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Location:
Face down in a ditch
Registered:
May 2002
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Battery/Electrical Issue
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Mon, 14 April 2003 04:45
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I believe my battery is dead and am hoping someone can confirm or deny it.
I had my amplifier hooked up by the car audio person the other day. The stereo was running just off the battery for around half an hour. I then got home and had the car turned on (idling) for around half an hour with the stereo on. I turned the car off, but when I went to kick it over again.... nothing.
The car was able to be jump started so I went for a drive around at night for an hour. When I got it home I turned it off then on.... nothing.
I don't think there is a problem with the alternator because when I went for a drive the lights and all that were working perfectly.
I hooked the battery up to a battery charger and it charged in around an hour. Still, the car would not start. I don't have a spare battery so I couldn't test it. The fact that it won't start the car and charges so quickly means it must be only storing a fraction of it's maximum amount.
The whole situation suggests two things to me: never let anyone mess with your car unless you trust them implicitly; and the alternator cannot return more charge to the battery than what the stereo takes out (at least at idle).
Does anyone know how I go about measuring the current that is drawn from the battery, and how much is returned by the alternator? Also, is fitting a bigger alternator an easy thing to do?
Cheers
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Battery/Electrical Issue
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Mon, 14 April 2003 04:52
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i'd just check your alternator with a multimeter - a good one will probably output 13-14 volts whilst at idle. With your stereo running it'd probably producing a lot less than 12 which is what your battery needs to stay at a constant charge... it may have just eventually gone flat
After a while batteries do run down and get to a point where its really just not worth trying to recharge them anymore as they don't hold it for as long as they used to.
Check your alternator's voltage and i'd advise just replacing your battery anyway with a larger capacity heavy duty one for your stereo.
Dan
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I supported Toymods
Banned User
Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Battery/Electrical Issue
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Mon, 14 April 2003 05:04
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Just put a volt meter accros the barrery and get someone to crank the engine over. If the volts go below 10 the battery is flat or fucked!
One thing to note also is, most new batterys cannot be charged once they go flat unless you have a very high current battery charger!
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Location:
Face down in a ditch
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Battery/Electrical Issue
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Mon, 14 April 2003 05:11
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How do I know if the battery charger is a high current one? Apart from it saying low current charger on the unit 
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I supported Toymods
Banned User
Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Battery/Electrical Issue
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Mon, 14 April 2003 05:12
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If you paid less than $400 it will be a low current item 
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
December 2002
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Re: Battery/Electrical Issue
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Mon, 14 April 2003 07:41
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Check the fluid in the battery if its low top it up with water this will keep it going for a little bit longer but the damage is already done.
If the levels are ok and you know someone with a variable charger then put it on the charger and crank it right up till you get bubbles leave it like this for about 1-2 minutes and then charge it like normal. With old battery's they get sulfur build up on the lead plates through electrolysis when you boil them like this it shifts it all and it falls to the bottom of the battery exposing the lead on the plates. Again this is only a temporary fix and the only guaranteed way out of this for you is a new battery if it is stuffed.
The other thing you can do is take it to a battery place and get it load tested.
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