Feeling drained .

[Mike X]

Hi all .
Funny thing happened yesterday.
My Spyder had been on trickle charge since Wednesday , I got her out for a bit of tinkering ( Sunday ) started the engine to back out of the garage then again a bit later to let my neighbour into his garage , I went through all the fuses in the footwell ( drivers seat and mirrors not working ) , pulling them out to check them one by one , actually I did find a bodged one that had fuse wire wrapped around it , good news is that my drivers seat and the mirrors now work , bad news is that the battery was too flat to start her again by tea time .
I checked my paperwork and a new Yuasa battery was fitted in 2017 but she was then laid up for about a year before I bought her .
When I first picked her up I drove 100 miles home then garaged her and went on holiday , by the time I got back to her two weeks later the battery was flat , no trickle hook up at this point .
So I am hoping the previous long nap has bu@@ered the battery ?????
What do you guys think , is that possible ???
I have a mechanic friend who is going to test it for me tomorrow but if it ain’t the battery then I have a massive drain on the electrical system somewhere , I guess there is a fair bit of power being used by the alarm , clock etc but to toast the battery in a day seems a bit excessive.
I will let you know .

Mike .

P.S. wish me luck

 

[alfatwo]

Hi all .
Funny thing happened yesterday.
My Spyder had been on trickle charge since Wednesday , I got her out for a bit of tinkering ( Sunday ) started the engine to back out of the garage then again a bit later to let my neighbour into his garage , I went through all the fuses in the footwell ( drivers seat and mirrors not working ) , pulling them out to check them one by one , actually I did find a bodged one that had fuse wire wrapped around it , good news is that my drivers seat and the mirrors now work , bad news is that the battery was too flat to start her again by tea time .
I checked my paperwork and a new Yuasa battery was fitted in 2017 but she was then laid up for about a year before I bought her .
When I first picked her up I drove 100 miles home then garaged her and went on holiday , by the time I got back to her two weeks later the battery was flat , no trickle hook up at this point .
So I am hoping the previous long nap has bu@@ered the battery ?????
What do you guys think , is that possible ???
I have a mechanic friend who is going to test it for me tomorrow but if it ain’t the battery then I have a massive drain on the electrical system somewhere , I guess there is a fair bit of power being used by the alarm , clock etc but to toast the battery in a day seems a bit excessive.
I will let you know .

Mike .

P.S. wish me luck

That's about right Mike, like most modern cars 2 weeks and the battery's flat....
I suspect your battery without any use for sometime is now also knackered!

Get a new battery and a small plug in mains charger/conditioner when your not useing the car

Dave

 

[TridentTested]

Sometimes when batteries are drained they never recover full health.

In the scheme of Maserati ownership costs, replacing the battery is peanuts and would be a good place to start.

 

[D Walker]

Mine went belly up this weekend - even with an 800m AH booster connected to the battery the car would not start, the battery voltage gauge on the dash would not show more than 10v, the feeling is that a couple of the cells (12v = 6 banks of 2) in the battery had gone and no matter how much you try and push through (or re-charge) - It wont work - new battery solved it...£125 from my friendly AA man...

Edit - the battery in my car was less than 18 months old and had no previous issues starting the day before......so - died, or finally gave up the ghost overnight...

 

[cheshiremaserati]

Happens unfortuately - even when connected to a CTEK trickle charger. My car died - just a brief click on pushing the start button. Replaced the battery and all fine. Mine is always on trickle charger - even if its a few days between drives. Old battery was the original (FIAMM) Maserati battery. Well past its use by date. Both cars are always on trickle charge. The Porsche was new battery in 2017 (Bosch S5) with 5 year warranty. The GS is 4 year warranty.

