Caterham Kid

It was an eBay purchase so not so easy to just take it back and explain. However I have sent them an email to explain what I did and ask if they have any expalanation so I will see what, if anything, they come back with.

Being red/black colour blind must be a pain in the Ok ok I feel enough of an idiot without it being rubbed in all the time I didnt even look at the terminals. Just dropped the new battery in and connected the cables back up. Bad assumption. You know what they say about assumption! I'd still give the seller a shout. They might at least be able to explain why it fried the battery. I will see if I can contact them and ask their opinion. In the meantime... I also struggled to get the leads to the battery when I swapped from Banner to this battery, same problem. Some careful clever re-routing sorted it though, snip the cable ties and see if you can shuffle them about a bit. I eventually bought a battery cage and laid it flat on the bulkhead where a heater would normally go. Much easier and the cables reach no problem. I have snipped some cable ties and rerouted so it reaches. It is not perfect. Have you got any pictures of your battery cage and bulkhead mod? That would be really useful. I read a post here on BC recently where it was stated that the battery was a direct swap for the banner (apart from size). It would have been nice to know then about the terminal swap. It was another reason I didnt pay so much attention! Edited by - Caterham Kid on 11 Apr 2013 11:40:07

I have just bumped in to bluenose (Nick) in the office and he slapped my wrist for being such and idiot! I did say I felt a bit of a prat but he admitted it could happen to anyone. Oh well, it will teach me to take more time and be more observant next time.... I hope! Edited by - Caterham Kid on 11 Apr 2013 09:58:04

*arrowup* As I proved yesterday we dont always spot the obvious!!! I have traditional instruments I think. Electronic trip meter. Edited by - Caterham Kid on 11 Apr 2013 09:45:24 Edited by - Caterham Kid on 11 Apr 2013 09:45:43

I have ordered another battery which I am hoping will arrive tomorrow. As I have started the car I was hoping that all was ok. Presumably if the ECU was damaged it would not start, similarly with the immobiliser etc. The only thing not checked is the alternator. While I am waiting I can check that by using my jump start pack, start the car and ensure I have 14 to 14.5V or there abouts at the terminals. The car is due a service so I am thinking of sending it in and getting it all checked. I usually do most things myself but due to lack of time and that fact that there is now stuff that needs doing and checking that I dont fancy doing myself (or am not able to do!) I thought I would send it in. Dont know who to yet! however due to various recent costs on house maintenance etc, if i have alternator and/or ECU issues, I may have to leave it until I can afford to get it done.

How would I check the ECU? Surely that won't have been impacted (I hope!). As I have started the car since wouldn't that mean that is ok? I would have thought that if it had shorted like that then the fuses are there to protect these sorts of things

Did it create rather large sparks when you connected and disconnected it? It didn't notice any when I connected it but it did spark when I disconnected. Just a thought, and a long shot, but are you sure whatever you're using to measure the voltage with is working OK? Yes. Using a decent multimeter which has been recently checked. My main concern now is whether the alternator and rectifier/regulator is still working. Hope to be able to check that this evening or tomorrow. Not sure if there is anything else I should be worrying about.

Well after 2 hours on desulphation mode (maximum to recover heavily discharged battery) the optimate switched off and the battery is still 0 volts... So I guess it's f***** then!!! Brand new to dead before it had a chance at a decent life in my Seven! I suppose I better order another one. I think the only thing that remains uncertain is whether the alternator is still working. I should be able to test that if I can use the old battery and get it started. Some 20 minute job this turned out to be! *cry*

Try returning it as faulty to the supplier Have to admit that did briefly cross my mind but I quickly realised that is not the right thing to do!!! Might have to order aanother one though. If I could just go to Halfords and get a battery I would. Optimate is still in desulphation mode.Apparently the fact that is is 0 volts is not necessarliy terminal. Dont really fancy leaving it unattended so will probably disconnect it later before I go to bed. Seems like my 20 minute job is going to turn in to a real hassle.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the battery is only half the thickness of the Banner, why is it so difficult to connect the cables once it is turned through 180 degrees with the terminals on the right sides ? Because the main black and red leads will only reach as far as the front edge of the battery but I can switch them over. I had to reroute a couple of other cables and that was much easier. I only noticed the main red and black leads getting warm but there was possibly more. As soon as I noticed and realised my mistake I concentrated on disconnecting the battery. Before I started I had about 13.8 volts across the battery. Now 0 volts

Glad I am not the only one not thinking clearly this evening! Nothing got hot only warm. I noticed the main leads connecting to the battery getting warm and then I noticed. I immediately undid the bolts on the terminal and disconnected the leads. I would expect fuses to blow before the ignition or immobiliser getting knackered. It seems to me that the battery has heavily discharged. I am hoping that the Optimate will sort it out but I dont know whether I am wasting my time. Off to check what the Optimate is doing!!!

