Hey All,
I stupidly left the ignition on in my 420 and have seemingly done damage to the Banner battery, even though a CTek was connected. There's literally no voltage, it appears open circuit and the charger refuses to see it. I removed it to test etc.
I've ordered a replacement as I appreciate what's happened has probably done permanent damage. Rather than send it to the tip, I'm wondering if there's any possibility of getting some life back into it. I've a number of trailer related projects on the boil and a test car battery would be handy.
Any workable tips to recover ?
thanks for the advice.....
Yes, you might be able to.
1 Top it up.
2 If it wasn't detected by the smart conditioning charger then try brute force with an old-fashioned dumb trickle charger or jumping from a vehicle with the engine running ≥ 3,000 rpm.
3 After a bit of that try it with the smart conditioning charger again.
4 This might force it back into life. But I would never rely on it anywhere that it mattered if it didn't start the engine. But as a low-current bench or workshop power source that wouldn't be the case.
Jonathan
PS: What are you going to put in the Seven to replace it?
"Whats the best battery these days"
"Li ion batteries"
Jonathan
If the Banner was previously doing a good job my opinion would be just fit another!
Stu.
Caterham and Lotus Seven Club Leadership Team Member
The register for all numbered limited-edition Caterhams ....... www.thecaterhamregister.net ...... www.instagram.com/thecaterhamregister
I never charge my Banner but do have a cut off key which I use whenever the car isn't in use.
8 years, 2 years and the odd slow start after 18 months are my 3 experiences. I bought one ready to swap the other day for £77 and they are simple to replace.
I don't have a cut off key so do connect to an Optimate during summer but in the winter I completely disconnect and give it a charge every 6 weeks or so. First Banner failed at 3yo, but hadn't been disconnected during the lay up. Replacement Banner going strong at 4yo.
Thanks all.
I gave it a poke this afternoon with a bench power supply set at 12v and 1A. That seems to have sparked it into life but its not well. The CTek is now happy to charge it too.
I've managed to get the Banner to hold 12v but it certainly can't support any form of drain. In fact even its presence in the circuit seems to impact any secondary supply. I've added a booster pack, and also a trailer battery across the terminals the 420R still won't crank. I connected the trailer battery the 420R and all good, she started straight away.
I've opted for a replacement Banner from Tayna as I likely damaged the battery, so can't really complain about them. Picking a different battery for me is limited by who will delivery to the Isle of Man, batteries are tricky things for shipping, many online retailers don't want to known. Tayna were super helpful.
It would have been nice to have considered a lighter battery such as a LiPO but I've four CTek charges due to Amazon/Hermes inability to communicate. The chargers only support the classic lead acid, so i've stuck with the same setup.
Thanks
Thanks for adding the outcome.
Jonathan
Nw Jonathan.
I've left the Banner on the CTek to see if it can at least recover the battery to a usable state for low current applications. I'm building a rear facing camera system of the trailer, so having a battery in the study is handy for dev.
Have you checked the liquid level in every cell ?
I haven't, given I'm working on the assumption that the failure is due to me leaving the ignition on the battery was fine prior. Unless draining it impacts the liquid level???.
I'll be honest I'm not overly keen to open it up.