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Battery Charging

Denno

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Hi guys,

A couple of questions:

I have a V6 VX commodore - how long would I have to drive for to recharge the battery enough to compensate for the drain in starting the car? I have stock everything under the bonnet (i.e. alternator).

Reason for asking
I drive 2.1km from home to the train station and back each day (drive time of ~5 minutes one way), but my battery never seems to top itself back up. (or I have another problem, which I'm in the process of diagnosing by posting this here)

Also, for a V6, what would be the best battery charger to use? I bought a cheapo charger from Repco (it looks similar to this one https://www.autobarn.com.au/battery-link-battery-charger-12v-2700ma-ch4 - Repco's website doesn't have their products listed so can't find the exact one), but it doesn't seem to do a very good job of charging.. I put my car on charge on a Sunday for 8-9 hours, but the indicator on my battery still says it needs to be charged, and the voltage barely stays above 12V.

The battery I have is also a Repco one (they had a sale), I can't remember the exact model, but it's labeled as "High Performance", and it's the one for a Commodore.

I'm aware I could have a battery drain issue when the car is off, however I just want to find out this information for now before I go disconnecting everything from the battery to try and figure out if there is something that's draining the battery overnight.

Thanks,
Denno
 

Wozza

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short trips will kill a battery over time....I have the same problem about 6k a day with long brakes in between, on average I go through a battery every 18mth to 2 years.....Give the car a good run once a week should help...What happens is as a battery discharges Lead sulfate forms on the plates, when charged it turns back into lead and sulfuric acid , if it drops below 10volts the build up can get so bad it shorts out the plates...You can spend a bit more money and get a deep cycle battery these tend to last longer even if heavily discharged....
 

Denno

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Thanks for the reply mate.

The problem with killing the battery "over time", is that I have had this battery for *checks calendar because I saved it for this very reason* 3 months exactly tomorrow.

I do get to give it a good drive once a week now, but I'm still a bit wary about how much it's helping.

I did put an Optima Yellow Top in the car when I first got my sound system, and that was pretty good, but if I recall correctly, the battery didn't last all that long, and that's back when I was driving my car all the time, so didn't see the advantage of it.
 

mpower

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buy a battery with a 2-3 year warranty, if it dies just return it. Supercheap for example have a great return policy and will just swap out with an invoice.

pita but easier than trying to manage with a charger if it's a daily drive.
 

Denno

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Any suggestions of batteries with 2-3 year warranty? I've just had a loop at the deep cycles on Supercheap but they only come with 12 months..
 

mpower

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Any suggestions of batteries with 2-3 year warranty? I've just had a loop at the deep cycles on Supercheap but they only come with 12 months..

Century are sold @ Supercheap.

Can top them up too.
 

Denno

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Oh so you reckon just a normal Century one, not deep cycle?
 

Wozza

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Thanks for the reply mate.

The problem with killing the battery "over time", is that I have had this battery for *checks calendar because I saved it for this very reason* 3 months exactly tomorrow.

I do get to give it a good drive once a week now, but I'm still a bit wary about how much it's helping.

I did put an Optima Yellow Top in the car when I first got my sound system, and that was pretty good, but if I recall correctly, the battery didn't last all that long, and that's back when I was driving my car all the time, so didn't see the advantage of it.

HI again
Ok somethings not right with the charging system if a battery is only lasting 3mths...Your sound system must be pulling to much current, have you done the big 3 upgrade on the electrical system ?
with the car idling crank the sound system up with the lights on high beam and heater turned on..... check the voltage at the battery if its under 13volts you may want to look at an upgrade of the electrical system....
 

Denno

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HI again
Ok somethings not right with the charging system if a battery is only lasting 3mths...Your sound system must be pulling to much current, have you done the big 3 upgrade on the electrical system ?
with the car idling crank the sound system up with the lights on high beam and heater turned on..... check the voltage at the battery if its under 13volts you may want to look at an upgrade of the electrical system....

I'm pretty sure I've done 2 of the big 3 - I don't know where the attach a bigger wire to the alternator and I can't find any decent images showing me, so I haven't done that one.

But I barely have my sound system up loud at all these days anyway, so I don't know if that would still cause the issue?
 

mpower

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Oh so you reckon just a normal Century one, not deep cycle?

I don't see the need.

You do have an alternator that's up to providing the power your electrical system requires right?
 
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