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Jan 13, 2013 21:49:21 GMT
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I've had to buy 3 batteries in as many months for my cars Not good or very welcome to the pocket! If I know the vehicle is going to sit for a while, I'll take the battery off and stick it on a storage shelf, using an alt-meter on it before using it again. I've had a battery explode on me, literally blowing a side out when I had it on charge, not something I'd like to happen again. xbo11ox, sorry to hear about your trouble, if only you were closer, I have a used good 'un I'd let you have.
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1971 Range Rover 1977 Jeep Cherokee 1982 W123 Merc 230CE 1992 Peugeot 405 TD Saloon 1995 Peugeot 405TD Estate (having a rest) 1990 Peugeot 205 CJ - For Sale 1985 Peugeot 305 GTX 1979 Honda Accord MK1 1995 BMW E34 TDS 1994 BMW E34 TD 1998 Mercedes 320 CLK
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Porsche
West Midlands
Kev from B'ham.
Posts: 4,725
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Jan 13, 2013 22:09:41 GMT
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Halfords have now changed their 'no quibble' policy. Depending on what their tester shows they will refuse to refund the battery. Yeah, when I used to work for Lucas batteries, we had the contract to supply Halfords and they use to send them all back to Lucas whether they were false claims or not. We actually had a test lab just to deal with the claims. They most proberbly are supplied by someone else who refuse to do this. They use Midtronics testers which will actually tell you what is wrong with the battery. So, yeah if they think you have misused it they won't let you claim.
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Jan 13, 2013 23:43:34 GMT
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Halfords batteries now are varta-Bosch, they changed the policy just as I left, pretty much nowadays they'll try owt to get out of replacing them.
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Jan 14, 2013 11:31:59 GMT
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If it won't take a charge off a normal trickle charger use one of the chargers for motorbike gel cells, or the type used to charge lawnmower batteries. They put out less than 500Ma which is all a totally dead battery will take. I use a 400Ma charger to give a 24 hours charge to dead batteries - then they'll take a full charge off a conventional trickle charger - then they can go back into the car and be kept topped up by the alternator. Ah, I think you've just explained the science behind why my bike charger has been able to rescue so many batteries. I only have that charger, had it for years, and I used it to rejuvinate a few bike batteries that guys using car chargers were unable to charge then various car and van batteries after harsh winters. I also used it to rescue some boat batteries (huge, massively expensive) for some mates who were going to dump them.
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Jan 14, 2013 21:10:59 GMT
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If your car charger is a "smart" one then it'll just curse word itself when confronted with a completely dead battery and turn off, thinking you've shorted the terminals out. If you connect the battery in parallel with a good one to get the voltage up, then connect the charger you'll fool it into working.
Dumping 15 odd volts into a fairly knackered battery can just make it get a sort of "surface" charge, where the voltage flies up but the thing won't really take any current and will probably bubble away. You can turn a normal car charger into a kind of trickle charger by wiring a 5w sidelight bulb in series with the battery, which will limit the current to a bit under half an amp, ish. TBH though, if you are getting into this game, the battery has probably got less successful cycles left in it than Lance Armstrong.
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Last Edit: Jan 14, 2013 21:21:55 GMT by cobblers
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Jan 14, 2013 21:16:07 GMT
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Bought a new battery today from Euro$hiteHawks, only £32 which was half the price of the next cheapest one I found anywhere, presumably its a stone/apple juice rather than lead/acid type.
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 Mazda 929 Coupé 1986 Mazda 929 Wagon 1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon 1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr 1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL 1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo 1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr 2000 Rover 45 V6 Club 1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel 1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon 1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler 2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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boiled-up battery!ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Jan 14, 2013 22:05:32 GMT
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Due to Halfords policy I bought a bettery from ECP when they had thair 30odd% off deal going on. Exide in the past have served me well, so I went with one of them.
The battery Halfords refused to take back was not shorted out etc. but it had been in a car which had done 100,000 miles in the space of 13 months. Although to my knowledge (and their tester) the alternator came back as being in full working order.
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Jan 14, 2013 22:57:32 GMT
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I got a battery for £31 for my Golf from Euro Car parts with 3 year warrenty last week when everyone else wanted anything from 40 to 60 not bad
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Last Edit: Jan 14, 2013 22:57:51 GMT by DanMateX
E36 328 Touring
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,840
Club RR Member Number: 174
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boiled-up battery!stealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
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Halfords will only exchange a battery if it has a dead cell, the tester tells them this. If it was from Halfords and you can pinpoint the day you bought it (bank statement if you paid by card etc) they can find the receipt on the computer for you. If they say they can't they're lying, and if they say they don't know how tell them to put the date in and write "warranty" in the SKU box and it'll bring it up.
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berendd
Europe
why do I need 3 keys for one car?
Posts: 1,449
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Jan 16, 2013 13:51:32 GMT
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If your car charger is a "smart" one then it'll just curse word itself when confronted with a completely dead battery and turn off, thinking you've shorted the terminals out. If you connect the battery in parallel with a good one to get the voltage up, then connect the charger you'll fool it into working. Dumping 15 odd volts into a fairly knackered battery can just make it get a sort of "surface" charge, where the voltage flies up but the thing won't really take any current and will probably bubble away. You can turn a normal car charger into a kind of trickle charger by wiring a 5w sidelight bulb in series with the battery, which will limit the current to a bit under half an amp, ish. TBH though, if you are getting into this game, the battery has probably got less successful cycles left in it than Lance Armstrong. I've got some old dead batteries i'd like to get going again, you say if i connect them parallel to a good one , my charger will bring life back to them? How do I check if the battery is not complety shot and short circuit? measure the ohms inside? What's the minimum for a rescuable battery?