 

[cheshiremaserati]

Hi all .
Funny thing happened yesterday.
My Spyder had been on trickle charge since Wednesday , I got her out for a bit of tinkering ( Sunday ) started the engine to back out of the garage then again a bit later to let my neighbour into his garage , I went through all the fuses in the footwell ( drivers seat and mirrors not working ) , pulling them out to check them one by one , actually I did find a bodged one that had fuse wire wrapped around it , good news is that my drivers seat and the mirrors now work , bad news is that the battery was too flat to start her again by tea time .
I checked my paperwork and a new Yuasa battery was fitted in 2017 but she was then laid up for about a year before I bought her .
When I first picked her up I drove 100 miles home then garaged her and went on holiday , by the time I got back to her two weeks later the battery was flat , no trickle hook up at this point .
So I am hoping the previous long nap has bu@@ered the battery ?????
What do you guys think , is that possible ???
I have a mechanic friend who is going to test it for me tomorrow but if it ain’t the battery then I have a massive drain on the electrical system somewhere , I guess there is a fair bit of power being used by the alarm , clock etc but to toast the battery in a day seems a bit excessive.
I will let you know .

Mike .

P.S. wish me luck

If you think you have a current drain (get an auto electrician to test it) then I suspect you have a tracker fitted (whether active or not). When the battery for that dies, it drains the main car battery. I'd be inclined to check the drain as soon as you fit a new battery. If you buy the CTEK trickle charger (MX 5.0 recommended RRP £60 but cheaper on Amazon)), it has a recondition function which is recommended once every year or possibly once every two years. It runs a desulphation programme to preserve the life of the cells - but of course wont recover a dead cell/battery.

If you opt for the LIDL or ALDI alternative (seasonal stock arrives autumn typically around £15) it does exactly what the CTEK does but has no Recondition Function. Sadly if you experience a power cut, the LIDL/ALDI will not reset itself when power resumes and requires the owner to manually select the car charging function. The CTEK re-sets itself automatically once power is restored and thereby continues the trickle charging once power is restored where the LIDL/ALDI needs a manual reset to continue trickle charging.

As I mention elsewhere, both cars are always on trickle charge even if for a few days between drives.

 

[D Walker]

Mine is always on a ctek conditioner, never gave any indication of a looming failure. Just failed overnight.

 

[conaero]

I use the Ctek the night before I am going to use it (has new hi power battery and I use it about once a month) as I don't like the idea of it constantly trickling as surely its wearing the battery.

Works for me and never let me down.

If I do not put it on trickle, the car always starts but 5/10 I get a gear unavailable error on the dash and PARK OFF which is a power issue on start up due to the massive drain required from the starting. I start the car and back it out the garage, then turn it off, bu99er about getting ready then on the restart (without using the Ctek) I get the error. Its because the battery gets nailed on the first start then by the second start its struggling for amps and the secondary systems start moaning.

 

[TridentTested]

I use the Ctek the night before I am going to use it (has new hi power battery and I use it about once a month) as I don't like the idea of it constantly trickling as surely its wearing the battery.

All the conditioners claim they maintain the battery in the best way but I had a new motorbike battery die a short life after I kept it on an Optimate conditioner. The previous battery lasted over ten years without a conditioner. My mechanic told me he sees this all the time with conditioners - they are drying out the cells.

Since that episode I do like you. I put the QP and the bike on occasionally whenever they've been ignored for a few weeks, or the night before I need either of them.

 

[Stewart]

Most batteries are on warranty, Euro Car Parts have a Yrs warranty on their sales no quibble, mine went two yrs. ago Bosh , back to Euro, replaced no problem.
I don't use conditioner, or switch of, whilst at Euro car parts RAC guy pulled in and he told me that the RAC had replaced 2k batteries that week, and that the stop Start batteries were causing even bigger problems.

 

[cheshiremaserati]

Mine is always on a ctek conditioner, never gave any indication of a looming failure. Just failed overnight.

That's what happened to my Porsche (original battery). Noticed the CTEK showing a red light when I went to disconnect it before starting it up. Click only on the turn of the key. Thankfully it did not blow the alarm when the battery failed due to 12V DC being fed to the battery by the CTEK. Otherwise in the Porsche, when the battery voltage falls and there is no power left in the (separate) alarm battery, it blows the VERY loud alarm!" Clever guys these Germans. Cant disconnect the battery either without having the key in Ignition in position 1 - alarm blows (it thinks someone is trying to disconnect to steal it) - this time its the alarms separate auxiliary battery that cuts in and blows the alarm

 

[lifes2short]

My classic motors all have a battery isolator switches, including the Maserati Biturbo Spyder, can you use an isolator switch on the more modern Masers you guys own if being stored long term or does it bugger all the electronics when you reconnect the battery???
Yuasa batteries are normally excellent batteries and that's all I fit especially the Silver Line with 5 year guarantee

 

[Scaf]

My old DB7 had an isolator switch but once I replaced the battery and had the tracker removed it was never an issue - although to be fair over the winter I plugged it in.

