Lebro Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 https://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/technical/need-know-batteries/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 (edited) Interesting that they recommend a voltmeter with what they describe as 2 digit resolution (they mean 2 decimal place resolution) but don't mention the temperature coefficient of the battery voltage! Pete Edited April 8, 2019 by stillp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted February 1, 2023 Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 (edited) Simple maintenance of tightening a leaking radiator hose has unearthed another issue when I came to test for leaks. I am at a bit of a cross roads. I have read the article about battery testing and can only check voltage with the meter I have. battery voltage before starting 13.4 volts. And after charge has been disconnected. My battery is a Halfords 3 year guarantee item and it was fitted in 2008. The car sits with a ‘smart charger’ connected when not in use. The charger display says anything between 13 and 14.2 volts when connected annd charging. Today when starting it groaned into life, the whole thing sounded like it had a low charge battery. The car had started without any problems before Xmas. Air temp 10 degrees in the garage. Have checked terminal connections and cranking voltage drop in case the battery terminals or engine earth was dud, no issues there. The voltage drop between battery and ignition controlled circuit fuse box was down by a volt. Cleaning all the connections and fuses fixed that by finding 0.8 volt. So happy the drop is acceptable The starter solenoid white wire is same volts as battery. So not the starter switch contact. The drop across the solenoid when cranking is as good as nothing. Have taken the contact plate out of the starter and cleaned it, as it is an hi geared starter motor with an internal solenoid and contacts. So happy that is contacting ok. It was a bit burnt and pitted. Alternator is giving good voltage when running ( above 13 volt below 14.2) no warning light on or dirty cable terminal connections. Have researched a suitable battery and Halfords do the same HB072 battery with 3 year warranty. Alternative is Yuasa YBX1072 with 3 year warranty. The car starts but the starter sounds sluggish after a couple of goes at starting. Do I condemn the starter? ( possible commutator or brush wear) Or the now 14 year old battery? I am considering the battery is the most likely candidate. Any experiences or observations with this anyone? Cheers Peter W PS just been out to check again … battery charge is 13.1 volts. The charger has not been connected this afternoon. Cranking voltage 8.5 to 9 volts. That is done using the manual button on the starter solenoid and the meter across the battery terminals. The starter cranking speed sounds fine now! Just have to leave it a day or two and recheck the battery voltage I guess. Edited February 1, 2023 by BlueTR3A-5EKT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted February 1, 2023 Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 The 6's battery, new in 2015, and always on a smart charger, failed last year. I am not convinced smart chargers fix the problem of prolonging battery life. But with a sample size of 1, I may well be wrong. Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted February 1, 2023 Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 No lead-acid battery lhas indefinite life even if it has been cosseted with a battery conditioner - that only slows down the inevitable. Off-load terminal voltage does not tell you anything about the battery internal resistance or remaining useful plate area. The more charge/discharge cycles a battery has, the sooner it will fail. This lists some common reasons for degradation: https://batteryguy.com/kb/knowledge-base/why-dont-lead-acid-batteries-last-forever/ If your battery has lasted 14 years you have been very lucky Pete. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted February 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2023 Measure the battery voltage while cranking, less than say 9.5V means dud battery. Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 (edited) I have a Yuasa (from Halfords) in my 2-litre diesel Citroen C5, which sits in the drive. During the recent cold spell, when temperatures were around zero in the daytime and below at night, I had major problems with the battery, and, even after it had been standing outside for 2 days, I had to jump start from Maddy's little High&Dry on 3 occasions, and trickle charge on another two occasions. Tony Sheach commented to me that the Yuasa batteries are rubbish, and I suspect that my problem might have been to do with the electrolyte performing in a strange manner at these temperatures. The man at Halfords measured the voltage, then told me to drive some 20 miles at 3000 rpm! With 6 gears, the diesel C5 spends most of its time at 2000 maximum - only hits 3000 when accelerating relatively rapidly! Now that we have returned to temperatures a few degrees above zero, the C5 starts without any difficulty. Ian Cornish Edited February 2, 2023 by ianc C5, not C% Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, ianc said: The man at Halfords measured the voltage, then told me to drive some 20 miles at 3000 rpm! With 6 gears, the diesel C% spends most of its time at 2000 maximum - only hits 3000 when accelerating relatively rapidly! Depending on the age of your C5 Ian, it may have two batteries. Cars with stop-start have one large battery to drive the starter and one smaller one to power the electronics system. The smaller one often doesn't get charged properly if the car only does short trips. Alternators sometimes don't charge all the time as they used to and are switched off to lessen the load on the engine to save fuel hence the 3000rpm. One trick to force them to charge is to turn the headlights on. Even if it doesn't have stop-start, the battery is probably AGM construction which is a bit different from the old flooded electrolyte type and needs a different charging regime. They should not be charged if the battery temperature is below zero and your car management system may be engineered to prevent that - hence if you have just been doing short trips at around zero degrees, the battery may not get charged properly. Edited February 2, 2023 by RobH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Vincent Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 I certainly wouldn’t accept that Yuasa batteries are rubbish. They’ve been my battery of choice for a number of years and they haven’t disappointed. Rgds Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Rob: my C5 diesel is 2008 model, and has just a single battery. Like IanV, I have been using a Yuasa battery in the C5 for many years, so I cannot judge whether Yuasa batteries are rubbish (as Tony seems to think), but the way mine behaved in the recent cold weather was both very odd and somewhat of a pain. It's fortunate that the problems occurred at home, that I have a pair of long and heavy current capacity jump leads, and that I can manoeuvre Maddy's High& Dry close to the C5 in order to effect a jump start. Even when the C5's battery showed a decent terminal voltage, this dropped steadily and quite rapidly to the point where the car wouldn't start after a couple of days in the cold weather. And the cold in Thame is nowhere near as low as it must be up north and in Scotland in winter. I acknowledge that all modern cars have a small electrical drain because of need to keep key detection, ECUs and radio memory alive, whereas the TR can sit with its battery isolated for weeks and the voltage diminishes very little. Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mike ellis Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 18 hours ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said: Have researched a suitable battery and Halfords do the same HB072 battery with 3 year warranty. Hi Pete, I use an HB096 battery which has been on the car since 2009 and is still going strong . It is cheaper, slightly more powerful and the terminals are the opposite way round which means if you have -ve earth they can be at the back further from the retaining bar. Very careful now about this as I used to have a Series 3 Land Rover and it was not unknown for the folding bonnet stay to short out the battery if the terminal covers were not in place. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Thank you Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richardtr3a Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 (edited) I used to have battery problems. I now have the correct size battery from LINCON Batteries. They will deliver your battery , with the correctly placed terminals , which can be easily installed with a new short earth strap. It is on a constant stand by charger and never gives me a problem. The car is in the garage. I would slip out and start the TR3A but it is very dark and a bit cold. I will try tomorrow for my first start this year. Good luck Richard & B They are based in Southend on Sea Edited February 2, 2023 by Richardtr3a Add address Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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