Dead Battery

[GrigioTR]

Went out in the garage this morning to take my NSX out for a spin. The weather here in Seattle coupled with other activities has made it about 6 weeks since I drove it last. The battery was dead!

So here's my question, assuming a good battery (mine's nearly new) how long does it take for the accessories to drain the battery?

I'm charging the battery now, but it is supposted to rain tomorrow and beyond!

Snivelling in Seattle.

 

[nsxtasy]

assuming a good battery (mine's nearly new) how long does it take for the accessories to drain the battery?

Anywhere from one to four weeks, for the battery to be sufficiently drained to be unable to start the car.

Invest in an automatic charger if your car is going to sit for more than a couple of weeks at a time. (It's not good for the battery to get drained.)

 

[jgtcnsx]

just start it once a day, just start it then shut it off so you dont have to worry about it anymore.

 

[D'Ecosse]

Invest in an automatic charger if your car is going to sit for more than a couple of weeks at a time. (It's not good for the battery to get drained.)

I just got a couple for myself last week - I bought a 6V one for my 51 Chevy, which rarely goes out any more & it is always dead when I go to it! The day after I ordered it, I couldn't believe I didn't get one for the NSX too! So I promptly ordered another for that.

Here are the units I got - http://batterytender.com/default.php?cPath=11

For the NSX I got the Waterproof 800 - it's a little nicer case, even though it will be in my garage.

I found the best prices here - $35 for the 800
Their web-site is a little odd, but they were very reliable & prompt with both my shipments.

Just hard-wire the pig-tail lead with the ring-lugs onto your battery teminals & leave it there all the time - there is nice waterproof quick disconnect plug to connect the charger. It also comes with the alligator clips pigtail, so if you have another batttery to charge, you can use those for that without having to remove the one from the NSX.

.

 

[nsxtasy]

just start it once a day, just start it then shut it off so you dont have to worry about it anymore.

That's the WORST thing you can do for your battery. You use the charge of the battery to start the car. Then as it's running, the alternator recharges the battery. If you just start the car and then shut it off, you are draining the battery without recharging it. Not a good idea. If you're not going to get a charger (which is the best thing you can do to keep the battery fully charged without driving the car for a while), and if you have to start the car, drive it for at least 20-30 minutes before turning it off.

I have an onboard automatic charger (which you can buy here for $29) mounted next to the battery on my NSX. I've been using it for the past 13 years, including downtime of 4-6 months during the winter as well as 1-12 weeks the rest of the year, and I haven't had any problems whatsoever with my battery throughout that period. Highly recommended.

 

[D'Ecosse]

I have an onboard automatic charger .....

I can't believe you carry all that extra weight, nsxtasy!

..........................

Bottom line is they are both good options:
It's all down to personal taste of course but I like the battery tender model because this is the only part that attaches to the battery -

.

 

[Bart Geerts]

I charge my battery with the current comming out of the cigarette lighter....


ok, for you people who think I"m stupid, this is just a joke! :biggrin:

 

[nsxtasy]

I can't believe you carry all that extra weight

It weighs under two pounds and it's about two thirds the size of a VHS videocassette.

 

[hlweyl]

Most literature I've read also recommends against starting and immediatly shutting off. You want to run until it reaches full temp as Ken suggests.

good luck

 

[GrigioTR]

Thanks to all for the leads, I will get one of the Deltran units.

The weatherman was wrong again and it didn't rain. So with the battery charged, I visited some twisty roads this morning!

Loren

 

[TyraNSX]

Here's the deal. The battery in my car died in October. Went to Autozone & got a Duralast Gold. Set up a Schumacher trickle charger under the hood.
(I haven't used it in over 10yrs, but it worked fine then. It does hum when you plug it in. No indicator lights on this one.) Plug in charger on a plug strip with an illuminated switch so I know when I have it on. Once a week I run it overnight for a good 16-18hrs.

It was nice here this afternoon so I wanted to take the car out for a few loops around the condo complex to keep things oiled up and move the tires around. No insurance so I can't actually take it anywhere until spring returns & it goes back on insurance. Go to start car- series of rapid fire clicks, then dead. Go to Autozone, they check battery- only 11 volts. They gave me another one since it has a 3 yr free replacement & 8 yr total warranty. Car starts fine now.

