Some Advice Please Guys & Gals, with this COVID19 and we cant drive

[HelenGoff]

I just use mine at least once a week for the shopping trip . Its got 2 boots so plenty big enough to cope. And it gives the car a run

 

[Twinfan]

Thanks Twinfan, I'm finding similar, i.e. overnight it is double flashing, although I have still been putting the panel out whenever the weather has allowed (it has been inside the car a couple of times this week due to heavy rain all or most of the day).

Interestingly I've noticed that it is always in "maintain" mode (green LED) when it first starts charging in the morning, but seems to go into "charge" (yellow LED) mode by the late afternoon/early evening. However either way when the sun has gone down it is still always showing as a double-flashing green LED in the monitor mode, so I am also assuming it's working and keeping the charge maintained now.

I am wondering whether this is what Optimate mains chargers also do when they are maintaining the battery, i.e. is there some sort of daily maintain/charge cycle they work to anyway?

Mine has stayed inside the car on the dash the whole time and doesn't seem to move off 'maintain' during the day. I suspect this adds a trickle of charge every now and then to top the battery up. The yellow LED indicates charging of a more discharged battery, so yours must be hovering around the cutoff point.

All Optimates let the battery discharge a bit then top it up, event the mains ones, it's how they work. Having a constant charge on the battery isn't good for it.

 

[carolinewoodley]

I just use mine at least once a week for the shopping trip . Its got 2 boots so plenty big enough to cope. And it gives the car a run

Helen, I was going to do that with mine too, but the last time I went to the supermarket there were enough people inside it not keeping to the social distancing rules to put me off going back unless absolutely necessary. I'm getting as much food/essentials shopping as I can online now which means the car isn't getting used at all.

The solar charger does seem to be doing the trick though, so now it's just a question of waiting (hopefully not too much longer) for enough of a relaxation in the lockdown rules to allow going for a drive for pleasure.

 

[carolinewoodley]

All Optimates let the battery discharge a bit then top it up, event the mains ones, it's how they work. Having a constant charge on the battery isn't good for it.

Thanks Twinfan I thought that might be the case. It might be that the battery in my car simply isn't as new or in as good condition as yours - before using the solar charger the car was only driven once every two to three weeks so it's possible the battery started from a worse condition anyway. At least now I have the charger, when things go back to (something like!) normal I know I can always park it outside for a week or two with the panel on to bring it back to full charge, if I can't use the car as often as I'd like. Or potentially (if the others in the block where I have my garage are OK with it) I might see if I can drill a hole in the wall and hook the panel up on the roof of the garage block so I can keep it on charge when it's in the garage.

 

[Motorhead]

Caroline,

Your Optimate will have its own charging method, but all battery conditioners/smart chargers have different charging cycles. For instance, the CTEK MSX 5.0 has no less than 8-steps to achieve a fully-charged battery:

https://www.ctek.com/storage/ma/3f8cf34932cc46889f1d189ca335379c/cd879e35fdd145898b6b99c549c40292/pdf/7F18A34BA7A2CF91AC9F5404D8EB07FE2E6CAA66/MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

Dave has a brand new car so you would expect his battery to be in tip-top condition, whereas yours being older is more likely to be in a sub-optimal condition and your starting-point will be lower. I suspect that if you were able to get the battery charged fully your solar Optimate would most probably keep it topped-up sufficiently for you not to be too concerned with being unable to start the car for an extended period.

Jeff

 

[peterwaterfield]

The battery on our 2015 Cayman S has just died and even though our local Halfords is open I am wondering if there is any point putting a new battery in until we can use the car again. Does anyone know if there is any sort of time limit for leaving the battery disconnected without causing any lasting damage?

Also out of interest my wife spoke to a lady with a Cayman almost identical to ours at the supermarket the other day and she said she was having problems with the car overheating. OPC told her there was nothing wrong with the car it was being caused by too many short journeys.

 

[AndrewCS]

I assume that the car is unlocked ?

