Hi
Long story short I bought a car battery which has gone flat/dead because the vehicle it has been in has not been driven for a few weeks and charge was leaking to a separate internal circuit.
The guy from the battery shop has tried to recharge and can only get it to 10V. He reckons one of the cells might be dead. He didn’t think the supplier will honour the battery because it shouldn’t have been left that long uncharged. Just want to check if that’s actually true.
Thanks
what did the manufacturer say when you put in your warranty claim?
Contact Ozb
Did the battery fail because of some problem in its design or manufacturing? Or did it fail because it was mistreated?
The latter is the case in this case. So the warranty is voided.
I guess I’m trying to figure out if leaving it uncharged and slowly draining is misuse.
if leaving it uncharged and slowly draining is misuse.
It is.
especially AGM batteries, if left for long periods of time without proper charging, they do degrade pretty fast. Found out the hard way when my car wasn't used much during covid.
Sounds like the battery has been mistreated to me… like its specifically why trickle chargers are a thing.
Ask them. End result will be yes or no
I bought a car battery that died after a few months, took it back to Repco, exchanged for a new one
Parasitic draw is real. It will kill a new battery and void the warranty.
You broke it
Isn't it common knowledge to unplug the car battery if nobody will be driving the car for a while?
Only after you have killed at least 1 battery.
Clearly the people who are downvoting me have not yet learnt this.
Genuine question.. how long do you define “a while” in this case? Because i heard vastly different answers before.
Anything 3 weeks or more I would unplug it but even with ~2 weeks I might just do it. It's really not hard to do (only need to undo the positive terminal) and can save you a potential headache when you get back to your car.
Thanks.. yeah it is just annoying having everything reset to factory defaults so was asking so I don’t have to do it unnecessarily. Cheers
@Save 50 Cent: Yeah that's fair. My car is old and the only thing I really need to reset is the clock and the saved FM radio stations for the very rare occasion I listen to the radio.
So a fault with your vehicle has caused excessive drain on the battery and it cannot be recharged fully and somehow this is a fault of the manufacturer?
That's like saying LG should warrant your fridge if theres a lightning strike/power spike, ridiculous.
A few weeks!? That is just a normal holiday. What will drain a battery in that time?
If not used for several months, then yes, you should disconnect the battery.
Modern cars have a much higher parasitic drain.2 weeks or more you should disconnect.
Really? I know it is huge when the car is running, but citation on when parked?
Depeon the car and what accessories
A few weeks shouldn't be a problem under normal circumstances. Must have been faulty to begin with or there was something drawing an abnormal amount of power.
I bet page 478 of your car manual warns you not to leave the car cold for 10 weeks at a time.
How old is it out of interest
Battery would be about 5 months old
Ooof i mean it is touch and go. I would try my luck it would be pretty hard for them to prove you've left it fully discharged.
how will the supplier know its been left uncharged for so long? just warranty it and say one of the cell is dead.
Too late now, he already told them he left it uncharged.
Unless it's in writing just deny it.
No, running the battery flat from faulty electronics in your car is not a manufacturing defect that the manufacturer would cover
You can write to His Majesty at the following address:
Rather that ask on Oz bargain you should write to:
His Majesty The King
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA
You should open with 'Sir' and close the letter with the form 'I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Majesty's humble and obedient servant'.
Long story short I bought a car battery which has gone flat/dead because the vehicle it has been in has not been driven for a few weeks and charge was leaking to a separate internal circuit.
Ok so you had a drain on the battery and it went flat.
He didn’t think the supplier will honour the battery because it shouldn’t have been left that long uncharged. Just want to check if that’s actually true.
That's true, not really faulty as such, you drained it dead flat. That generally kills batteries.
What was the “and charge was leaking to a separate internal circuit.”?
At my old workplace, technicians would occasionally forget to turn off their car Sat phones before going on leave for a couple of weeks. Guaranteed to kill the battery, and definitely not a manufacturer warranty issue.
It’s an internal lithium battery so similar to your scenario
Lithium batteries tend to have a built in BMS that will disconnect when the voltage gets too low to avoid damaging the cells. The BMS may keep drawing a very small amount of current which will lead to the cells eventually becoming damaged, but in my experience that takes more than a few weeks.
It would be helpful to know the brand, capacity, and chemistry of the battery.
I don’t know the lithium brand but the lead battery is Yuasa power series.
how long was it undriven? u said a few weeks so it could be 8-9 weeks (2 months)
About 6 weeks
You should drive your car once a week or two when it's not being used. Ask a friend or family member to do it if you can't. Your car battery will die after it's completely drained. I did this for my company's car and also a relative's car when they went on long holidays earlier this year.
As a random person on the internet i say they should honour it.
Lawyer up!!
P.s. what did the manufacturer say when you put in your warranty claim?