Well, my new batteries arrive today and I have data on the old ones. So I’ll see if there is any noticeable difference between an aged battery and a brand new one.
Sure you see the drop when starting the car but the alternator should kick in almost instantly.
A good battery remains above 9V while swinging the engine. Just as a data point for people reading. But you will also get to know your own car, and then see it go lower over time.
I’m not sure a meter connected to the 12V outlet would always work for this. In some cars, the accessories are disconnected while the starter is active, so the meter will just drop to zero while starting.
True, as with my F800GS, where I had to wire the voltmeter directly to the bike battery, but through my aux lights fuseblock.
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Kneejerk, but again for the silent audience reading… fuse it. Small 100mA fuse or whatever the smallest automotive grade you can find.
Agreed and edited my message to clarify that direct to battery is actually through my aftermarket auxiliary lights fuse block - Motorcycle lights
Everyone that owns a car should invest in a good battery charger especially if you are using lead acid batteries. Sulphation is usually the cause of a “dead” battery. A good battery charger is the answer. Plug it in and let it go to work on those sulphated plates.
I always get in excess of 5 years life on average on any car battery. My bakkies (Isuzu KB300) battery (lead acid Sabat I think) is currently 5 years old. Did a “maintenance” charge in February and will do another next month. Its showing no sign of giving up the ghost anytime soon. My wife’s car has an Atlas AGM battery. Fitted in Jan 2020. 2.5 years old and still going strong.
My record on a car battery is currently 7.5 years on the wife’s car which we replaced in Jan 2020. I’m currently going for the record with my Isuzu battery. Around 2.5 years to go so we’ll see.
Aside from that my battery chargers have paid themselves off seeing as though I have only bought one battery in 7.5 years and we have only 4 cars now. We previously had 6 cars for a lot of those 7.5 years.
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My dad had a 2014 FJ Cruiser, just before hard lock down in 2020 the battery gave out. Japanese writing on the battery, couldn’t make out brand or model, so obviously it was the original factory fitted OEM battery, soos hy van sy ma af gekom het in 2014.
A big culpret with vehicle batteries is tracking units, if your battery isn’t lasting, measure if any current gets drawn from the battery while the vehicle is switched off. Tracking units have internal batteries but these eventually fail, then it draws all its current directly from your vehicle battery 24/7.
Do you know what current they draw?
And if you don’t have a valid contract do they still draw the same current??
No idea exactly how much they draw, I guess this will all depend on the model. Years ago I had a friend working for C-Track, I remember their normal car tracking units drew around 150 mA, but their big fleet management units which they fitted in trucks and busses could draw up to 2A depending on config.
I highly doubt once the contract runs out the company will go to the effort of remotely disabling the unit, so it will still draw power until the day you rip it out.
A friend bought a car a few months ago, we found something looking like a tracking unit in the boot behind a plastic panel, actually not well hidden at all.
When he had his new tracking unit installed, he asked the installer about it, the installer confirmed that it’s a tracking unit from a different company, but said he is not allowed to remove it.
I disconnected it myself, but decided to leave it in place as a dummy.