Chissy Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Any ideas, thoughs and verbal abuse welcome. 1995, Dunnell Zetec 1.8 Fitted a new battery less than two years ago, also bought a Halfords Draper battery conditioner as I have the constant drain of a Vecta immobiliser. All fine except the other week I forgot to connect conditioner (DOH) and now the battery won't accept any charge. Q1. Have I broke it? Can it be brought back to life? Q2. Assuming I need another new battery - is there a beefy battery I can buy? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Mupferit Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Lead acid batteries don't like to be left in a state of discharge and so, yes, it could well be knackered. I fitted a beefier Banner battery in my old Zetec 7 but to be honest it didn't really need it as the standard one lasted over 6 years on a conditioner. Brent 2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive R 417.39 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickie Normuss Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Some batteries won't accept a charge if they're below a minimum voltage, jump start the car and run it for a few minutes to bring the voltage up a little, then it should accept a charge Seek forgiveness, not permission. Rules are for the interpretation of wise men and the obedience of fools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blade_runner Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Is the Draper model just a trickle charger?, or is it a conditioner that cycles the battery? The draper model I looked at in halfords a while ago seemed to just be a trickle charger? which I have heard can over charge a battery and dry them out? ☹️ thats Why I bought an optimate. Edited by - blade_runner on 22 Nov 2005 14:47:02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shn7 Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Do a search of the archives. This Draper item has been discussed a few times before. I flogged mine and replace with a proper "intelligent" conditioner having replace my battery. Essentially it's not ideally suited to the small capacity batteries that we run in Sevens. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaseb Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 You might want to check if the battery has any water left in it, my trickle charger seemed to dry my battery out a little over a period of time?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 RAC guy told me to charge it via another battery i.e. conect the charger to a good battery and then via jump leads to the duff one. It worked on one of the old Excide ones Nick h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Reaper Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Yes, check the water level in your batteries now guys, especially if you are leaving them connected to conditioners over the winter period, I've found they can use it up quite quickly when charging in cold weather as the warmer electrolyte evaporates in the colder surroundings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpy the 7th Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Re a previous post on trickle chargers. I had problems with the water evaporating over a month or so, I now have a plug in timer that's on for .75 of an hour every 12 hours. I've not had to top it up since. (and I check it) rog C7 TNT - it's Dynamite!(Honda Irish Green and Peugeot Graphite grey) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Chissy The Draper conditioner is fine for continuous use. It is NOT a trickle charger as someone thought above. I have had one connected continuously to my 7 for almost 3 years and have had no battery problems whatsoever. However you should check the water levels not less than once a month if you are leaving it on a conditioner. When you tried to charge the battery after it appeared not to accept a charge, I am presuming you used a standard charger (which you should) and not by trying to charge it with the conditioner (which isn't man enough for the job other than keeping the battery topped up). The suggestion to jump start the car is a good one as the alternator is the fastest charger you possess and will probably get the battery going again. I do suspect low water levels are the problem however. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chissy Posted November 23, 2005 Author Share Posted November 23, 2005 Thank you all for your points. I have jumped the car and run for 45 min but not a sausage. Will now check water level as it has been completely ignored due to it's location! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Best to check the water BEFORE you run it as you may cause more damage by running it without sufficient. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_F Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Chris W Like you, I have a Draper Conditioner, used it continously all last winter with no problems. However, this autumn due to circumstances beyond my control (age and forgetfulness 😳 ) , the water level in the battery fell below the plates. last weekend I topped it up and put back on the Draper. Do you think the battery will recover its ability to retain charge or is it likely to be permanently damaged? I'm hoping my mistake won't be too expensive cheers Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Ron My feeling is that you will most likely be OK. What batteries really don't like is being left discharged which is not what happened in your case. The water evporates which basically increases the acidity of the total liquid in the battery. This, on its own, will not detrimentally affect the battery unless you allowed the liquid content to grossly fall. In fact, in some (very cold area) the acidity is run much higher than we would normally use, to aid starting. When you say "the water level fell below the plates" I am assuming you meant below the TOP of the plates? I don't believe it would fall "below the plates" unless you had some kind of leak which would render the battery useless anyway. So long as you have now topped it up and the battery is charged, you should be OK. Obviously the proof of the pudding etc is to monitor its starting capability over, say, the next month. Chris 2003 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_F Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Chris, Thanks for your input. Yes, I should have said "below the Top of the plates". It didn't need too much demineralised water to get the level above the plates, so it can't have been too low. As you say, we'll see over the next month or so, depending upon the weather ☹️ cheers Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 I've used Nicks method of connecting a good, fully charged battery via heavy jump leads and putting a home battery charger on the slave battery. Make sure all the connections are good. Leave for 24 hours and it should have got it above 12v. Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here You and your seven to The French Blatting Company Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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