Today was Battery day

[stuartb]

Nightmare today, dropped keys off at a clients on the way back to the office I pulled up at the lights at a busy junction just up the road from here and my car wouldn't start..total chaos, 10am and the road was busy, so on with the hazards, popped the bonnet and walked across the road to Lindsays of Dumbuck ( fun fact: Jackie Stewarts parents old garage).. one of the lads brought out a jump pack and got me going.

The guy I use at the local auto parts store laughed when I told him I was looking for a stop start battery..after a sharp intake of breath (signifying the forthcoming expense) he said you've got no chance big man, no one has any, back log, covid etc etc.. ! ...anyhow long story shortened, Halfords had one in stock at a whopping ?190 quid, but reduced to ?148 with my trade discount !.. thinking I'd just scored a hole in one I paid for it, dropped it off at the Kwik Fit across the road from my place where a pal of mine would fit it between jobs, turns out the battery is under the passenger seat, so it's virtually a seat out job before you can get to it !..

My bike battery is also knackered, Rab Carson picked his and mine up yesterday from the dealer after a service and it wouldn't start, the service manager acknowledged the battery was a bit flat ?.., why they never called me I don't know.. having been on my optimate overnight it's still not firing up... so Halfords tomorrow again..

I've emailed big Scott the service manager asking some questions..glad I never turned up expecting to ride it home !

 

[stuartb]

I suppose this is a good a time as any to consider Lithium versus the traditional route.. if I go lithium then it's a new charger too, so I will end up with 4 chargers, my MV has a bespoke charger with a Superseal connector, the Chinky one I bought and my Oxford are no good for Lithium... decisions decisions !

 

[cobo]

Do most cars with this stop-start feature allow you to disable it if you want, out of interest?

 

[stuartb]

I'm not sure mate to be honest, I suspect it could be done at the dealers.. I absolutely detest stop start, there's a manual override button on the centre console it's the first thing I activate after starting the car up..

 

[cobo]

I'm not sure mate to be honest, I suspect it could be done at the dealers.. I absolutely detest stop start, there's a manual override button on the centre console it's the first thing I activate after starting the car up..

That?s annoying you have to override each time you jump in the car!
Was curious if disabling stop-start could have extended the remaining-life of the battery if you switch it off so it actually gets a decent uninterrupted charge from the alternator. But if the battery is already pretty cactus not much you can do I ?Spode.

What kind of life do these stop-start barriers have? They?re massive from what I?ve seen vs ?normal? car batteries too.

 

[Flyingscotsman]

These stop-start batteries are a real pain. Not only do they cost an arm and a leg but you need to recode the car when you change the battery. The stop start function 'learns' the capacity of the battery, and you need to reset it so it 'forgets' the lower capacity of the dead batttery.

For the bike, I'd go for an old fashioned lead-acid Yuasa YTZ10S - and you can still use your many chargers!

 

[Balallan]

Hi Stuart, got my last car & bike batteries from euro car parts - cheapest around as they always have a sale on, i thought about going lithium but the cost of buying another trickle charger on top of the battery didn't make sense so just went with a YTZ10s battery and will replace every 4-5yrs that's if i still have the gen 3 then, maybe a new gen 4 will appear in the man cave by then

I thought Rob had sold his gen 4? has he bought another one??

Allan

 

[Corkgsxr]

I use the Nico lithium charger from Halfords. You can buy extra connectors with a sealed plug end. All use same now

 

[alex]

Nico or Noco? The Noco stuff you're lucky to find despite the display boxes out.

 

[MoranC1]

Stop start systems normally will detect the voltage drop in the battery during cranking, meaning if your battery is dying but will allow the car to start, the stop start Ecu should go 'hold on, during cranking the battery dropped to' X' volts, that's too low to confirm it'll start again' this will normally cause the SS ecu to disable it. And when you try and use it it won't work. It'll only be an issue if your battery is on the edge and during the stop start function you have alot of loads on at once, I. E headlights, heated seats, blowers on full speed. Then it can quickly kill a dying battery

 

[Corkgsxr]

Nico or Noco? The Noco stuff you're lucky to find despite the display boxes out.

Sorry Noco. Autocorrect jumped In. I donno iv no hassles In Mine. Or just ask them to order it.

I left my sv on prime and killed the lithium battery to not a flicker. And it brought it back. After 10 mins it was nearly starting it

 

[stuartb]

Right, so car now operational was a bit of a mission to fit as the battery fits under the passenger seat, I opted for the Shido connect lithium, you get an app for it to check its condition and bought a Noco 2 from go batteries (Warwick batteries). Im into good service, the clincher was I emailed them with some questions at 11pm expecting a reply next day and got an immediate response(s) from Mark who's a director, gave me advice and stood his ground with no discount citing service, after sales help and hasn't put is prices up capitalising on Covid unlike many, I respected his comments and felt he earned my business, it did help he had one in Stock and it was cheaper than the only one UK competitor I could see ..I'm keeping the bike so it's money well spent .300 plus on batteries in 2 days.. ouch

Sent from this shitty wee phone

 

[stuartb]

Hi Stuart, got my last car & bike batteries from euro car parts - cheapest around as they always have a sale on, i thought about going lithium but the cost of buying another trickle charger on top of the battery didn't make sense so just went with a YTZ10s battery and will replace every 4-5yrs that's if i still have the gen 3 then, maybe a new gen 4 will appear in the man cave by then

I thought Rob had sold his gen 4? has he bought another one??

Allan

Ryte Allan .. No he's been threatening to sell for ages, just listed it up earlier today. .had some issues with it from day one .

Sent from this shitty wee phone

 

[Balallan]

Haha funnily enough i see the ad for it last night, i thought with the hassle he was having he had punted it ages ago.

Will call found for a look at the MV when the weather gets better she looks a belter mate

 

[stuartb]

Aye of course mate anytime, doors always open ..Mite even get out for a wee hurl if the weather's good .. fancy a Skye run in the spring so I do ..

Sent from this shitty wee phone

 

[stuartb]

That's my Shido Connect arrived, my god it's light !... I have it on charge in the office just now. Big shout out to Warwick Batteries AKA GoBatteries... the service provided was truly exceptional as I placed the order Wednesday 11pm

 

[alex]

Should come charged TBH

 

[stuartb]

Not fully, took around 1 hour... So is there a pre start up procedure ?...

Sent from this shitty wee phone

 

[bananaman]

I think with these chargers, they spend some time sorting out what the state of charge is, then testing the holding charge to ascertain what it needs or doesn't so probably not a full hour.

 

[stuartb]

You got a Lithium fitted Bananaman ? ..I had to manoeuvre the cables to suit, the charger has detachable cables on the croc clips, so whipped the crocs off and turned them into fly leads..cameras shite on this phone. Base of seat looks fine when I offer it up..

Sent from this shitty wee phone