I am going to reconect the trickle charger to the fuse panel on the RF shock tower to avoid having wires through the spare tire spokes. Up to now how I had connected right to the battery terminals. My questions are: 1) Is once a week charging not enough for whatever drains the alarm & miscellaneous electronics put on the battery? 2) Is this typical for a big, strong, new battery to go dead so fast? I ran it about 10 days ago & it was fine then. 3) Should I just leave it on all the time?

I don't have any kind of meter, just a test light to see if the charger puts out juice. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks.

 

[nsxtasy]

I am going to reconect the trickle charger to the fuse panel on the RF shock tower to avoid having wires through the spare tire spokes. Up to now how I had connected right to the battery terminals.

You mentioned that this is a Schumacher trickle charger. Is this an automatic charger, such as this one, which shuts off once the battery is fully charged (and which is the one I have)? Or is this a different model where you must shut it off manually?

Incidentally, I leave my spare tire out of the car while the car just sits for any period of time, which makes it easier to plug the charger in.

1) Is once a week charging not enough for whatever drains the alarm & miscellaneous electronics put on the battery?

Once a week should be enough. However, see question 3 below...

2) Is this typical for a big, strong, new battery to go dead so fast?

Not in a week. Ten days can be borderline though.

3) Should I just leave it on all the time?

Yes, but only if it is an automatic model, one that stops charging once the battery is fully charged.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Is not temperture a factor here also as in extreme cold weather ? Its been in the 40's here for the past two weeks or so. Incidently my auto shumacker charger recently went dead and I had to replace it with another one which has the led indicator lights on them now.

 

[TyraNSX]

nsxtasy, it is a Schumacher Mity Mite fully automatic onboard battery maintainer/charger, model SE I-12, 1.5 amp,12.6 volt DC output. Looks just like the picture you put up but without indicator lights. I really don't want to have to buy a new one if this one works just to get some indicator lights. It used to charge up the batteries on my Scorpio & Subaru from dead in a day or so. I think the last time I used it was 8 or 9 years ago & it worked then.

FYI- Amazon has the Deltran Battery Tender Junior for $24.99 which is 1 cent short of the $25.00 needed to get the super saver free shipping ($10 less than the battery tender site Ken posted a link to). So I ordered a Johnny Cash CD/DVD (The Man Comes Around CD & Hurt video on DVD. Already have CD but want the video) to get over the $25 and paid with a gift certificate. So if you're thinking about getting one & can find a penny's worth of something else you like, this seems like a good deal & free shipping helps a lot. Just have to wait for it to ship & arrive now (estimated 2 wks). Hope it doesn't die again before then.

 

[D'Ecosse]

..... Amazon has the Deltran Battery Tender Junior for $24.99 which is 1 cent short of the $25.00 needed to get the super saver free shipping ($10 less than the battery tender site Ken posted a link to). .....

Actually at MAWOnline, (my original link) the Junior is only $20.95 - it is the Waterproof that is $33.95 - they are same product electrically, just different case. MAW has consistently been the cheapest I have found for the Battery Tender Products.

 

[TyraNSX]

Now you tell me! $4.95 shipping from MAW so it's pretty much a wash. And they don't have any Johnny Cash :smile:

 

[john@johnhudakracing]

Went out in the garage this morning to take my NSX out for a spin. The weather here in Seattle coupled with other activities has made it about 6 weeks since I drove it last. The battery was dead!

Years ago I had similar problems with all sorts of batteries from OE to Optima yellow tops during extended downtime in the NSX. As it turns out with a little math, six weeks is more than enough time to deep cycle even a heavy 950cca battery with relative ease in this application.

At the moment I use a small PC680 battery in-line with a very small isolated alarm backup, and particularly with these light-weight small form factor battery designs - which always feature very low reserve capacities - you'll find they are extremely prone to going dead during down time if you're not careful.

No matter what you're running, the best solution as others have mentioned is a good smart charger- it will prove a fantastic investment. So long as you remember to keep it plugged in you'll likely never have a problem and the health of your battery will go up considerably. I forget which one I have but it cost 3X as much as most and has the higher end features like pulse charging and de-sulfidation cycling.

