Flat ??? Battery

[Telegram Sam]

Replacement battery ex scrap yard as per forum advice is currently on charge, but untested by scrap yard as far as I could tell. If the battery is kosher, what "peak" voltage should it show on my multimeter before I connect it up? Is anything over 12.6 V acceptable? Same again after 24 hours?
Regretfully the [Vauxhall] scrap yard was not able to provide either a starter motor / solenoid or ignition switch / barrrel, either of which I'd have been ready to buy on spec.
There are no obviously dodgy connections that I can see but that is something that I'm paying the electrical man to check out - when he turns up.

[Envoy CDX]

Any connections need to be cleaned, wire brush to ensure good contact. Then some kind of barrier applied after a good connection has been made (some say vaseline, personally, I am not so keen on that).

[Robsey]

I agree with the clean up routine.

I personally have used vaseline in the past, although it can get very liquid and 'run away" when in a hot environment.
Which can be anywhere in the current hot weather conditions.

The preferred method is coppa-slip, as this does provide a good barrier to moisture and corrosion,
But despite it's name, it is not conductive to electricity like copper is.
So no concerns of stray voltage or shorting etc; if you get it 'everywhere'.

[Envoy CDX]

I agree with the clean up routine.

I personally have used vaseline in the past, although it can get very liquid and 'run away" when in a hot environment.
Which can be anywhere in the current hot weather conditions.

The preferred method is coppa-slip, as this does provide a good barrier to moisture and corrosion,
But despite it's name, it is not conductive to electricity like copper is.
So no concerns of stray voltage or shorting etc; if you get it 'everywhere'.

In otherwords, clamp the terminals down then apply.

[Robsey]

Sort of...
I smear on a thin layer of coppa-slip to the battery post.

Slip the terminal clamp over the post and wiggle it back and forth to scrape out the stuff between the clamp and post,

Then tighten up the bolt.

Prevents crud / moisture / corrosion getting in from underneath too.

But as you know....
I am ocd.

I do the same with spade connectors.

Smear a thin layer on the male spade.

Slide the female connector on and off the male spade a few times to clear the contact area.

Then push the connectors fully home / together.

(Apologies if that sounds like a premium rate adult phone number type discussion,


Or an Andrei topic reply).


There are no Lowrider Dave type euphemisms intended.

[Telegram Sam]

My last post "Victory??" with an update on the replacement battery charge situation seems to have got lost in cyberspace. Wait to see if there is a time-lag before I repeat.

I have here an old tube of Holts No-Crode which seems to be targeted at battery terminals, also a tube of Carlube Copper Multi-Purpose grease which includes batteries in its list of applications.

[Telegram Sam]

Nup, my last post is missing from the thread that I have on the screen in front of me - no humour intended - and if it didn't somehow get through then all the helpful comments will inevitably not apply in the way that they were intended I will repeat later.

[Robsey]

Try looking in your draft folder.
You may have hit save instead of submit.

[Telegram Sam]

Nothing in the UCP under "Manage Drafts". I will recompose later.

[Telegram Sam]

The sequel to # 166748 "Victory??" was meant to have read as follows: The battery from the scrap yard charged up to 11.7 V after 7 - 8 hours on my 4 A charger, but no higher. I then bought a new 6 A charger and by the wee small hours of Sun morning the charge finally reached 12.6. Later at a more sensible hour in the morning it had dropped to 12.1 / 12.2 (where it seems to have stabilized since then). At this point the charger was indicating "fully charged". Acid test: did it work? > yes this finally got the engine started Which means that questions about the ignition switch and starter motor are no longer relevant. The question that I am now facing is whether to accept the battery as is, or to go back to the scrap yard and ask for a battery that can hold 12.6 semi-permanently as long as disconnected???

[Envoy CDX]

it's a used battery so it's probably heading to the end of it's useful life. Ask them if they'll change it as it isn't holding it's charge correctly.

[Robsey]

The choice is yours, but if it is resting just above 12 volts, then it will not be much better than your old battery for very long at all.

[ilovedmymantas]

I wouldn't rule out the other options yet.
Taken from the link that envoy cdx posted

"...the resting voltage should be ideally no lower than 12.6V....when a battery goes down to 12.2V it's only 50% charged, and below 12V it's classed as discharged"

The choice is yours, but if it is resting just above 12 volts, then it will not be much better than your old battery for very long at all.

it's a used battery so it's probably heading to the end of it's useful life. Ask them if they'll change it as it isn't holding it's charge correctly.

You need a healthy battery before you can diagnose other possible problems. Your engine started but it had been doing that randomly anyway.
Go back to the scrappies and take your meter with you. Find the right battery number and take the strongest one.

[ilovedmymantas]

meant to include
After all the money we spend on our cars it seems a false economy to try and cut corners with the main thing that makes our cars go.

Personally, I would buy a new battery over a used one every time. It's a bit of a win-win situation.
You get a guarantee and if your problem lies elsewhere & kills the battery you get a new one after the problems fixed. (I'd only try this once though )

[Robsey]

I have to agree.
I have always bought new batteries.
Shop around, as they are often not as expensive as you'd expect.

Only really expensive vendor I have ever found is Halfords.

You also have two choices for battery type.-

Standard specification is a "063",
And
Heavy Duty / Diesel specification is a "065"

[Telegram Sam]

"Go back to the scrappies and take your meter with you. Find the right battery number and take the strongest one."

