12V Battery after long stand still

[Botak]

If anyone is interested in how the 12V battery is coping with a long stand-still, I provide here some information.
We are used to spend the winter in warmer regions then Holland and so our Jazz is left alone in our garage for the whole period. The garage does not have electricity, so it is impossible to trickle charge the battery. The battery does cope very well.
The first time the data ware : at departure the battery measured 12,8V, at return, two and a half month later, it was 11,9V. After a trip for an hour the charge (next day) was 12,6V.
The second time (this year) after a sty of almost three months, it was: at departure 12,6V and at return 11,6. The car started up without help from a jumpstarter. The charge the day after the charge-up trip was 12,4V.
I assume the battery will hold on for another winter (or 2?) what more is than I expected.
I would not recommand anyone to follow my example and (mis)treat the battery (and car?) the way I do, but my conclusion is that the small 12V battery is quite sturdy and holds up very well. A stand still of a few of weeks should not cause any problem. 

[nowster]

On the other hand, the manual recommends running the car for a minimum of 30 minutes every three months to condition the high voltage LiIon battery.

[Jazzik]

the manual recommends running the car for a minimum of 30 minutes every three months

at return, two and a half month later
The second time (this year) after a sty of almost three months

So, this was

[Whiteshark]

Really interested to read this as I am going away to Australia for 7 weeks soon, so now happy to know all should be ok. However my Merc will be left on the CTek, not a chance that will last.

[Kremmen]

Odd that some have a long lasting 12v but some have had theirs go flat.

I don't risk it and do a CTEK after 2 weeks non use.

[Jazzik]

Long, long ago, Lidl had these 2 devices on offer:

 

The right one has been used regularly since the purchase, the left one is in its original packaging somewhere in the garage and is collecting dust: has never been used...
And that while we have been driving a hybrid with such a (too) small battery for almost 6 years now...
Is it necessary to say that we have never (until now... ) been confronted with an empty battery?

[coravel]

If anyone is interested in how the 12V battery is coping with a long stand-still, I provide here some information.
We are used to spend the winter in warmer regions then Holland and so our Jazz is left alone in our garage for the whole period. The garage does not have electricity, so it is impossible to trickle charge the battery. The battery does cope very well.
The first time the data ware : at departure the battery measured 12,8V, at return, two and a half month later, it was 11,9V. After a trip for an hour the charge (next day) was 12,6V.
The second time (this year) after a sty of almost three months, it was: at departure 12,6V and at return 11,6. The car started up without help from a jumpstarter. The charge the day after the charge-up trip was 12,4V.
I assume the battery will hold on for another winter (or 2?) what more is than I expected.
I would not recommand anyone to follow my example and (mis)treat the battery (and car?) the way I do, but my conclusion is that the small 12V battery is quite sturdy and holds up very well. A stand still of a few of weeks should not cause any problem.

I also left my one year old Jazz to go on a two and a half month cruise to South America but mine was flat as a pancake when I returned. To be fair, I called Honda Assist and they sent out the AA who charged the car to over 51% and suggested I took it for a 30 minute run.  My car has a very low mileage so perhaps I was expecting too much! 

[Whiteshark]

I think it may be prudent to make sure the battery is fully charged before I leave. The reason the Mercs and my Lexus before that,  would only ever last max 2 weeks, is  because they are full of electronics that are live and draining the system. I don’t think the Jazz comes into that category, plus of course the hybrid batteries are actually used for starting rather than the 12v which only needs to energise the electrics.

[Kremmen]

The one thing to remember is that if you allow any 12v to become fully discharged it will not hold a charge, even after many hours on charge.

My Mrs left our new Metro sidelights on overnight. Dead battery, and even after a 12 hour battery charge and a 200 mile trip the battery would still drain fully overnight. New battery problem solved.

[SebastianTR]

This is a very changeable topic.
How old is your battery? and how often do you use this car?
These are will affect your battery life

[Kremmen]

In our case as this is the Mk4 thread the batteries aren't that old.

[Botak]

I also left my one year old Jazz to go on a two and a half month cruise to South America but mine was flat as a pancake when I returned.
[/quote]

The very different experience by Coravel I can only explain by (a cumulation) of this causes:
1. A different battery. Is improbable. But for info: the battery in our Jazz is a panosonic 44B19L
2. A different charge of the battery. I always take care that the battery before departure is fully charged (therefore the measurement of the voltage)
3. The type of winter and storage. Our car is stored in a garage, not heated but certainly in the kind of winters as this year in the Netherlands, the temperature will never go below freezing point and usually at a point that is not unpleasant for batteries. And startup was on a sunny day at about 15C (about 60F).
4. The electronics of the car is obliously by a long stay in a kind of deep sleep. To help that I have a protocol that I follow when I store the car. I lock the car the usual way by touching the handle twice (learned on this forum by, if I remember correctly, by Kremmen), than I disconnect the fob from the car by a longpush on both buttons. That way I hope the electronics go to sleep earlier. This is probable technical homeopathy, but if it not works for the car, the placebo works for me.

As an extra info. In the protocol is also that I inflate the tyres at a higher level, at 3 BAR (appr 44 PSI). That way the treads of the tyres will stay fully round despite pushing very long on the same spot of the tyre. Indeed that is the case. However, I will never know if that is the case because of the higher pressure.

[SebastianTR]

In our case as this is the Mk4 thread the batteries aren't that old.

it's not old but still depend on usage. You can damage your battery in 3 years. If you keep it always empty or full

A healty battery always has to be in a loop discharge and charge.

[pauly58]

Our's was faulty, & replaced under warranty.

[Jazzist]

Mine was empty because the GPS module remained on. After an update by the garage and replacement under warranty of the battery, the problem was solved.