Batteries

[brokenot]

Anyway they would discharge a batter in a week if they set at the airport while folks were out on flights. Same thing with my mechanics Mountaineer. He rides a motor cycle in the summer and it will go dead in about a week just sitting.

There's gotta be something wrong there....

While it's true that some vehicles do have more battery drain than others while sitting, if the battery and charging system are up to snuff, sitting for a week should pose no issues whatsoever. A month maybe, but not a week.

Our road salesmen have a couple of Hyundai SUVs among the vehicles they use. After seeing the two of them in our equipment shop for the umpteenth time, (one of the other techs was working on them), I wandered over to see what the deal was. Same situation....again. The batteries were going dead after four or five days' worth of sitting. So far, new batteries and alternators had been installed with no changes. I asked if engine-off battery drain had been checked yet, and that's where he was going to go next.

Since there's rarely a problem out there that someone else hasn't had yet, I Googled "Hyundai Sante Fe battery drain", and found some hits on a factory defect with the vehicle's radio. Before replacing it, we just left it disconnected for a while. No more dead battery.

Found this stuff after a quick Googling of the Mountaineer:




Default
Battery - Discharges After Vehicle Storage
TSB 07-5-13
03/19/07
DISCHARGED BATTERIES - VEHICLES IN
STORAGE/LIMITED USAGE
FORD:
2005-2008 Mustang
2005 Explorer Sport Trac
2005-2008 Expedition, Explorer
2007-2008 Explorer Sport Trac
LINCOLN:
2005-2008 Navigator
MERCURY:
2005-2008 Mountaineer
ISSUE
Some 2005-2008 Mustang , Explorer 4dr, Mountaineer, Expedition, Navigator, 2005 Explorer Sport Trac and 2007-2008 Explorer Sport Trac vehicles may experience a no start and have a discharged battery. They are usually stored for prolonged periods of time or are driven infrequently for short distances. Batteries will discharge while the vehicle is in storage due to normal current draw loads. Over a period of time, 30 days or more, vehicles in storage will have shallow to deeply discharged batteries as a result of lack of use or normal current draw.
ACTION
Follow the Service Tips steps to correct the condition.
SERVICE TIPS
1.
Charging system diagnostics and battery draw test are located in Workshop Manual, Section 414-00.
2.
Discharged batteries need to be properly recharged following the procedures in TSB 07-5-8.
3.
All modern automobiles have several micro processors in their electrical system that will draw small amounts of electrical current when the vehicle key is off. Normal current draw is between 20-30 milliamps (workshop manual specification is up to 50 milliamps 0.050 amps).
4.
The more discharged a battery becomes, the more susceptible it is to permanent damage. This is more likely in low temperatures (below 32 ｰF (0 ｰC).
Batteries will discharge while the vehicle is in storage due to normal current draw loads. Over a period of time (30 days or more), vehicles in storage will have shallow to deeply discharged batteries as a result of lack of use or normal current draw.
__________________

 

[Diamondpilot]

Our company had over 20 of them and they all did it. Same thing with many new cars and boats. So many little thing require electrical power even while sitting idle. On my mechanics Mountaineer he put a amp meter in between the negative batter post and the negative cable with it off. It was pulling nearly 2 amps. Does not sound like much multiply that by 24 hours then by 7 days and you can see what will happen in a week.

Chris

 

[SPYDERLK]

On my mechanics Mountaineer he put a amp meter in between the negative batter post and the negative cable with it off. It was pulling nearly 2 amps. Does not sound like much multiply that by 24 hours then by 7 days and you can see what will happen in a week.
Chris

Yeah! 48Ahr per day ... The battery will have been dead for five or six days. Thats a horrible stand by drain. Should be some suits over that.
larry

 

[beppington]

Last year or early this year there was a topic where guys talked about getting as much as 13-15 years out of their truck batteries. I've searched but can't find it. Anyone know what they were doing to get such long life out of their batteries?

In post #13 in this thread (http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/related-topics/180770-battery-boiling-while-charging-yikes.html) "Transit" says: "I have batteries well over 15+ years in service."

 

[brokenot]

On my mechanics Mountaineer he put a amp meter in between the negative batter post and the negative cable with it off. It was pulling nearly 2 amps.

That would drain a battery fairly quickly, but I'll bet it's a lot more than what's listed as "acceptable" in the service manual. Usually, allowable key-off battery drain is expressed in milliamps.

As always, I say to consult a service manual to obtain a spec for a given vehicle. But just for giggles, I just went out and checked my '01 Explorer in the driveway. I disconnected the battery and hooked my meter into the circuit. Immediately after connecting my leads and completing the circuit, the reading went to 1400 milliamps or 1.4 amps. BUT.....it only stayed at 1400 milliamps for a few seconds, then it dropped back to 220-230 milliamps. (Less than 1/4 amp).

I did the test four or five times and it was consistent. The 1.4 amp draw dropped back to less than 1/4 amp after about seven seconds every time. I didn't time it with a stopwatch or anything, I just counted one thousand one....one thousand two....one thousand three, etc.

2 amps continuously? I'm pretty sure there's a problem somewhere...

 

[Diamondpilot]

That would drain a battery fairly quickly, but I'll bet it's a lot more than what's listed as "acceptable" in the service manual. Usually, allowable key-off battery drain is expressed in milliamps.

As always, I say to consult a service manual to obtain a spec for a given vehicle. But just for giggles, I just went out and checked my '01 Explorer in the driveway. I disconnected the battery and hooked my meter into the circuit. Immediately after connecting my leads and completing the circuit, the reading went to 1400 milliamps or 1.4 amps. BUT.....it only stayed at 1400 milliamps for a few seconds, then it dropped back to 220-230 milliamps. (Less than 1/4 amp).

I did the test four or five times and it was consistent. The 1.4 amp draw dropped back to less than 1/4 amp after about seven seconds every time. I didn't time it with a stopwatch or anything, I just counted one thousand one....one thousand two....one thousand three, etc.

2 amps continuously? I'm pretty sure there's a problem somewhere...

I am wondering now if it was peaking at around 2 amps and he did not leave it on long enough for it to come back down. Its a 05 V8 Mountaineer.

Anyway, I know of over 20 vehicles that I have dealt with that will not start after sitting for more than a week. Like I said before my dad and my uncle both have issues with the Vette's and so does my boss. All those Caddys we had as company cars would kill a battery in just over a week also.

Even in your example at .225 amps, taking the average of your readings, times 24 hours times 7 days will be about 38 amp draw in 1 week.

Chris

 

[clemsonfor]

I get an easy 6-7 years out of what use to be the walmart 2 yr free replacement batts. NOw walmart has the 3 yr free batts. An aside note walmart no longer prorates batteries once out of the free period thats it! But battery technology is much better than it once was, and they last much longer. I replaced the one i had in highschool/early college in a ford tempo i had, it was 7 years old but that was when i traveled a lot to hunt and late at night and before cell phones were as common so i just bought a new one even though it was still good.

We bought a toyoto Highlander from Carmax a little over a yr ago. They said the only problem when it came in was a bad battery. Its a 2001 so it prolly was the OE battery. They got i guess the toyota (panasonic brand, it had jap writing and toyota on it), battery to go in it when they were inspecting it. The battery went dead within 6 months of out purchase, mabe less. The battery by date code was basically new not even a yr old. I just went to wal mart and got a new one as the store was over 1 hour each way to it, im sure they would have got me one but i was not about to drive 2hours to deal with the swap, i just paid the $75. Almost 1 year later no trouble. Bad off the shelf i guess.