Surely my multimeter will only show the current state of charge of the battery / batteries they have in stock, not whether the batts themselves are any good??? I don't think my local VX scrapyard has an under load tester.

I've now been told by Ring that the new 6A battery charger I bought doesn't have automatic cut out as with "smart" meters (so in theory you are meant to watch over it with numerous cups of coffee until the fully charged LED light comes on, and then disconnect. ) This doesn't turn me on so I'm thinking of changing it for a smarter meter such as Streetwize from Argos.

[Robsey]

Wow a charger that cannot be left unattended.
I thought all chargers were fully automatic by now.

As regards your meter.
I think he means -
Go for a wonder around the yard.
Test across all the batteries of a suitable type.
And ask for the one with the highest resting voltage

[Telegram Sam]

You learn as you go along ... There's "automatic", "fully automatic", "prevent thermal overload", double insulated" and "automatic cut-off" and a few other choice descriptions in the blurb to justify quite ginormous price differences in these things. I got the impression from the Ring technical man that when it reached fully charged mine didn't suddenly go bang but you weren't meant to leave it on charge for any length of time after that. They do of course offer a range of smart chargers that do cut out but surprise you have to pay for the privilege.

Question I suppose what is reasonable to ask for from a scrap yard as far as a used battery is concerned, and at what point one is entitled to ask for one's cash back for underperformance. The one I got set me back only a tenner - but that may have been wasted.

[Cavalier342]

Take it back to them, if you got any sort of receipt for it, take it with you obviously, at the very least they should exchange it for another battery. A tenner is cheap, I figured decent used ones would be around the £20 mark.

[Telegram Sam]

Just checked. It's now down to 11.9 V (disconnected)

[iangsi]

My charger is a halfords item that's got to be 25 years old. I leave it on for days it starts off charging a high current then slowly drops off to a trickle charge of about 0.5 A it does no harm at all to the battery. All I've done to it is replace the + & - leads, crocodile clips with up rated items. when the old ones wore out.
I don't know your budget but a quick search brings up this

https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4l/c/ ... E8QAvD_BwE

Batteries do have seemed to have shot up in price since the last time I bought one. Main dealers are cheaper than you'd think for batteries worth a phone call.

[ilovedmymantas]

Test across all the batteries of a suitable type.
And ask for the one with the highest resting voltage

I wish I'd said it like that
Our local yard has the batteries out the cars and stored in a covered area so it's fairly easy to check them.

Take it back to them, if you got any sort of receipt for it, take it with you obviously, at the very least they should exchange it for another battery. A tenner is cheap, I figured decent used ones would be around the £20 mark.

It's still old-school where I am. Not much leaves without being initialled with a paint-pen. I kind of like that

I agree a tenner is cheap but is it cost effective? There's not really much of a guarantee other than "if it doesn't work bring it back and we'll try again....and again..."
I'd take it back for a refund and tell them you've changed your mind and are getting a new battery.

You need a strong battery that will survive if there is a problem elsewhere.
A new one gives you peace of mind over an unknown one and, depending on the quality, 3/4/5 years guarantee!
Let me put it this way...

the battery is the "go" of the car.
A healthy battery provides a strong spark for starting etc.

Tyres are the "stop & steer" of a car.
The question is, would you fit part-worn tyres of unknown origin rather than new to save money?

In the old days I would do what it took to keep my cars running . Now I buy the best I can afford. I have one cav and I want it to last

My charger is a halfords item that's got to be 25 years old. I leave it on for days it starts off charging a high current then slowly drops off to a trickle charge of about 0.5 A it does no harm at all to the battery. All I've done to it is replace the + & - leads, crocodile clips with up rated items. when the old ones wore out.

Funny you should say that. I bought a gunson automatic charger from a littlewoods catalogue half my life ago . It was high-end then!
I've also had to change the crocs due to sparking/erosion/rust
It's served me well over the years, from reviving a "dead" battery after 3 days, to trickle charging a 120 amp leisure battery off-season. It also charged a wheelchair gel battery fitted in my manta
It's still available now for under £25, the design hasn't changed.
I discovered that when i looked around for it and found this page, which has some relevant info on how batteries work.
https://zroadster.org/articles/battery- ... shwick.35/

Very simple. 2 rocker switches.
Auto on/off.
100% charge/ 2A permanent float.

All you'll ever need for lead/acid batteries, which I'd stick with since they're original to the car and the more types, the dearer the charger.

[Telegram Sam]

I've said to the scrap yard man that I want a replacement with an acceptable rest charge, or refund. I don't think they are that sophisticated electronically - I'm having to bring my own multimeter to test!
If it comes to a new battery it's not just the price but the performance that I need to check. Something about "cold cranking milliamps / hour .."??? I'm out of my depth what to look for. In the past I once got a diesel battery for good measure but that may be OTT.
Gunson - I'll have to look it up. Does Littlewoods still exist?

[Cavalier342]

I've bought a second hand battery from a local scrapyard apparently from a diesel car, it was a Bosch battery, good as gold, £25 I think it was, many years ago, as far as I know it's still in my mate's Cavalier to this day. I'm not an expert on batteries but the biggest one you can find which will fit, with the highest numbers on it is your best bet.

[Telegram Sam]

I am to see if what the scrapyard can come up with is an improvement on what I got from them previously. If not then looking at what Euro Car Parts has on offer - a huge (price) range which one can only split easily by brand and guarantee period. This still leaves a lot. How can one make a "rational" informed choice other than tossing a coin? There must be technical differences that mean something to somebody.