clean up properly, the acid ate down to bare metal and the engine bay had to he hosed out.

If I get chance I'll post a photo of the battery.

Its NOT money saving to keep charging a jump starting an old dead battery!!
Even a new battery if drained to less than around 8v, will be permanently damaged.

There's a few videos on YouTube if you want to take a look.

custardy

http://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/281705-punto-2001-how-change-battery.html

arcon5

cajef wrote: »

Wish I could get paid £120 an hour.

If it takes you 10 minutes to change over a battery then there's probably a reason you don't earn £120 ph

BeenThroughItAll

arcon5 wrote: »

If it takes you 10 minutes to change over a battery then there's probably a reason you don't earn £120 ph

Unless the 10 minutes includes producing the bill and taking the credit card payment

cajef

arcon5 wrote: »

If it takes you 10 minutes to change over a battery then there's probably a reason you don't earn £120 ph

This is Cornwall, the pace of life is slower.:p

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Unless the 10 minutes includes producing the bill and taking the credit card payment

Plus you have got to give the apprentice a bit of leeway to find his spanners.:D

Joe_Horner

Strider590 wrote: »

Not to be awkward, but I have actually experienced battery explosion from trying to get more life out of a battery that was on its last legs.
Charged over night, placed back into car, tried to start and it sounded like a roadside bomb going off, covered the engine bay and wings of the car in boiling hot sulphuric acid.
It was 6am, it was dark, I couldn't see to clean up properly, the acid ate down to bare metal and the engine bay had to he hosed out.

If I get chance I'll post a photo of the battery.

Its NOT money saving to keep charging a jump starting an old dead battery!!
Even a new battery if drained to less than around 8v, will be permanently damaged.

There's a few videos on YouTube if you want to take a look.

Simply not going to happen unless there's internal damage to the battery - in which case it wouldn't have held enough charge to start this morning, or after work.

Ther are lots of scare stories about this sort of stuff, but they invariably involve mishandling, mis-charging (current significantly too high or too long) or misfitting when you finally get to the truth.

Stick a battery on an unregulated 40 amp charger overnight and you may well have problems - you'll be trying to get 400+ AHrs of electrical energy into a (maybe) 50 AHr battery, which will cause overheating and boil away lots of lovely electrolyte. Then, when you try to pass starting current through it, the rest of the electrolyte boils because the current density is too high.

But that ain't going to happen if you charge properly - check the electrolyte level first, charge at about 1/10th of its AHr rating overnight (so typically 5 - 6 amp max current for a car battery), and re-check electrolyte level after charging.

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I know someone that could fit it for free, i am going to see him on Friday, so maybe it could wait until then? Or do i just buy a charger instead?

It held charge overnight having been given not very much in the first place, and again through the day today.

Contrary to popular belief the alternator of a car does NOT charge at the alternator's rated current (usually about 60 - 70 amps). It charges at constant voltage of about 13.7v. That counts as a "float charge", which is a rate that can be kept up indefinitely without damage to the battery.

For "overnight" constant voltage charging, a voltage of 14.8 - 15 V is generally recommended, which will fully charge a battery in 12 - 24 hours or so.

That means that the half hour you gave it using the alternator was comfortably less than 1/25th (4%) of a full charge, yet it still held enough to start this morning. You do NOT need a new battery!

Get a charger, give it a full charge over New Year, and save yourself around £50 compared to what you've been quoted for the battery + fitting.

You can get chargers from places like Halfrauds, Argos, Maplin, possibly Tesco (if you have an Extra) or a lot of local hardware car accessory shops. Local shops will often be cheaper, but you shouldn't be paying more than about £25 for a decent basic one with 6 - 8 amp output.

mttylad

The battery may need topping up too.

Don't believe the tosh about them being "maintenence free".

Joe_Horner

mttylad wrote: »

"maintenence free".

Rougly translates to:

"We've glued the caps on over the fillers so, when it does run low on water in 3 or 4 years, you'll buy a new one rather than topping it up"

:beer:

Alternatively, keep it topped up and get maybe twice that life or even more out of it - our Daf 33 was running reliably on a 6V Bosch that was at least 10 years old until we gave the battery away with another car

WantToBeSE

You guys are my heroes

So i drove it for an hour after work on the dual carriageway (topped up petrol to full), drove fine. No juddering etc.

OK, next Q..(sorry!) are all chargers the same? Could i get one like this? http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7404355.htm

Says its suitable to petrol engines u pto 1.8 and mine is a 1.2 so sounds good, and good reviews too.

Wil be YouTubing how to charge it next! Presumably the charger needs charging first, then take it out to the car and attach those clips and leave it?