My GTS is reallly random on the battery - sometimes three to four weeks no problem then out of the blue it will catch me out within a week. It still has a tracker hidden somewhere.

I trickle charge when I remember and have a booster back in the boot so never been stuck (apart from when it goes like properly flat and I had to find the manual boot release - only happened once and I am 2.5 years in. I am on the original battery to should really swap it out.

 

[redsonnylee]

I use the Ctek the night before I am going to use it (has new hi power battery and I use it about once a month) as I don't like the idea of it constantly trickling as surely its wearing the battery.

Works for me and never let me down.

If I do not put it on trickle, the car always starts but 5/10 I get a gear unavailable error on the dash and PARK OFF which is a power issue on start up due to the massive drain required from the starting. I start the car and back it out the garage, then turn it off, bu99er about getting ready then on the restart (without using the Ctek) I get the error. Its because the battery gets nailed on the first start then by the second start its struggling for amps and the secondary systems start moaning.

That’s really interesting, on my 3200 I went through 3 branded batteries all on a CTEK, I’m going to get a timer for the reason in your post as I’ve heard this mentioned before.

 

[D Walker]

I use the Ctek the night before I am going to use it (has new hi power battery and I use it about once a month) as I don't like the idea of it constantly trickling as surely its wearing the battery.

Works for me and never let me down.

If I do not put it on trickle, the car always starts but 5/10 I get a gear unavailable error on the dash and PARK OFF which is a power issue on start up due to the massive drain required from the starting. I start the car and back it out the garage, then turn it off, bu99er about getting ready then on the restart (without using the Ctek) I get the error. Its because the battery gets nailed on the first start then by the second start its struggling for amps and the secondary systems start moaning.

Never really thought about it like this, I may try just requesting the storage peop,e to put it on night before I collect, new battery is Hausa with 5 year warranty..

 

[cheshiremaserati]

I'm not aware that CTEK (the brand, not any trickle charger) can damage battery life. I spoke to them before buying mine and their website confirms what they told me: https://www.ctek.com/education/battery_charging. It basically charges fully, switches off, lets battery discharge and then cuts in again. This replicates normal battery drain and charging - they refer to it as pulse mode. I have used CTEK for a few years now and know of many others likewise who keep their car on it for months on end. It might be that after repeated charge and discharge this takes its toll. But letting the battery go dead often damages it beyond recovery.

 

[Zep]

I have a battery conditioner but I don't use it all of the time. I like to keep it guessing as a constant light cycle can also develop a memory in the battery. Fully draining a car battery destroys the chemistry if the battery isn't designed for deep cycling. This is why leisure batteries tend to be more expensive than car batteries - they are designed to go flat and recover because of the intended use.

 

[Mike X]

I got my battery tested by my friendly mechanic and he confirmed that it was knackered , down to 41% efficiency .......phew ! thank goodness for that .
Ordered a new one , Yuasa , and fitted it this afternoon , jobs a good un .
I also replaced a dodgy fuse while I was waiting along with a bit more cleaning .
To celebrate the wife and I took her for a blast up the coast to Scarborough for fish and chips.
Happy days .

 

[Woots]

If you had the car parked up outside for periods of 1-2 weeks fairly routinely what would you advise? Disconnect the battery each time? Or just leave as is? Does jumping the battery throw error codes on these? Maybe I should make a solar panelled trickle charger....

 

[lifes2short]

If you had the car parked up outside for periods of 1-2 weeks fairly routinely what would you advise? Disconnect the battery each time? Or just leave as is? Does jumping the battery throw error codes on these? Maybe I should make a solar panelled trickle charger....

I would personally recommend a battery isolator, there are various types and if a good quality battery is fully charged and healthy it should be fine for a long time without the need to use trickle chargers continuously connected, as already mentioned here, although the manufacturers spout out all these claims I don't personally think it does the battery any good to have them connected long term. Not sure whether some modern cars don't like having their batteries disconnected especially with all the bloomin electronics they have these days.