Charging A Flat Battery

[shaz4473]

Wondered if anyone can advise on how long it takes a battery to charge?

My mums 2007 fiesta has always been used in town and generally short driving trips but try to give it a longer drive once a month or so.

My mum was sitting in her car with the radio on and air but not engine for 3/4 hour while waiting for someone at hospital apt - result - battery flat!

Got a push start and has been driving with radio off and car hasn't been used at night so no lights.

Will the battery charge to full with short journeys or do we need to take it for a longer drive? If longer drive what sort of mileage is required?

Any advice greatfully received!

I have posted this onto technical section also

[Stoney871]

i'd give it a good hours drive at motorway speed - nice steady current should help, also it sounds like because of the rapid drop of battery power you may want to get the battery checked for condition too just to be sure.

[btmaldon]

I would put a charger on it over night. Older batteries dont like running flat much. It doesnt do them any good.

[Stoney871]

If you have your own garage, it wouldn't hurt to put it on trickle charge every night during the long night period. (when a battery takes the biggest beating).

All police units around the country with Bike units always put the bikes on trickle charge every night as they run a lot of electrics all year round and can really suffer from battery failure.

[shaz4473]

I don't have a battery charger or garage.

Any idea what I should expect to pay taking it into a garage to check and how long it would take? Don't want to be taken advantage of and overcharged!!!

[Preee]

The actual cost will vary , but won't be too much just for checking , problem is they will more than likely say you need a new battery , if they do , say "Ok i will go and look for a new one".

Then shop around for the best price.

The battery may come back to life after a good drive , but sounds like you may need to look into buying a replacement.

[MartynS]

Batteries normally only last 4-5 years. I sold my first car when it was just under 10 years old, and that was in need of a new battery as it didn;t hold it's charge if left for more than a couple of days not used. When used daily though it gave me no problems. Looking back through the history it had, the previous owner had the battery changed when it was just under 5 years old (invoice said something like 'check charging system and replace battery at customers request'). Luckily for me I bought the car with a near-new battery, had the full life out of it then sold the car without replacing it!

In your case if it's still on the original battery from 2007 it's due for a change really. Even though they aren't cheap to replace (mine would have been around £70 I think), I doubt it will get any better now, and if not driven daily it's likely to keep on running down.

[shaz4473]

Thanks very much for the advice. I got the battery checked today and it was at 58% - unserviceable. Will check out a couple of places for prices and get it changed this next week.

It seems things do come in threes - first my mum lost her 2nd remote key (cost at Ford app £170 for remote key, ,manual key locksmith £65), driver side folding mirror starts clicking (app £200 for Ford, perhaps £100 non Ford - not decided whether to fix or not yet) and then finally the battery.

Fingers crossed that is the end of the problems!

[Magenta]

i had a flat battery yesterday. I have put it down to the very short trips that I do (typically 2-4 miles) not putting sufficient charge back in for what is taken out in starting, headlights, power mirrors etc. What did really surprise me was how suddenly it happened. The day before there was no inkling of any starting difficulty and by coincidence, it was the first time I had put it away in the garage this year. The battery was completely flat and would hardly illuminate the dash display which, in fact flashed on and off whilst trying to operate the starter. As say, I am putting it down the the short journeys but intend to get it checked by Ford because of the lack of any warning it was about to happen.

I have had it on trickle charge overnight which I hope will cure it. Which brings me to the question - are modern cars with all their technology ok to trickle charge ? I am thinking of the slightly higher voltage (typically 13v) of a trickle charger damaging any electronics and the fact that the battery has no vent plugs "like in olden days " but I assume it is vented to allow the hydrogen gas to escape whilst on charge,

It also occured to me that for all their sophisticated technology and warning systems, from my experience (this identical thing happened with my previous Mk 7 Fiesta) their appears to be no warning that the battery charge condition is low. We used to have voltmeters ("battery charge indicators") on the dash or even further back ,ammeters, to tell us what was happening with the electrics but no longer. The significant thing here is that in my case there was no warning at all that thge battery was low and I think there is a case for this warning to be introduced. What do other members think ?

[Dan62]

Wondered if anyone can advise on how long it takes a battery to charge?

My mums 2007 fiesta has always been used in town and generally short driving trips but try to give it a longer drive once a month or so.

My mum was sitting in her car with the radio on and air but not engine for 3/4 hour while waiting for someone at hospital apt - result - battery flat!

Got a push start and has been driving with radio off and car hasn't been used at night so no lights.

Will the battery charge to full with short journeys or do we need to take it for a longer drive? If longer drive what sort of mileage is required?

Any advice greatfully received!

I have posted this onto technical section also

Have you checked the electrolyte levels for the battery cells, you probably have a Low Maintenance battery and over time the electrolyte evaporates. It should be part of the service but I doubt any garage ever does it.

Check the levels and topup the cells with deionised or distilled water before you go for a new battery.

The min/max level lines will be on the side of the battery if its a Low Maintenance one, so you might have to lift it out of the battery box to see them.

[btmaldon]

As above plus put in some Bat Aid tablets fthat you can buy in a small tube from Halfords. This will remove the sulphation from the battery cells which build up on batteries that are not fully charged and causes the early failure.

Put these in my wifes SportKA 2 years ago with a top up of distilled water when we bought it as the cells were well sulphated and the battery was struggling. I checked it last weekend and the battery is still great with nice clean cells in it.

[Magenta]

Have you checked the electrolyte levels for the battery cells, you probably have a Low Maintenance battery and over time the electrolyte evaporates. It should be part of the service but I doubt any garage ever does it.

Check the levels and topup the cells with deionised or distilled water before you go for a new battery.

The min/max level lines will be on the side of the battery if its a Low Maintenance one, so you might have to lift it out of the battery box to see them.

Can you get the top off a modern battery to view the electrolyte ? Mine looks pretty well sealed and don't they use gel electrolyte these days rather than liquid sulphuric acid ?

[Lenny]

Can you get the top off a modern battery to view the electrolyte ? Mine looks pretty well sealed and don't they use gel electrolyte these days rather than liquid sulphuric acid ?

+1

Mine is sealed, just a 5cm sight glass with green liquid on view inside.

Mine's dead too may need replacement later today, getting it checked.

[Stoney871]

Most batteries are maintenance free sealed units.

If they pack up and don't hold a charge the only thing you can really do is replace them.

[Dan62]

Can you get the top off a modern battery to view the electrolyte ? Mine looks pretty well sealed and don't they use gel electrolyte these days rather than liquid sulphuric acid ?

It would appear so, have a look on

. the cell caps are either under a sticker on the top of the battery or under a plastic cover which can be prised off.

Perhaps someone with a duff sealed battery could verify this.

[Magenta]

On the subject of flat batteries, as I say, mine went flat after two years of almost constant very short journeys (previous mk 7 did just the same), the draw on the battery with hundreds of starts and all the other loads were just too much (I am assuming this, I shall find out today when it will be checked).

What about the new trend towards stop/start systems where the engine is started every time you stop in traffic, this will surely aggrevate a situation such as mine apart from playing havoc with the wear on the starter motor ?

[Magenta]

Bristol Street Motors had my car yesterday to check the charging and battery. When I collected it they gave me lots of guff about "recalibration" and "diagnostics" but didn't find anything untoward they said. They had it on charge (which I had already done myself) for several hours. I only got an answer to the direct question "Is the alternator charging ok" by asking. However, it was all free under warranty and they were very courteous and even washed and vacumed the the car out. I suspect this is what they spent most of the time doing but I'm not complaining !