Weird fault 3years 4 months old Century calcium 600cca 65 ah in range rover . Starts well in the morning & starts easily for about 3 weeks then suddenly after start & short run its almost flat & wont turn engine over . Recharge & it goes ok again for week or 2 then does it again charging system checked & OK . So ive bought a new battery Exide test shows only 15% life left in it Not the first time ive had trouble with century batteries it was in it when i bought the wagon
3tomany,
Oct 9, 9:56pm
About normal i would say.
motig,
Oct 9, 10:02pm
Sure theres not something on thats draining the batteries Be unusual for both batteries to do the same thing. On either this board or another I was looking at someone had the problem of a battery draining was the boot light or something not turning off.
s_nz,
Oct 9, 10:03pm
Some cars just destroy lead acid batteries quickly. The life of you got out of that battery is only a little below the 4-6 years typical life.
if you have a volt meter handy, put it on the battery when it is not running. 12.6v or above is good, 12.5 is marginal and 12.4v or below means that you battery isn't being kept fully charged.
Lead acid batteries love to stay at a high level of charge. Being at a low state of charge (and especially being run competently flat is bad for them.
Some car's (The Nissan leaf is a common example) don't charge their lead acid batteries at a high enough voltage. This is done to improve the overall efficiency of the car, but means the 12v battery gets worn out fast.
Other cars have high drain when parked, again adding wear.
Charging your 12v batteries with an external charger (ideally smart) every 3 months or so will charge them at a higher voltage than what the car does, and will likely improve their lifespan.
gpg58,
Oct 9, 10:12pm
Are you using a calcium charger, or merely getting a surface charge on it each time, with a standard lead acid charger.(ie - not enough voltage).
My 97 discover had an appetite for batteries, due to its huge parasitic drain, and my infrequent usage, until i put an isolator on it. (disadvantage was that clock was always wrong when reconnected, but advantage was, no more shagged batteries).
tony9,
Oct 10, 5:34pm
What year is it?
Range/Land Rovers between about 1980's and 2000's and some country builds will drain the battery if the Body Control System is being tickled by outside wireless signals. Particularly common problem at larger air port car parks.
Yet the battery in my merc was origonal when i bought it in 2016 made in Germany march 2000 according to the label . Guess these days everything to do with 99% of cars is mininimalist just enough to get past the warranty period & calcium is just a cheap way of increasing capacity instead of adding plates but seems to give them a shorter life .
duncb,
Oct 12, 10:49am
Calcium batteries are different to a standard lead acid battery. Once they go flattish they will not properly recharge with the vehicle charging system or a lead acid charger. You need to take the battery to a battery dealer and get it charged with a serious calcium charger.
peanuts37 --do you need to buy an adaptor plug here to run it. I see plugs listed for other markets but not nz. Could be me not searching through it right. Looks great though & want to buy one. Thanks for the link.
kazbanz,
Oct 14, 12:19pm
Elect if im reading your post right I'd suspect a vehicle rather than a battery fault.
tmenz,
Oct 14, 1:23pm
Just specify AU plug which is Australian - same as ours. I would not buy a 4 Amp charger, I'd go for a bigger one - Foxsur also have 8 Amp and 20 Amp offerings on Aliexpress for reasonable prices.
strobo,
Oct 14, 1:56pm
Too early to fault a battery me thinks .You'll find many cars left at the airport for a few weeks ,owners come back to flat batteries.Milliamps can drain a good battery over time .ie A clock or alarm system running after key is out ,A hidden isolator switch too a good thing to get fitted as well.Quick test if there is drain off the battery when key is out ,remove the posi terminal from battery then replace it, . should be zero spark .If a spark is present there is a slow discharge somewhere on the vehicle somewhere that will drain the battery!the battery may appear to have good volts but the cranking amps will be way down.A load test will determine that.If lead acid batt , Check the electrolyte level or specific gravity ,1120 discharged. about 1280 fully charged,if low will be sulphated in cells
strobo,
Oct 14, 2:23pm
depending where you tested the charge output from ,was it at battery or directly at alt., the recharge red wire is often left off battery accidentally or has an open circuit along the line ,test continuity between alt and batt to be sure as could be a bad section of wire there or poor connections!
peanuts37,
Oct 14, 6:58pm
They sent me a travel adapter with it. Just choose the AU one, that's Australia which is same as us or buy plug here and fit it.
peanuts37,
Oct 14, 7:07pm
The one i linked to rated 5 amp actually puts out 6 amp, think they are conservative with their ratings. Have got a friend with a CX5 and the start light started to come on on dash. He was told it was caused by low battery and needed replacing. He bought one of these and left on repair mode overnight and light hasn't come on again. That was a couple of months ago.
That 4 to 100 amp on charger is the amps size of batteries it can charge not charger output.
electromic,
Oct 14, 8:00pm
Have had the exact problem with a century battery of the same age in a 2004 range rover. Could not find a fault with the vehicle. The battery was charged up on my smart charger and then put in my old ute. It lasted 3 years in the ute before dying. The owner was "told" that it is a Range Rover thing and to replace the battery every 3 years.
gamefisher,
Nov 7, 2:49am
Same battery in Colorado ute at work did same thing and same age.
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