Author Topic: Flat battery !!!!!!!  (Read 6146 times)

Old codger

  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz, 1 litre, 17 plate
Flat battery !!!!!!!
« on: November 05, 2019, 08:08:18 PM »
Hi there....think I might need a bit of help here.....I have a 17 plate 1litre jazz, had it for 12 months, extremely pleased with it so far......this morning went to start car, .....nothing......called green flag, they arrived put a battery charger on it and after a while hey presto we are okay...the green flag man says just short drives does the car no good what with all the gismos on the car  it needs a good 15 minute drive to keep the charge, we took the car to a Honda dealer and he says basically the same re short drives, so his suggestion was put it on a trickle charge once a week to keep it topped up......this does not seem right to me it goes in for its first service next week so I will get the dealer to check the battery, this is the first problem I have had with the car, any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully received......

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2019, 08:28:54 PM »
They are right about short drives, and the bad news is that if your battery is not regularly kept above 80% charge it soon gets damaged and unable to accept a charge.  If you only do low mileage and short drives you will have to supplement the charge that the car provides. The Jazz battery is not the biggest around, but if you make sure you do  few extra miles very time you start the car it should be fine...
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2019, 08:44:26 PM »
Welcome. Car alarm is a constant drain on the battery. If you don't use the car very often, then only use it for a couple of miles, the battery will steadily discharge until the inevitable happens. Ask the dealer to check the battery and the charging system.

Rory

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 657
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2009 1.4 EX Manual - gone to a family member. Still look after it, and a 2014 EX driven by daughter.
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2019, 12:31:00 PM »
Does the car have stop/start. and do you use it?

If so, it shouldn't operate when the battery is low, which gives you a clue as to its condition.

Batteries don't charge very fast these days, so do need run time more than anything else.  15 mins doesn't seem long - we've had a couple of issues with this in the family and the breakdown guys always seem to say the car needs regular 30min runs.

It could be the battery - seems to be lots of early failures of the batteries used by cars with stop/start - not Honda specific, I've seen it on lots of makes, particularly VW group cars.

madasafish

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1953
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 1.4 ES CVT -2012
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2019, 03:14:02 PM »
My wife's car does lwo miiles  <2,000 pa

I charge battery once a month... It keeps them going or they gradually discharge  - especially in winter- and then fail..

Old codger

  • Topic Starter
  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz, 1 litre, 17 plate
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2019, 05:23:16 PM »
Well thank you for your replies and advice it is much appreciated.......our annual mileage is about 11000 so it is not as if we do a low mileage but I can certainly keep an eye on the battery in future, again thank you for the response.....

Downsizer

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 853
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz 1.3 SE cvt - Feb '16 - Blue
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2019, 10:27:19 PM »
My annual mileage is very similar, and my only experience of a flat battery was in a Mk2 with a 6 year old battery, after I left the interior light on overnight.  Easily done if you decide to look at a map after parking at night, and you don't always notice if you next go back to the car in daylight!

jazzaro

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 787
  • Country: it
  • My Honda: GK3 Jazz 1.3 6m Elegance Navi grey.
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2019, 10:46:33 PM »
Uhmmm...
Compared with older vehicles, cars with S&S (as GK Jazz) generally have bigger and electronically controlled generators, able to recharge quickier  the battery even at idle. Usually batteries are built with  EFB technology (or AGM), so they can get more current in the first minutes after startup, and state of charge is closely  checked by the energy management system. So I'm not so convinced that short trips are bad for your Jazz. I mean, very very short trips are bad, one, two, three minutes... But 3-4 minutes should be enough for recharge. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm more worried about forgotting front interior lights on overnight  than short trips.

jazzaro

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 787
  • Country: it
  • My Honda: GK3 Jazz 1.3 6m Elegance Navi grey.
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2019, 10:53:12 PM »
My annual mileage is very similar, and my only experience of a flat battery was in a Mk2 with a 6 year old battery, after I left the interior light on overnight.  Easily done if you decide to look at a map after parking at night, and you don't always notice if you next go back to the car in daylight!
I love cars who switch off all services after door locking, as my old Renault. Jazz ECU switches off everything but front internal lights...

