I just killed the battery in a 2015 Jimny by leaving the lights on. It was standing with lights "on" for about 24h, and now the battery won't receive charge from my CTEC charger.
It is well known, that discharging lead-acid batteries below certain voltages is likely going to kill it.
Why doesn't an expensive equipment like a car include a relatively cheap low voltage discharge protection?
Yes, but you can get a backup battery for the low-voltage protection device. Worried the backup battery will fail? Just get the optional backup battery backup battery!
Probably because it's a 4wd so generally people offroading don't want them to turn off
True that it’s good to be able to leave lights on if you are out camping etc, but it wouldn’t be hard to add tha ability for the body control unit that controls the lights to have a low voltage sensor that cuts the lights if the battery voltage goes low enough the car may have trouble starting.
This results of this poll tells you everything wrong with the Ozbargain concisely. If you've lived long enough and had a car where you could accidentally leave the lights on there's a very good chance you've done so, even if you were lucky enough not to kill your battery. "You can't cure stupid" is not a reason to forego an extra layer of protection to save waste and hassle. It's not as critical to have these protections in place as it is for a safety issue (such as batteries exploding) but if you don't have multiple redundant mechanisms in place to prevent errors, someone is going to make the mistake.
They are probably the same people that were against seatbelts because "I never make mistakes".
Also, the poll options are silly too. The OP asks a question that is not an option in the poll… go figure. There is no "I agree cars/batteries should have that protection". People were just jbaited.
I don't mind 1 person putting up a ridiculous poll anywhere near as much as I mind over 85% of people voting to say everyone who makes a common mistake does so because they are stupid and you can't cure them. This community can be toxic.
I used to work at Supercharge.
Try this trick, if the battery has really low voltage then your charger will not detect it. Try to get a jump pack on it then connect the charger. The charger will detect voltage and begin to slowly charge the battery.
Battery could still be salvageable. Get it charged then take it to Supercheap/Autobarn/Repco and ask them to test it. If the CCA rating is lower than half of the CCA rating written on the battery, then replace.
Pull your jumper leads out. Connect batter to another car. Attach battery charger and start. Give it an hour or so , disconnect , do a repair mode if your charger supports it.
Most new cars these days will have the smarts to turn the lights on off automatically.
However, for old cars, I’d recommend to get a LVD connected to your battery, which should fix up not stupidity per say, but someone who may forget or has a busy brain. LVD is your solution, easy and cheap.
first page on google didn't give any results for LVD that made sense , is it Low Voltage D……?
Disconnect
Low voltage disconnect - will need an auto elec
The fail safe of low battery protection will still need an expert out to reset it for those unaware enough to do it in the first place, so not really solving the problem.
i'm not sure if this has to be the case on a car but all my camping equipment and power tools that have low voltage cutoff automatically reset after a bit of charge.
Driving a non-EV in 2022
Hahahaha
The ctek mxs 5.0 has "recon" mode which does quite a good job of handling this situation.
My 2009 Hyundai Getz turns everything off after I open the door, however it is a car.
I think a vehicle like yours has a more utilitarian user diligence approach, so you can leave the lights on a spot while working outside the vehicle if you really want.
A low voltage auxiliary shutoff would be handy though.
Charging a battery from dead flat, requires a certain kind of charger to overcome the initial resistance of the battery, a tiny charger won't suffice. The Vehicles alternator can kick it in the pants back to life but you'd need to jump start your vehicle first, then idle for about half an hour to an hour, you can also elevate the revs slightly, although the voltage is regulated the amperage can be better and it might give you another half volt or so.
But if the battery is really old, get a new one. It's also handy to have one of these in the back being topped up via a boot cigarette charger, its more effective for this use case over what you're using, as thats more so for maintaining. That portable unit is also handy for running outdoor appliances or camping and doesn't really cost any more than the maintain unit.
Cost, simple as that
I actually did this, killed my battery dead, my smart charger wouldn't charge it after the health check… but I managed to revive my battery by acting quick to reverse the sulfation using an old school dumb charger thanks to a tip from someone in the know - I can't remember the exact details as I just followed instructions on a link he sent me, but essentially I hit the battery with some charge with it for a long while, then connected the smart charger (from memory it may have even been in parallel - but check this - it may be a dumb idea!?) and got it to complete a full charge cycle, and it actually recharged and has been going at least another 6 months since!!
E.g. -
Can Battery Sulfation Be Reversed?
Sulfation can be reversed in a flooded lead acid battery if it is detected early enough. You can do this by applying an overcharge to a fully charged battery using a regulated current of around 200mA (milliAmps) for a period of roughly 24 hours. This allows the battery's terminal voltage to rise between 2.50 and 2.66 volts per cell, which helps to dissolve sulfate crystals.
