Question about battery

cravin · #1 11-28-2011, 12:16 PM

Yesterday, I was tailgating a bit and went into the game. When I came out, my car wouldn't start. I had a portable jump pack with me, and I guess it didn't have enough of a charge to turn the engine over. It did throw up a bunch of pretty warning signals though.

Got someone to give me a jump and drove around an hour. Turned on immediately this morning with no hesitation. All systems check out okay in the status window.

Just wondering if there is anything I should keep my eye on going forward (other than not leaving the radio on long enough to zap the battery

)

3Series · #2 11-28-2011, 03:00 PM

With a 2008, it could be time for a new battery.

phatr1s · #3 11-28-2011, 06:03 PM

That happen to me one time about 7 months ago, I use a battery tender to re-charge the battery, and no issues so far.

Penguin · #4 11-28-2011, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cravin

Just wondering if there is anything I should keep my eye on going forward (other than not leaving the radio on long enough to zap the battery

)

Anytime you run a battery down, it is good practice to connect it to a battery charger to ensure a full charge, rather than counting on the vehicle charging system to bring it to full charge.

cravin · #5 11-28-2011, 06:27 PM

Just a regular trickle charger from Sears or something?

Denalio · #6 11-28-2011, 08:54 PM

a small C-Tek charger works great. Multi 3300 or the Multi 7002 models will work.

Penguin · #7 11-28-2011, 09:14 PM

As Denalio said, it is best to use a "smart" charger rather than a cheap trickle charger. The CTek models mentioned are quite good, as is the "Battery Tender Plus."

cravin · #8 11-28-2011, 09:19 PM

Thanks all. Just ordered a CTek 3300. Nice to be able to have something for the car that doesn't cost 4 digits.

cravin · #9 12-02-2011, 05:02 PM

I just got the Ctek. It's been hooked to the battery for a couple hours and still shows charging. At how long should I be concerned if it's not fully charged? The owner's manual shows 4 hours on a 14v battery, but I don't know if that's from completely drained.

motordavid · #10 12-02-2011, 06:13 PM

Hard to answer without a test meter, imo...
I've had 'new' batteries, both car and motorcycle take 'overnight' to get to full charge with a Battery Tender. If you don't get to green/fully charged by tomorrow, then something is amiss.