if it is a flat car battery why is it flat? because you havnt used the car for ages? is it an old battery? or has the alternator not been charging it?

17 minutes ago, OvEr_KiLL said:

if it is a flat car battery why is it flat? because you havnt used the car for ages? is it an old battery? or has the alternator not been charging it?

Well I hadn't used my car in about 7 days, when I went to unlock that is when I started noticing the problem. I had a dashcam plugged into the 12v slot. It doesn't stay on when the engine is off but perhaps it was still draining power. I know that it is designed to switch on and start recording if it detects a certain amount of force.

9 hours ago, fiesta2020 said:

... I had a dashcam plugged into the 12v slot. It doesn't stay on when the engine is off but perhaps it was still draining power. I know that it is designed to switch on and start recording if it detects a certain amount of force.

DashCam shouldn't draw any power when off, unless, you have it set in the menu to 'park' mode. Then it will remain on standby in case your car is bumped when parked...

12 hours ago, unofix said:

In the name of G*D !!!! How much ?????????????? 🤣

The Maypole is useless if you need the car urgently or don't have power near it though.  And it won't charge flat batteries, as I proved on both the Mk4 and the Mk2!  

I've had much more use out of my GB40 jump starter than I have out of the Maypole.  Don't regret paying the extra for the GB40 at all.  I do regret buying the Maypole as it's just not practical where I live and has limitations as mentioned above.

40 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The Maypole is useless if you need the car urgently or don't have power near it though.

 

I also have this in my garage, a legacy when I owned a car that the battery was forever going flat! The Maypole is a Smart Battery Charger, it's not designed to jump start a flat battery... I've had it work on batteries as low as 6v, and once when battery was less than that, I got my 70s 'dumb' charger out, got it to 6v, and swapped to the Smart one.

Sealey Jump Starter

My trusty old 70s 'dumb' charger...

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I also have this in my garage...

Glad you have the luxury of a garage for storage.  Many of us live in tiny flats, we don't have room for several massive devices like that lol.  I had to give away my old 'dumb charger' just to make space for the Maypole!  

Of course, the irony here is that if you have a garage to power a Maypole, you could charge an EV from it...  The only way I can use the Maypole here now is by taking a £300 powerbank downstairs with it.  And then it takes so long to charge, even from around 12v, that the Powerbank drains before it's complete and the volt drop overnight means there's no point doing it again the next day.

The alternative to that is 30 seconds with a small jump starter, which I can leave in the car permanently (in case the battery drops while away from home), and jump starts batteries as low as 2 volts for me so far.

The Maypole is only useful for people who want to 'top up' battery charge every month, or leave a summer car on trickle over winter, and have the luxury of space and power near the car to use it.  

15 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The Maypole is only useful for people who want to 'top up' battery charge every month, or leave a summer car on trickle over winter, and have the luxury of space and power near the car to use it.  

That's exactly what it's designed for. If you have no access to a 13A socket, it's pretty much useless.

15 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Glad you have the luxury of a garage for storage.  Many of us live in tiny flats, we don't have room for several massive devices like that lol.

 

Government's own stats state that up to 35% of car owners will have no 'home' facility to charge an EV, making a nonsense of the whole ethos.

Those of you who do not have 'home' facilities should be as angry as hell at a government that is leaving you potentially out on the cold for the future running of an EV. I'm lucky enough to have a garage, and I'm still as angry as hell LOL

1 minute ago, StephenFord said:

That's exactly what it's designed for. If you have no access to a 13A socket, it's pretty much useless.

Government's own stats state that up to 35% of car owners will have no 'home' facility to charge an EV, making a nonsense of the whole ethos.

Those of you who d not have 'home' facilities should be as angry as hell at a government that is leaving you potentially out on the cold for the future running of an EV. I'm lucky enough to have a garage, and I'm still as angry as hell LOL

Yes, that's exactly my point lol...  Suggesting the Maypole to every forum member without knowing their parking arrangements doesn't seem to be the most effective way to advise imo.  On top of that, for any with very flat batteries, as potentially in this thread, it's also likely not to work at all...but they'll waste several days waiting for one to arrive before realising that.

The Maypole does have a place, but the majority of posters on here would be better off with a jump starter.

 

As explained before, I haven't been able to reach a fuel station since early 2021, so an ICE engine isn't practical for me either.  If I am able to move to a ground floor property, I will be buying an EV to replace the diesel.  Of course, my situation is not the majority, so I try to consider the needs of the majority over the needs of myself.  But lets not turn this into an EV thread.  (I know, it was my fault for bringing it up).

Never use a toaster when charging the families EV's.

3 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes, that's exactly my point lol...  Suggesting the Maypole to every forum member without knowing their parking arrangements doesn't seem to be the most effective way to advise imo. 

 

Good point, well made. I will modify future advice to take that issue on board...

1 minute ago, unofix said:

Never use a toaster when charging the families EV's.

Obviously we all know the guy that staged this photo is an eejit LOL A trailing socket should never be loaded with more than the 13A socket can bear... (or American equivalent)

when you opened the case to change the battery, the transponder didnt fall out did it, its a small black oblong piece of plastic that is read by the ignition barrel ring allowing you to start the car 😇