Vauxhall Astra G Petrol (1998 - 2004) - 03 1.8 Battery

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Wed 27 May 2009 20:21
03 1.8 Battery - ndbw
Checking tyres found them needing topping up,turned on ignition to be able to plug electric pump into cigar lighter socket,completed tyres then showed my wife around,oil,washer bottle etc.

Some 4hrs later thought did I turn off ignition,answer on checking No I had not,the battery was completely flat,dash lights no radio had gone into SAFE and will need recoding,the only charger I had was a .06amp trickle one I plugged this in and left it overnight to my surprise the following morning ie after about 15hrs the car started perfectly and my wife was able to drive to town (7miles) to shop and everything is ok apart from of course the radio still on safe until recoding.

my queries are I am surprised there was enough drain from ignition on only,and that the trickle charger was able to put enough in to start up,it is the original battery 2003,do you think I need a new battery?.

Commentst please,
ndbw
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Wed 27 May 2009 21:30
03 1.8 Battery - Victorbox
Quite possible to flatten a battery a few years old plus juice the electric pump would have taken. Things like fuel pump wake up and prime when you turn on ignition.

If you didn't disconnect battery leads it was a good job it was only a trickle charger. Most chargers will charge a battery overnight enough to start an engine even on trickle.
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Wed 27 May 2009 22:24
03 1.8 Battery - Dynamic Dave
I expect with everything turned off, the battery recovered overnight itself to provide enough current to start the car, and then the alternator did the rest.
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Wed 27 May 2009 22:22
03 1.8 Battery - ndbw
Thanks for that victorbox,one querie you mentioned need to disconnect battery before charging ? have not heard of this could you explain as I was thinking of bying a larger charger in case I did anything stupid again.

Regards ndbw
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Wed 27 May 2009 23:18
03 1.8 Battery - Victorbox
Car electrics and circuitry don't like great lumps of electricity from relatively unsophisticated battery chargers being put through them. From the year dot it has been good practice to disconnect both battery leads before charging - particularly on a fast charge. Disconnect earth lead first - reconnect last.

Modern trickle chargers / conditioners e.g. www.hamiltonclassic.co.uk/acatalog/CTEKChargers.ht...l are designed to be left on all the time if car is in storage and without the need to disconnect battery from car but they have specialist circuitry in them to prevent damage.

Edited by Victorbox on 27/05/2009 at 23:21

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