My banner battery has died so I bought one of these... Battery I made an assumption, stupidly as it turns out, that there was a standard for the terminal location. I had also heard it was a direct replacement only needing a block of wood or similar to pad out the battery tray and bracket. Battery turned up today. Removed the old one and dropped the new one in no problem connected it up to immediately discover that the terminals are the opposite way round. Obviously Immediately disconnected it as things began to get warm. It was only connected for about 20 to 30 seconds (long enough!!!). I then went through the pain or working out how to get the cables rerouted to go to the other side. I couldn’t turn the battery round as the main cables would never have reached. Got the whole lot connected up to find that there was now zero volts. Put the battery on a charger for about an hour but nothing registering. I did get the car started using my jump starting pack. I have also now managed to get the battery out the car and on my optimate on desulfation mode. Do you think the battery is knackered? Will I have caused any other issues connecting it briefly the wrong way? What should I do now? Promise of decent weather coming up and no Seven!!! Being a chartered electrical engineer I should have paid more attention. Especially when it comes to electrics. Clearly being too complacent!!! Edited by - Caterham Kid on 10 Apr 2013 21:29:07

Very dark grey or possibly black on Headley Common Road at about 1pm Monday. I was in the silver BMW that flashed going the other way.

On a trailer at Jacobs Well heading towards the A3. Didn't see it until you had passed so didn't really catch the colour. Could have been silver or white and had stripes. It was at about 13:15 Easter Sunday.

Dangerous places for caterhams, supermarket car parks Chris. Mine very nearly had it's rear skin bashed by a runaway trolley. I caught it just in time. I now avoid them (in fact I avoid all shopping) Nah! I take mine to Sainsbury's shopping quite often. I felt a bit of a plank walking round with a basket in one hand & a wheel in the other. Done that (walked round with the steering wheel not felt a bit of a plank!). Don't worry about it. As already said it is a conversation starter. So imagine a trolley and a steering wheel in hand Done that as well! I have had some strange looks, especially when turning the steering wheel and making brrrm brrrm noises much to the amusement of my girlfriend's 8 year old daughter! Who cares! At east I'm having fun. The problem comes when you have bought all your shopping and despite having the steering wheel in hand you have forgotten that you have come in the Caterham and now have far too much shopping including cases of beer etc. Quite an exercise to get 2 of us in the car and all the shopping! Edited by - Caterham Kid on 26 Mar 2013 13:34:34

Well... It goes on fine if I take the spare wheel off first put the rack on and then put the spare wheel back on. A little bit of a hassle but I guess I could live with it.

My Seven is a 2004 Roadsport. Hopefully at the weekend I will take the spare wheel off and ensure the rack fits ok. I will then follow your suggestion to see how I can fit it with the spare wheel in place. I have already realised it may need a small tweak in the vice!

Just looked up on the Caterham Cars website and there is only one luggage rack so the tyre carriers must all be the same size. It must be just my peculiar location of tyre carrier, tyre and number plate. I will have to fiddle around more when I get more time.

If you can post the dimensions - width, distance between the locating lugs, etc I'll happily measure mine, which works on a Supersprint and a K-Series, as a comparison. Internal width at bottom: 455mm Internal width between locating lugs: 390mm Distance between locating lug and outer tube: 35mm I only did a quick measurement from corner to corner (where the rack seems to fit on) and it is approximately 42cm. The rack seems to be about 45 between mounting points. I didnt do very acurrate measurements though. It seems to be very tight between tyre and the carrier. There is hardly any room for the mounting points of the luggage rack. The number plate gets in the way but it can be moved out the way... just!! Long term risk of breaking the number plate though. Could you have picked up one for an SV by mistake? The spare tyre carrier should be the same though surely??? Edited by - Caterham Kid on 18 Feb 2013 19:06:31

I bought a Caterham luggage rack at the Caterham Farewell event yesterday. I even tried it on one of the cars there to see how it fitted. However when I tried it on my car it wont even remotely fit. The luggage rack is too wide for the wheel carrier. It only cost me £4 so I am not too concerned but can anyone shed any light on the situation as I was amazed to discover they dont all seem to be the same.

BTTT I have updated the original post to reflect what I have left and lowered my asking prices.

BTTT

Thanks Mark. Good to meet you too. That would be great and hope to catch up with you again soon.

Deleted... Double post! Edited by - Caterham Kid on 21 Sep 2012 22:12:43

Any age for a lesson with a Qualified Flying Instructor. 14 for time to be credited towards the licence syllabus. 16 to go solo. 17 to qualify for the licence privileges. Agreed. Sorry, I didn't give enough details. I presumed that by the time you have done enough training to go solo you would be old enough. I was also inferring that there is no upper age limit as long as you are medically fit enough. Anyway, never mind all that, anyone want to buy any of my kit 🤔 😬 Edited by - Caterham Kid on 21 Sep 2012 22:13:06