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How quickly can a battery go flat?

F

Francis Jackson

PCGB Member
Member
I drove my wifes Targa on Friday and do not remember the battery having low charge. This Monday evening the battery is completely flat, the needle doesn't come off the stops!, and the lights were off, doors closed, the only question being whether the alarm has being going off.

Am going to call the RAC out once I have time to drive car ( or transport car to garage ).

What do you think? Has anyone else had a battery go this quickly?

The battery was run flat three months ago when the alternator failed but appears to have been in good health ever since.

Yours Perplexed
 
Well the simple answer is
If it is a 45 amp hour battery it is 45 hours if the draw is 1 amp - and any ratio similar - ie 135 hrs at .3 amp.

Not much help but that is the answer.
 
If the alternator has failed it is 10 minutes from startup - I speak from experience here. When my old battery was on the way out, it would go flat after a couple of days of not being driven.
 
Also old batteries can spontaneously fail, especially common when the first cold night of winter kicks in. A friend of mine was driving from Suffolk to Devon, stopped off at South Mimms services on the M25 and when he came back to the car a few minutes later the battery had totally died!
 
I find a lot depends on useage too. Seems like they last longer the more you use the car.

It also seems, from many posts on Renntech, that after 4 years you are living on borrowed time with the Porsche (Moll) batteries.
 
Old moll replaced by Bosch Silver and car returned to health. Did not help that procedure shown on leaflet in fuse box cover, differed from the procedure in the manual to ensure alarm does not go off.

My wifes Targa only responded to the key fob being blipped. However once done bonnet opened and battery replaced.

Bosch comes with four year warranty so should see us out till she moves to her next car.

Thanks for all the advice
 
Glad to hear it is now sorted with a decent battery. My Porsche original lasted less than 3 years. The car does 1000 miles month , so is regularly used so that is not the excuse. I got a Varta as the bosche wasn't available locally and cost only £80 (with 3 years warranty) compared to OPC £250 and 2 years warranty. Pretty poor I think for a car less than 3 years old costing £108k new.
 
I put mine on a charger/conditioner whenever the car is not in use for a day or two.

If not used for a few days, I have noticed that the battery does lose some of its charge.
 
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