AlanTR

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 67
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz Crosstar
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2019, 07:15:51 PM »
We have had our Jazz for nearly 4 years and only once had a flat battery - due to my wife leaving an interior light on. The AA guy got it running and told her that 20-30 minutes running on idle on the drive would recharge it. Might be worth checking that your glove box and hatchback light switches are working, doesn't take much to run down a battery overnight.

SuperCNJ

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 269
  • Country: gb
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2019, 02:15:14 PM »
We have this problem as well, most of our journeys are for the school run and grocery so typically less than 15min drive. I would highly recommend getting a trickle charger and a power bank jump starter - this is a must imo!

With our old car, there has been a few occasions when out power bank jump starter has saved us from being stranded, also helped out a couple of fellow drivers who couldn't get their car started.

We trickle charge our car about once a month now which seems to have worked well for us.

mrushton

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz SE
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2020, 02:47:18 PM »
Any particularbmodel recommended? Many cars are driven on cpc  deals so low mileage is essential. Sounds like a catch 22 scenario

culzean

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 8017
  • Country: england
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2020, 04:54:01 PM »
I fitted one of these 1 amp AA charger / maintainer for my wifes sister she does not often use the car, and then only short journeys and to make matters worse the car has an alarm fitted so battery is constantly being drained.  Charger comes complete with SAE plug and both a fused permanent connection lead ( with ring tags to fit on battery terminal clamp bolts ) and a lead with crocodile clips.  The fused lead is quite long so poked it out through lower part of front grille, where it can be plugged in without opening bonnet.  The SAE plugs are impossible to plug in the wrong way and very rugged and have a waterproof clip-on cover permanently attached.  It defaults to 12volts charge,  and as long as it is plugged into car battery if you have a power cut at your house it remembers exactly where it was in the charge cycle and resumes when power restored... at end of charge it switches to 'float' mode of about 13.7 volts,  which will keep battery free of sulphation and maximise its life.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DW6RHN2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

they are reduced to £20 now, and they do work well,  we have one for our cars and brother has one for his motorbike

and an extension lead lead to reach up the driveway...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N7CEV00/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and a longer one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KUNCAN-Extension-Battery-Disconnect-Connectors/dp/B01MZZGHNK/ref=pd_sbs_263_2/259-8263380-7049855?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01MZZGHNK&pd_rd_r=b96ceb64-3fac-4cd7-987c-2583fcdf9d42&pd_rd_w=34vvN&pd_rd_wg=X2KPu&pf_rd_p=f4a31d1d-8f61-48f5-b6f4-a22ba06df575&pf_rd_r=D6AXRYRCY2G7XVY1YXA9&psc=1&refRID=D6AXRYRCY2G7XVY1YXA9

Here is a good article on maximising life of your car battery, it needs to be kept in top 20% of charge..

https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery

at all costs you need to avoid sulphation which is cause by keeping a lead acid battery partly charged..

https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/sulfation_and_how_to_prevent_it
« Last Edit: January 02, 2020, 06:11:18 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

SuperCNJ

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 269
  • Country: gb
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #13 on: January 09, 2020, 02:03:22 PM »
Completely agree with the above. A decent trickle charger is a must in my opinion, I contemplated getting a cheaper one before but having done some research, it seems you do get what you pay for. The cheaper ones do work, but the quality of the internal electronics is not as good.

I went for a CTEK MXS 5.0 a few years ago now, it has been used quite frequently and still remains faultless so I highly recommend them. I'm actually looking to install a socket in the boot of our MK3 to make it even easier to charge frequently.

In terms of power bank jump starters, I have been using one that I bought off AliExpress a few years ago, the main thing for me was to check with the seller what cells they use inside the power bank - making sure they are quality cells (e.g. Samsung, LG, Panasonic/Sanyo etc.).


hemming

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 131
  • Country: gb
Re: Flat battery !!!!!!!
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2020, 09:12:53 AM »
Through lack of usage my battery is flat. Someone has kindly loaned me a charger but I have no intention of using the car until we can come out of isolation. Is there any point in doing a recharge (from the point of battery health) until I actually want to use the car? In the meantime I have merely disconnected the negative lead. Thanks.

Tags:
 

anything
Back to top