If your battery is discharged too low to attempt this, there are battery chargers available that are designed to recover severely discharged batteries. These devices work by sending pulses to the battery terminals in order to reverse sulfation. If you're looking for a charger that can restore a sulfated battery, we suggest the X2Power 7.5 amp charger, which comes with a Recovery mode for deeply discharged or sulfated batteries. Keep in mind that sulfation is particularly difficult to reverse in AGM and thin plate pure lead AGM batteries, since they don't react well to low amp charging.
https://patch.com/maryland/elkridge/how-to-revive-or-desulph…
so I forced some charge into the battery with my Gooloo jumpstarter,
and that enabled the CTEK to do a full recharge with reconditioning function. It got ready just in time to put it back in the car this morning and get to work.
If my $500 camping fridge and many other cheaper power tools have a low voltage cutoff then cost is just a poor excuse for omitting this functionality from a ~$30k equipment. It was fully my mistake for forgetting, but technology is here to be used and it's cheap. Ultimately from the opinions here, it seems the only reason this technology is not in every car is -> cost. It is apparently a useful feature you get in better equipped cars.
Driving to work and back 5-6 times a week for years, it's just bound to happen that you will forget at one time. Considering the popularity of home-automation in Ozbargain I was expecting a bit more sympathy :)
And IMHO automatic on/off lights should be mandatory on all new vehicles. I drive to work very early in the morning and sometimes come back late, the amount of drivers trying to "save electricity" in those dawn/dusk hours is frustrating :) I do consider it a safety issue that could be easily fixed.
Thanks everyone for the input and opinions!, poll was obviously just for fun and was supposed to indicate me acknowledging that it was "my bad" - hopefully it wasn't too frustrating to anyone.
And IMHO automatic on/off lights should be mandatory on all new vehicles. I drive to work very early in the morning and sometimes come back late, the amount of drivers trying to "save electricity" in those dawn/dusk hours is frustrating :) I do consider it a safety issue that could be easily fixed.
Go see an auto sparky and see if you can get auto on headlights. Ie wired so when engine is running the lights are on.
My 1988 toyota cressida would turn the headlights off once you opened the drivers door (if the engine was off), not sure why this cant be a standard feature on any modern car
seems like a lot of cars have this warning feature based on people replies.
my car has it too but the sound is quite subtle / not loud enough. in a underground carpark or quiet area is fine but on a busy road probably not. not to mention when you are in a rush or too much stuff going on in your mind. you will hear nothing.
what OP suggests is a good feature
Some vehicles have it. But overall the big reason why is because it's not relevant information that's going to damage your vehicle.
Allow me to elaborate
- You have a check engine light because if there is an engine problem with your vehicle, it can cause potentially significant damage to your vehicle or even risk your safety.
- Whilst if your battery is running low or dies…..it's not really going to cause any damage to your vehicle or impact your safety, it's just going to an inconvenience.
also, ofcourse, it always comes down to $$$….the car manufacturers earn nothing from changing a battery, as it's so easy to do and anybody can do it without buying anything from a car manufacturer…..However, needing to get the engine checked? you may need to take that back to the dealership, hence more money to the dealership or manufacturer.
it's so easy to do and anybody can do it without buying anything from a car manufacturer…
That’s changing. More computers in the car, more chance of something causing a software glitch that may require a visit to a specialist. Some fancy cars require ‘calibrating’ the battery when you install a new one.
It could be a very simple fix (software update) to prevent the inconvenience for a motorist. Of course a totally dead battery is going to be an inconvenience either way.
i'm pretty sure it requires more than a simple software update to do. There is some hardware (grant it it can be small and cheap) that's required to tell the battery voltage and charge.
I do agree though, cars are changing and more and more out there have it already in it.
The ecu already reads the battery voltage. The rest can likely be done with software, especially if the vehicle runs a body control module responsible for things like wipers and lights.
@Euphemistic: not all ECU's read the battery voltage. Some do, and sure in those cases its possible to do a simple software update, but for the other cases, not true.
You will be suprised how dumb some ECU's and body control modules can actually be, they don't read it into as much detail as you suspect, unless you get a care that's full of all the tech features.
Hit the lock remote twice works on many cars!!
To do what?
To lock and then unlock the car… Or is that unlock and then lock…
Nah my Kia locks with lighs on and pressing lock again the lights go off. Sort of a be safe in Communist QLD attempt but in reallity it does not solve the crime here!
BMWs have had intelligent battery monitoring since 2006. Once they are asleep if they detect current draw they will hard shutoff internal relays to stop battery drain until a door is opened again. Its not uncommon for a battery in BMW to last 8-10years with the charging and monitoring system. I got 11years out of my original battery in 320i.
Voltage is one component, the amperage the battery can put out goes down over time.
A brand new battery that is at a lower voltage will start a car better than a fully charged, but 5 year old worn battery.
You mean drain more power by monitoring it?… sorta defeats the purpose.