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taurus
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,084
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Jan 16, 2013 15:44:28 GMT
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I prefer the 400Ma route than connecting in parallel - works better for me.
In fact I just pulled a battery out of a Merc that's been sat since last June and put that on the recovery charger.
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Jan 16, 2013 17:43:57 GMT
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i was going to bring this up as i have a halfords battery i bought around 3 years ago for my corsair, it went flat after sitting for 2-3 months, and since then it hasnt been the same as i have to keep recharging it its over its 3 years uarentee and hasnt even been used to its potential and already has dead cells and doesnt hold charge- going for a good bosch one now
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Jan 16, 2013 18:02:53 GMT
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If you leave any car battery flat for a few months, you'll ruin it, Car batteries aren't designed to be cycled below about 50% charge - every time you do it, you're damaging the battery. Halfords batteries are perfectly good, if you do the same to a Bosch one, you'll knacker that one up too!
I know it's a bit late to save your battery, but If the car is going to be stood for any length of time, take the battery off the car and keep somewhere warm, and stick it on charge for a day once a month or so. If you can't take it off the car, just disconnect the battery terminals so it won't be drained by the car, and check the voltage is kept above 11.8 ish at all times
Even a deep cycle leisure battery will be knackered if you leave it dead for a few months.
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Last Edit: Jan 16, 2013 18:04:04 GMT by cobblers
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Jan 16, 2013 18:23:16 GMT
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If you leave any car battery flat for a few months, you'll ruin it, Car batteries aren't designed to be cycled below about 50% charge - every time you do it, you're damaging the battery. Halfords batteries are perfectly good, if you do the same to a Bosch one, you'll knacker that one up too! I know it's a bit late to save your battery, but If the car is going to be stood for any length of time, take the battery off the car and keep somewhere warm, and stick it on charge for a day once a month or so. If you can't take it off the car, just disconnect the battery terminals so it won't be drained by the car, and check the voltage is kept above 11.8 ish at all times Even a deep cycle leisure battery will be knackered if you leave it dead for a few months. noted that cobblers, will be keeping the new battery indoors most likely well until the summer motnhs when the cars used regulary learnt my lesson here...again
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taurus
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,084
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Jan 17, 2013 15:39:29 GMT
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Proof of the pudding and all that ......Yesterday I pulled a battery out of Merc C-class that's been standing since last June, put it on the charger (just to check) and sure enough, nothing doing.
Measured the battery at under 2volts.
Put it onto the 400Ma charger for 6 hours - voltage went back up to 11v - enough for the trickle charger to take over. Currently taking 2amp steady charge. Whether or not it holds it remains to be seen!!!
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Jan 17, 2013 15:53:36 GMT
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Proof of the pudding and all that ......Yesterday I pulled a battery out of Merc C-class that's been standing since last June, put it on the charger (just to check) and sure enough, nothing doing. Measured the battery at under 2volts. Put it onto the 400Ma charger for 6 hours - voltage went back up to 11v - enough for the trickle charger to take over. Currently taking 2amp steady charge. Whether or not it holds it remains to be seen!!! Very good of you to have laid up that Merc last year so you could carry out this experiment for us.
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taurus
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,084
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Jan 17, 2013 16:49:09 GMT
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Proof of the pudding and all that ......Yesterday I pulled a battery out of Merc C-class that's been standing since last June, put it on the charger (just to check) and sure enough, nothing doing. Measured the battery at under 2volts. Put it onto the 400Ma charger for 6 hours - voltage went back up to 11v - enough for the trickle charger to take over. Currently taking 2amp steady charge. Whether or not it holds it remains to be seen!!! Very good of you to have laid up that Merc last year so you could carry out this experiment for us. One tries to be of service ;D Actually it's someone who isn't very well - I think it will need to be sold before too long. Hence the need to check if the battery is save-able or not.
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Jan 17, 2013 23:06:08 GMT
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If you leave any car battery flat for a few months, you'll ruin it, Car batteries aren't designed to be cycled below about 50% charge - every time you do it, you're damaging the battery. Halfords batteries are perfectly good, if you do the same to a Bosch one, you'll knacker that one up too! I know it's a bit late to save your battery, but If the car is going to be stood for any length of time, take the battery off the car and keep somewhere warm, and stick it on charge for a day once a month or so. If you can't take it off the car, just disconnect the battery terminals so it won't be drained by the car, and check the voltage is kept above 11.8 ish at all times Even a deep cycle leisure battery will be knackered if you leave it dead for a few months. Being a traveller/breaker/scrapman i deal in a lot of S/H batterys and halfords are one of the better ones, ok no bosch or exide but deffo at the top of tier 2 and way better than direct or powerline ect. Another tip is never leave a battery on a cold floor, kills em stone dead, killed a optima yellow top leaving it on the garage floor during winter, i also fit em with jackets in winter and sit em on a rubber mat in the tray.
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R.I.P photobucket
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taurus
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,084
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Jan 20, 2013 12:34:15 GMT
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The result of that battery I pulled out of the Merc....after the 400Ma charge it went onto the trickle charger until the charge dropped to zero. Disconnected it - left it 24 hours - and it's spot on.
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Jan 20, 2013 17:32:00 GMT
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Well thats jolly interesting, I had never heard of that tip, and having a barn full of cars that never move, kippered batteries is a regular problem for me!!! I am gonna get one of these low-power chargers and see of i can revive any of my goosed batteries. Cheers!
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 Mazda 929 Coupé 1986 Mazda 929 Wagon 1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon 1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr 1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL 1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo 1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr 2000 Rover 45 V6 Club 1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel 1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon 1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler 2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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