By `died` … has it just run down, it may be rechargeable … do you have a conditioner / charger ?

I would not leave it without a good battery, trickle charger … whilst unsure of possible systems` damage you leave yourself open to potential issues when eventually restarting.

Overheating … all systems being good I would not accept that response. Perhaps her intake / cooling systems are partially blocked / faulty ?

 

[peterwaterfield]

Hi Andrew

Thank you for your response.

Yes, I have a CTEK which I put on every few weeks during the winter when the car isn't used but when I plugged it in last weekend it just flashed to indicate no battery connection. A remote battery on the fuse box connection did not work to unlock the bonnet (which I gather from other posts is fairly common) so I had to take the inner wing out on the passenger side and use the cable pull. With a voltmeter on the battery it shows 0.01 and would not take any charge at all

Take your point about restarting and on reflection I may end up buying the same battery from Halfords in two months time which I might buy now that has been sat on a shelf!

Cheers

Peter

 

[AndrewCS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cImhs_uwrAU&t=3s @ 6:06

 

[peterwaterfield]

Brilliant, thanks Andrew, really appreciated

Regards

Peter

 

[AndrewCS]

Welcome Peter,

Recently purchased `one of those` from https://www.frazerpart.com/acatalog/Porsche-battery-status-condition-monitor.html#SID=25

 

[Motorhead]

The battery on our 2015 Cayman S has just died and even though our local Halfords is open I am wondering if there is any point putting a new battery in until we can use the car again. Does anyone know if there is any sort of time limit for leaving the battery disconnected without causing any lasting damage?

Also out of interest my wife spoke to a lady with a Cayman almost identical to ours at the supermarket the other day and she said she was having problems with the car overheating. OPC told her there was nothing wrong with the car it was being caused by too many short journeys.

Peter,

I second Andrew's comments on both counts.

Back in the day when electrical systems were very simple there wouldn't have been a problem disconnecting the battery for an extended period, but today with complex CAN Bus systems with multiple electronic modules speaking constantly to one another I'm not so sure that it's wise to do the same. Just a gut feeling though.

Best to keep the car hooked-up to your CTEK all the time while you're not using it to keep the battery in tip-top condition.

Regarding the lady with the overheating Cayman, it sounds to me that the Porsche Centre response was absolute tosh! I wonder who she was speaking to - the cleaner perhaps? [No disrespect to the cleaner BTW!].

Jeff

 

[peterwaterfield]

thanks Jeff

Cheers

Peter

 

[carolinewoodley]

So can anyone enlighten me as to what Johnson's address to the nation this evening now means for driving? Must admit it was not at all clear to me.

He said you can drive somewhere to exercise, so as long as I go for a walk somewhere in the middle of my 100 mile drive is that now OK, or not....?

 

[ralphmusic]

I can drive 30 miles to Dartmoor for exercise for example, seems straightforward

 

[Twinfan]

My thoughts exactly. Until the law is changed I don't believe we can, so I'm expecting it to go back through parliament over the next couple of days for amendments?

Fines are going to be increased too, so more detail may be in the 50 page document the media will be sifting through shortly.

 

[Twinfan]

Duplicate post

 

[Nick_USA]

Just don't drive into Wales or Scotland [8|]

 

[carolinewoodley]

My thoughts exactly. Until the law is changed I don't believe we can, so I'm expecting it to go back through parliament over the next couple of days for amendments?

Fines are going to be increased too, so more detail may be in the 50 page document the media will be sifting through shortly.

Yes exactly, if the fines are going to increase there had better be a clear guideline as to what falls inside and outside of the law. I just hope the statement to parliament and the actual legislation will shed a bit more light on what the new rules will actually mean, although as I understand it the current regulations were instigated by Statutory Instrument not Act of Parliament so it might not require a parliamentary vote?

 

[Nick_USA]

Let's say when I went into the garage tonight to put away some tools I am sure I saw the headlights flash with expectation []