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My sealed for life battery has a charge indicator,it is showing black even after being charged with a battery charger [suitable for the battery].Does anyone have any thoughts on when it should be replaced thanks tonyh
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NOW might be a good time. See thread "Exploding battery".
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I think the charge indicator is nothing more than a sort of float / hydrometer in one cell. If it floats high, as it would with a fully charged battery, you see the coloured tip. Most sealed batteries have removable (with difficulty) cell covers / top up holes. It's worth checking the electrolyte level before condemming the battery, as a low level means that the float can't float,
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Many garages and drive-in centres do free battery checks. If you're in the AA or RAC they may come and check your battery for you (but they will only call at random between callouts) if you're a member. Worth trying to get it checked if you can - this is no cast iron guarantee of course, so if there's any doubt, change it - after all winter is coming.
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If you go and have a 'free battery check' or something similar from a garage or a fast fit centre just make sure that they test it properly and don't just sell you a new battery for the sake of it. I can recall going to a well known fast fit centre a few years back and while I was waitng for something to be done a bloke came in to have his battery tested on his car. So out went the fast fit guy with his multimeter and fiddled about for 30 seconds or so and came back in and announced that his battery was knackered. Now I know that you cannot tell if a battery is knackered by using just a mutimeter. All that will tell you is if there is any charge in the battery and how much the altenator is kicking out. To test a battery properly you need a proper heavy duty drop tester, which this fast fit guy clearly didn't have or use.
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That's why I suggested the RAC or AA. At least you can be sure of their impartiality.
If you regularly pass any motorway services this could be a good place to seek out a patrol, rather than waiting for them to come to you.
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Simon,
A (voltage) drop tester does work in some circumstances, but the sealed battery top has to be removed to check each cell for gassing. Anyway, once the top is removed a hydrometer is a better bet - just as accurate and a bit safer. I recently came across two new Ford batteries that stood up well to the drop test and the hydrometer check, neither would start the vehicle and both were replaced under warranty.
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If you do need a new battery,check out the Unipart lifetime guarantee, they really honour this deal!
PS hope you haven't got a Yaris, the teenie weenie one fitted to it had a list price of £300 or so, last time I looked!
Mark
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Yes,I have used this system many times in the past & the lifetime guarantee is genuine.It was explained to me that they work on the principal that most people change the cars before the battery expires.
Simon T.
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All good auto spare shops have got a tester that takes very high current short duration pulses from your battery and determines the capacity and or internal resistance of your battery. I would check the electrolyte levels and top up with distilled water as appropriate. HAve you had starting problems or is it just that the charge indicator no longer functions.
Peter
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Thank you everyone for your excellent advice,I have bought a Halfords calcium battery (fitted free).The old one had been starting OK but I was sceptical about its performance during the winter.I could not put any distilled water in as it was sealed as tight as a drum.The old battery was a vauxhall freedom.The car is a 1995 astra LPT diesel and this was its second battery (the old one).I dont think I will be buying a Toyota yaris with that cost. cheers tonyh
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I could not put any distilled water in as it was sealed as tight as a drum.The old battery was a vauxhall freedom.
Haven't tried it myself, but I've heard that you can top these up. You should be able to feel the indent under the label on top. Run a sharp knife around to cut the label, then prise out the cover with a screwdriver or similar tool.
Basically these batteries fail because there is a small reservoir of distilled water that tops up the battery as and when needed. Eventually this reservoir empties, thus no longer topping up the battery, thus the batery eventually fails. Removing the top and keeping this reservoir topped up will dramatically increase the life of the battery.
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dave,There was no way I could have got the top of the battery off without ruining it,I had done what you had suggested years ago with another battery. cheers tonyh
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I looked at Halfords but found expensive compared with local car spares. I paid £47 for a GKS 25A/130min battery for my van. My relative economises by moving batteries down from large van to medium van and finally to his big mowers.
Seems vary bad you could not inspect levels by removing top. What if you had a charging fault and it dropped level by overcharging?
Girl next door was not bothered topping up. She just went down to her garage that was supposed to properly service car and got them to put a new one in. And she was on the dole!
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a related question:
How full should the battery be topped up? Just over the electrodes? Full?
Having survived on maintenance-free batteries and company cars for several years, I was recently a bit surprised to notice my (own)Mondeo's battery has removable covers. Thanks to whoever explained about the reservoir of water in so-called maintenance free batteries.
Andy
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How full should the battery be topped up?
There "should" be markers on the side of the battery. However, they're not always easy to read. Personally, I would make sure that the fluid is approx ¼ inch above the electrodes - but no more than ½ inch though.
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