REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum


Welcome to the REVscene Automotive Forum forums.

Registration is Free!You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.


Go Back   REVscene Automotive Forum > Automotive Chat > Vancouver Auto Chat

Vancouver Auto Chat 2016 VAC Community Head Moderator: Raid3n

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-01-2014, 07:33 AM   #1
I WANT MY 10 YEARS BACK FROM RS.net!
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 20,406
Thanked 7,468 Times in 1,445 Posts
Failed 2,380 Times in 472 Posts
Battery voltage question

The car is only driven on the weekend. Just checked the battery voltage, it is showing 11.2v when parked in the garage, but when I warm up the car, the voltage goes back up to 14v. Is it the battery needs to be replaced? will I get warning light on the dash (it is a MB)?

Advertisement
asian_XL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2014, 09:27 AM   #2
Rs has made me the woman i am today!
 
IMASA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 4,461
Thanked 1,276 Times in 308 Posts
Failed 25 Times in 12 Posts
Seems like either your battery isn't holding a charge or something is draining it. A fully charged battery is theoretically 12.6V. Get the battery tested.
IMASA is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 03-01-2014, 10:33 AM   #3
2x Variable Nockenwellen Steuerung
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: N49.2 W122.1
Posts: 6,176
Thanked 1,174 Times in 704 Posts
Failed 67 Times in 51 Posts
Voltage is one of the symptoms, not the problem. Amperage is what you need to be measuring. Also HK is more humid, clean your battery connectors with a scotch pad and apply so dielectric grease to reduce oxidation.

If the car is only driven on the weekend, get one of those solar panels that plug into the cigarette socket, put it on your dash. Problem mitigated.

Most car dealerships would have http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-SOLAR-PANEL-BATTERY-CHARGING-UNIT-/261406629326?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cdd0c9dcewhen new cars arrive.. so never hurt to ask.

Last edited by godwin; 03-01-2014 at 10:45 AM.
godwin is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 03-01-2014, 01:44 PM   #4
I told him no, what y'all do?
 
GLOW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 10,169
Thanked 6,026 Times in 2,617 Posts
Failed 105 Times in 67 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by godwin View Post
If the car is only driven on the weekend, get one of those solar panels that plug into the cigarette socket, put it on your dash. Problem mitigated.
do they turn off if battery is fully charged? i was thinking more on the lines of one of these guys

MotoMaster Eliminator Intelligent Battery Charger 12/8/2A | Canadian Tire
__________________
Feedback
http://www.revscene.net/forums/showthread.php?t=611711

Quote:
Greenstoner
1 rat shit ruins the whole congee
originalhypa
You cannot live the life of a whore and expect a monument to your chastity
Quote:
[22-12, 08:51]mellomandidnt think and went in straight..scrapped like a bitch
[17-09, 12:07]FastAnna glowjob
[17-09, 12:08]FastAnna I like dat

GLOW is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 03-01-2014, 01:52 PM   #5
Banned By Establishment
 
Iceman-19's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC
Posts: 9,521
Thanked 1,289 Times in 409 Posts
Failed 407 Times in 100 Posts
If it goes up to 14v that means its charging. If your car starts, and the battery starts the car, its working. 13v is a fully charged battery.
Iceman-19 is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 03-01-2014, 04:47 PM   #6
Wunder? Wonder?? Wander???
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Vancouv
Posts: 214
Thanked 106 Times in 46 Posts
Failed 14 Times in 6 Posts
drive your vehicle for for 45mins to charge up ur battery via the alternator. or buy a trickle charger to keep your battery charged when vehicle is not driven. battery lose voltage because of parasitic draw

note: because it is a MB, there is a lot of electronics on this vehicle. that may have cause a larger draw compare to average vehicles.
JAYWALKER is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 03-01-2014, 04:49 PM   #7
2x Variable Nockenwellen Steuerung
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: N49.2 W122.1
Posts: 6,176
Thanked 1,174 Times in 704 Posts
Failed 67 Times in 51 Posts
I don't think so but because the panels are so week. I think they rate in mA the probability of overcharging is low.