The other thing that I've found useful is installing a battery quick disconnect remote charging post, for those times whereas you're working on the vehicle and you wish to leave your stereo running or lights on, etc.. you can have the benefit of instant high amp power for your battery without having to go through the hassle of opening the hood and using conventional clamps as they provide fast, secure, out-of-car hook-up of a battery charger.

So here's my question, assuming a good battery (mine's nearly new) how long does it take for the accessories to drain the battery?

If you have an ammeter, you can measure the parasitic drain then calculate this fairly accurately if needed.

 

[BioBanker]

My car lasts less then one week without being driven before it will not start. New stock battery.

Ive got the parasitic drain like everyone else, but Ive also got a CompuStar alarm and tracking.

It has been *frustrating*, but now I just either disconnect the battery (in which case Im fine for as long as I wish), or keep the tender hooked up.

The difference is that my car is not alarmed/tracked with the battery disconnected, which makes me nervous.

 

[TyraNSX]

My Deltran Battery Tender Jr. came today. Amazon is always faster than their estimate, even for the free shipping. Hooked the ring terminals to the mounting bolt for the RF shock tower fuse box & the terminal where the extra cable off the positive battery terminal connects to the main bus in that fuse box. Warmed car up for a good 15-20min. Plugged in charger and it took a good 6 hrs of full charge mode (red light on) until it switched to float mode (green light on). This is on a 3 day old battery. Now, I have to see if it will stand the test of time & cold & still start.

 

[wasenda]

I purchased a Deltran Battery Tender for my car back in November. I 'dock' (plug the pigtail adapter in) my car in the garage every time I come back from a drive. The charger is located on the floor in a space right under the spare tire when the car is parked in the garage (in fact I even ran the wire under the carpet so you cannot see any wires). I just pop the hood open, reach right through the spare tire area (careful not to touch the cooling system) and plug the pigtail connector in the spare tire area where it is secured via a nylon wire tie. The set-up is very clean in the front hood area and for the 'garage neat freak' (that's me). It's very easy to connect and no starting issues! A great solution to this problem! Good Luck!

 

[Doc308]

Has anyone tried a battery disconnect switch on their NSX? Before this car, I had a Ferrari with a factory -installed dc switch and the battery never went dead, even after sitting for weeks in temps between 0-30 degrees. It seems that the ones which mount on the battery terminal would be awkward to reach on the NSX, so an off-battery/remote location would need to be used.

 

[ak]

I was measuring voltage on my battery and it seemed like it lost about 1V over the course of 2 weeks just sitting around.

 

[Russ]

Has anyone tried a battery disconnect switch on their NSX? Before this car, I had a Ferrari with a factory -installed dc switch and the battery never went dead, even after sitting for weeks in temps between 0-30 degrees. It seems that the ones which mount on the battery terminal would be awkward to reach on the NSX, so an off-battery/remote location would need to be used.

I'm with Doc308. The battery terminals on an NSX are not exactly tough to reach, even with the spare in place. Turning a disconnect off & on is less trouble than running an extension cord to the car (making sure nobody will trip on said cord as it lays there for months), reaching under the hood to route the cord to the battery area, and attaching clips to the battery or mounting charger within the vehicle. It's also unknown what happens to your car when your local electrical service takes a lightning hit. It's possible a surge could pass into the vehicle and cause tremendous damage.

A terminal disconnect weighs a few oz at most. And when you want to drive again, just turn on the disconnnect and go.

Downside is your radio station settings will disappear and your ECU will have to relearn (not a bad thing). So whether that's worth the hassle of dealing with a battery charger is up to the individual.


<img src=http://www.folandsales.com/product_images/catalog19665/20308.gif>

 

[sjones]

What exactly is killing everyone's battery so quickly? I have parked mine in the garage with the alarm armed (alarm led blinking) for up to 4 weeks and started the car just fine.

 

[nsxtasy]

Downside is your radio station settings will disappear and your ECU will have to relearn (not a bad thing).

Also, the alarm does not function when the battery is disconnected.