Afternoon all!

Got in the car after work and the battery was flat. Called AA out. Chap tested battery and it was at 11.7v.

Jump started the car via leads and it started fine.

AA Man tested the battery and said it was fine, and that the alternator was charging the battery. He did say that it started charging at 13.9v, but then rose to 15.1-15.3v. He said it was slightly high and may indicate a Regulator Fault on the alternator, but wasnt sure?

Anyone advise? Would this lead to a flat battery? Car has been running fine with no lights on the dash.

Car battery is currently charging in the garage as we speak.

Help greatly appreciated!  2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
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More likely to be at that voltage because the battery is bad. It's not quite too high, just at the upper limit.  Visiting from DISCO3.CO.UK
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver

It will charge at 15v if the battery is low on charge

After a decent run/charge, it will drop to 13.5-ish

Battery charger had charged the battery within a couple of hours.

Any ideas on what may have drained the battery? So does this mean the alternator is fine? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
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bit of a daft question but ,,,, do you have a wet cell battery fitted ??.

There's a bit of a story behind the question,,, anyway, i had experienced my battery running flat overnight a few months ago, the car is garaged every night, so no as if it stands out in all the foul weather we experience. i could hear something running on that particular morning when i walked into the garage and low and behold when i tried the ignition it barely lit the dashboard,, 2 hours on a cheap charger and it started ok, no more issues.
last month my son picked us up from the airport after arriving back from holiday, he had been using the car all week without any problems. He had sat in the carpark with the radio on waiting for us, by the timie we collected our bags the battery was flat !. called out the breaskdown man who gave it a jump start ,,,, then proceeded to take a 2p coin from his pockect and started unscrewing the plugs on the battery. he checked the charge rate which was fine but said the cells in the battery could do with a top up.
As soon as we arrived home i managed to add 3/4 ltr of water to the battery.
I work with a lot of batteries, most of them a lot bigger than what is fitted to any car and i cannot remember the last time i saw a wet cell battery,,,,, i honestly thought they were a thing of the past. Most batteries you see now are gel type or AGM and sealed for life.
Sorry to rattle on but if you have a genuine landrover battery fitted check the level of water in the cells, if your battery is good but has a low level in the cells it will not hold its charge very long, it could also cause the slightly higher charge rate. 2010 RRS, TDV8
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heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

gogsy, I don't think you'll find many automotive batteries are Gel. They wouldn't be compatible with the RRS as the life would be reduced by the higher charging voltages.

AGM batteries have become commonplace with the advent of start stop "technology" but wet cells are still perfectly normal and acceptable for standard vehicles.

An AGM bettery can be installed in an earlier RRS and will work fine but, depending on the use, the extra outlay may not be worthwhile (N.B. later RRSs need the battery type to be configured) and hence the forum recommendation is the Exide Premium from Tayna (http://www.tayna.co.uk/EA1000-Exide-Premiu...P7488.html).

Darren, it is possible that you have a parasitic drain but RRSs are not kind to batteries and frequent short journeys will gradually drain the battery anyway. It takes a very long journey to really charge it so connecting a smart charger like a CTEK overnight is ideal to prolong battery life.  Visiting from DISCO3.CO.UK
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver

Morning All....

Went to start the car this morning and.... Flat as a pancake!!

Last night the charging unit had the light on that the battery was ready, and the car started. This was however after just a couple of hours charging. Could it be that the battery was only just holding enough charge which would light the "Ready and Maintaining," but reality being that the battery wasn't sufficiently charged to start the car this morning?

I don't really do mega long journeys. I work 25 minutes away from home (twice travelled 5 days per week), and then the rest of the journeys are mainly short trips. With the winter weather; lights, heating, heated seats etc etc could it be that the battery has been dwindling away over a period of time, or would the 25 min journeys be enough to charge the battery?

Or could it be that its now time for a new battery? I've absolutely no idea how old the battery is?




Advice appreciated! 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic46383.html

Your picture shows a wet cell battery, have you checked the liquid level in the cells, as Gogsey1956 says?

Undo the 6 Xhead screw caps and check the liquid is just covering the plates, if not add distilled water till it is then recharge.

Sorry if that is teaching you to suck eggs.

No egg sucking here!!

Do I need to unplug the battery from the car or can I just unscrew away? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
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It can take 12 hours or more to charge and condition the battery, so your brief charge may have done little. The battery itself could be a fair age too; quite a few types have the year stamped on top of the battery terminals, so worth checking.

Voltage checks could help establish the state of charge and you could get the battery tested on a proper tester. If you find that the battery loses charge overnight, it is worth checking for a quiescent / parasitic drain.

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There is a date stamped on the metal holder that holds the battery in: 25 03 10

Not sure if that's the battery date though???

When I'm trickle charging, should the battery be disconnected from the car or can it stay connected? 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
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Sorry for delay been out for lunch!!

You don't need to disconnect the battery to charge it just connect the red + lead to the red + terminal on the battery and the black - lead to an earth connection on the body or engine NOT THE BATTERY. IF you connect to the battery - terminal you can the voltage monitoring system.

But check the fluid levels first and use only DISTILLED WATER.
Regards
Phil

How far down should the water be? In the chamber I can see a slight lip, with fluid slightly underneath (with the exception of 1 chamber where the fluid is above the lip).

Tried to get pics but not very good:


 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
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When you look into each cell you can see the top of the plates about an inch down. The water should be just covering the plates.

Can't see any plates, just a slight lip that sticks out sidewards slightly. Had a bit of a Google and I think that's the fill level lip??

Car has been charging since 8am now (9hrs) 2006 HSE for Sale - £7,499 (Manchester)
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