Flat battery

Just got home from 3 months away to find no flashing light on the dash, remote key not even making the locks click and it appears I have a totally flat battery..................... there is a solar powered trickle charger sat on the centre arm rest with no flashing indicator light as well. Swift call to LRA who advise me that "no technicians are available until 9:30 - 10:30 tomorrow morning" (obviously I am not a priority at 20:30 with the car parked on my drive, hopefully it would be different if the car was in an airport long term carpark.
So I used the emergency key to get in - because the LRA phone number is on the tax disc holder isn't it! And I also find that the cable joining the solar charger to the plug in the boot has got chopped at the solar panel..... so about 4 weeks is the life of an RRE battery if you don't leave it on a charger..............
Note to all - add the LRA phone number to your mobile phone contacts, I thought I had but it isn't the same one as on the tax disk holder which worked!

Welcome back Tim,
By using the emergency blade does that mean that the cover on the handle is now broken ?( heard that if you use the key it tends to break the clips on the cover )
Great tip on the LRA number, I'm now going out to put into my contacts

(08-08-2012 09:17pm)Nowaytk Wrote:  Welcome back Tim,
By using the emergency blade does that mean that the cover on the handle is now broken ?( heard that if you use the key it tends to break the clips on the cover )
Great tip on the LRA number, I'm now going out to put into my contacts

No, I had to remove mine when the key wasn't recognised and the car wouldn't unlock, and I successfully replaced it. However, it isn't a very positive clip, and there also appears to have been a dab of glue used which is now ineffective, so I'd give the set-up about 3/10. The hardest part was actually prizing the cover off without damaging it.

Same as Donny, once removed the cover doesn't instill a lot of confidence that it will remain in place very long now. The cover also moves a lot on its mountings. Might have to find some heavy duty velcro to modify it in the hope that it wont fall off at high speed once the battery is back in fine fettle.

So was the flat battery due to the solar charger failure ??

Or would it have gone flat anyway after that long ?

The problem was the lead from the socket to the charger, not the charger. The lead has become broken where it has a moulded on joint to the solar panel. Then the car has sat for about 4 weeks with, in effect, no trickle charger connected. I fully expect to be told by the AA/LRA tech that I will need a new battery too as I suspect that iy has been totally flattened.

Tim,

Which solar charger do you have? Maplins do a 1.5 or 2.5w one. I think I'm probably going to need one with my 3 weeks on 3 weeks off rota.

Hope your battery is sorted out quick smart.

Just a question regarding the prevention of getting a flat battery after long periods of no use, and taking into account that these are very hi-tech cars with massive electrical systems...... is it o.k to just disconnect the battery and re-connect when you get back? Other then having to adjust the clock, what else should one take into account when disconnecting the battery?

I have just asked the techy this very question and his answer was "don't know!". I know sometime immobilisers can be a problem after disconnecting batteries

The result of this morning's call out - techy arrived right on time as predicted at 0930 in a D4 liveried with LR Customer care. Opened the bonnet and put his various meters onto the battery - 1.5v charge remaining so he wasn't too sure that it would recharge. Connected up his jump leads AND his power boost pack as he claimed the starting current draw from the Evoque was so much that it could damage his D4 battery! As soon as he started the car it showed charging and no problem with the battery condition monitor tat all Evoues have and apparently are the thing that is the biggest problem with jump starting them. If the charge in the battery is very very low then the monitor requires resetting to get all the auxiliaries to work properly. Fortunately the battery was not so far discharged that the reset was required and I don't require a new battery. Lots of checking later the techy reset things like the clock (the radio pre-sets were not lost but the clock needed resetting!) checked the charge was going into the battery after 20 minutes and deemed all ok and to leave the car 30 minutes ticking over on the drive but not to leave it much longer otherwise the PDF will start to clog! So off to marlin's website to get a new charger and then off to town and a nice long run to get the PDF cleaned and the battery charge back to 100%

I certainly hope your battery will not have been damaged. All too often, a completely flat battery leads to irreversible chemical changes which prevent it holding a charge. 1.5v in my book is completely discharged, so it will be interesting to see if the battery is OK long term. I think this also shows that the battery will not be a Halfords replaceable item - I expect the battery condition monitor is quite fussy.

Question, did he connect his booster bnack directly to the battery terminals or to the other side of the monitoring plate which serves to signal the net current draw?

It would be interesting to know what they montor - voltage and current, possibly temperature - and it must be this system which is dictating how long the audio system can be used on battery only, the goal of course being to ensure there's always enough power to get the engine started. Really Lead Acid batteries are not suited to supplying devices long term because the voltage soon starts to fall, they are there to provide thevery high current required by the starter motor.

Li-Ion batteries such as used in cameras and laptops have sophisticated monitoring chips which are designed to operate the battery within a safe envelope because otherwise they can explode which is not pleasant. Lead Acid batteries have not received the same level of TLC up to now.

You can specify a Li-Ion battery on some Porsches which is much lighter for racing use. Something like £2000...