If you are looking for a battery float charger, nothing beats CTek. Those Motomaster chargers are not the greatest. In my garage I use Ctek, then if worse come to worse I have a Motomaster Boosterpack (basically a lead acid battery). Then if worse come to worse BCAA platinium.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GLOW View Post
do they turn off if battery is fully charged? i was thinking more on the lines of one of these guys

MotoMaster Eliminator Intelligent Battery Charger 12/8/2A | Canadian Tire
godwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2014, 06:54 PM   #8
I WANT MY 10 YEARS BACK FROM RS.net!
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 20,406
Thanked 7,468 Times in 1,445 Posts
Failed 2,380 Times in 472 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by IMASA View Post
Seems like either your battery isn't holding a charge or something is draining it. A fully charged battery is theoretically 12.6V. Get the battery tested.
The inspector said the battery needs to be replaced when I bought the car, but strange enough he said at this voltage the car can't be started or struggle to start. Anyway, I will get it replaced first. Thanks guys.
asian_XL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2014, 08:10 PM   #9
Banned By Establishment
 
Iceman-19's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC
Posts: 9,521
Thanked 1,289 Times in 409 Posts
Failed 407 Times in 100 Posts
Inspector gadget?
Iceman-19 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2014, 08:44 AM   #10
RS Veteran
 
AVNGinger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Cold Lake, AB
Posts: 893
Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts
Failed 0 Times in 0 Posts
Have you ever had to boost your battery? If so, the alternator will never be able to charge it back to 100%. If I were you I would go buy a battery charger, disconnect the leads (you can leave the battery in the car if you want) and give it a good, slow, low amp charge overnight and then reassess (if your battery is not a Maintenance-Free battery, then make sure the water is topped up with distilled water). If you notice the battery voltage drop again then you may have a draw. Also note that if your battery is dirty, it actually creates a bridge between the two posts (usually only a problem on top post) which will result in a small draw, so make sure it's clean. Also you can usually bring your battery in to a parts store and they will test it for you on their load tester.

If you are concerned about a parasitic draw, try this.

1) Leave your car off with key out, doors closed and everything in the normal position it would be in if you were leaving your car off in the parking stall, but with the hood popped.
2) If you have a hood light, disconnect it for the time being.
3) Disconnect the negative cable to the battery, leave the positive connected.
4) Take your multimeter, set it to DC Amps
5) Place one multimeter lead on the negative post on the battery, and take the other lead and place it on the now disconnected negative cable.
6) If you read amperage on the meter, that is a parasitic draw. Note that almost all vehicles have a small amount of draw with the vehicle off to keep the clock running, security systems and such.
7) To isolate where the draw is coming from, as you are watching the multimeter, start pulling fuses, one at a time, replacing them as you pull them. As you are pulling fuses, if you find that the amperage reading drops sharply when you remove one fuse, then you have found the circuit with the draw.
8) Once you have determined the circuit with the draw it should become fairly obvious what component is causing the draw, but if not, try and get the wiring diagram for your vehicle and again (make sure you have all the fuses back in at this point), one by one, start disconnecting components in that circuit until you find that drop in amperage again and then you have found your draw!

Sorry if this wasn't what you were looking for but more info is better than less.
__________________
86.5 Toyota Supra NA - Aristo 2JZ-GTE non-VVTI swap in progess
1992 Nissan Sentra Classic - Rusty daily driver
1994 GMC 1500 350 4X4 Status: Neverending Repairs

32,000 Lbs of thrust, max speed of Mach 1.8, M61A1 Vulcan cannon, missile and bombs galore. Rival? The Genus Larus "seagull"

Last edited by AVNGinger; 03-03-2014 at 09:31 AM.
AVNGinger is offline   Reply With Quote
This post thanked by:
Old 03-02-2014, 01:33 PM   #11
OMGWTFBBQ is a common word I say everyday
 
GabAlmighty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Coquitlam
Posts: 5,324
Thanked 3,782 Times in 1,242 Posts
Failed 533 Times in 187 Posts
Get a trickle charger, problem solved
__________________
'16 Ram 1500
GabAlmighty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2014, 04:40 PM   #12
I subscribe to the Fight Club ONLY
 
Volvo-brickster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Coquitlam
Posts: 7,091
Thanked 2,112 Times in 264 Posts
Failed 61 Times in 29 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Supra-Kid View Post
Have you ever had to boost your battery? If so, the alternator will never be able to charge it back to 100%.
Back in the day when i had a 1400+ watt RMS amp + Kicker L7 i was doing a motormaster warranty replacement about every year

Kill it multiple times and it will never be the same.
Volvo-brickster is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 11:13 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
SEO by vBSEO ©2011, Crawlability, Inc.
Revscene.net cannot be held accountable for the actions of its members nor does the opinions of the members represent that of Revscene.net