Clearly a Chinese copy of my old Draper unit all be it with digital read out.
The old Draper unit, now burned out on the left. Cost many years ago, £67 and the new unit, a bargain at £21 delivered.
Mike
Battery Drain.....
The new battery tester arrived today.
Clearly a Chinese copy of my old Draper unit all be it with digital read out.
The old Draper unit, now burned out on the left. Cost many years ago, £67 and the new unit, a bargain at £21 delivered. Detail of the new unit. The old unit may provide a little useful salvage. The crock clips fill find a use, the switch is all good and the volt meter still working and accurate to 1/4 of a volt. Might be quite useful to mount the volt meter within the boot of the car in a position that can be easily read. That would save tearing up the boot floor each time I need to do a voltage test on the incumbent battery. Other wise I`ll nail it on the dash board!
Mike
Clearly a Chinese copy of my old Draper unit all be it with digital read out.
The old Draper unit, now burned out on the left. Cost many years ago, £67 and the new unit, a bargain at £21 delivered. Detail of the new unit. The old unit may provide a little useful salvage. The crock clips fill find a use, the switch is all good and the volt meter still working and accurate to 1/4 of a volt. Might be quite useful to mount the volt meter within the boot of the car in a position that can be easily read. That would save tearing up the boot floor each time I need to do a voltage test on the incumbent battery. Other wise I`ll nail it on the dash board!
Mike
X350 Co-ordinator
2004 XJR
2004 XJR
Re: Battery Drain.....
Mike,
I have one of the very old big prong battery drop tester and am interested in upgrading. Can you briefly explain what that tester can do?
Tks
Paul
I have one of the very old big prong battery drop tester and am interested in upgrading. Can you briefly explain what that tester can do?
Tks
Paul
1995 XJS 4.0 Convertible
1980 XJ-S Pre-HE
Jaguar 4.2 Supercharged engine (but not with a Jaguar body..)
1980 XJ-S Pre-HE
Jaguar 4.2 Supercharged engine (but not with a Jaguar body..)
Re: Battery Drain.....
No problem at all, Paul.
I manage batteries almost everyday. Tomorrow will be manic. All the yachties are arriveing for Easter and their boat engines will refuse to start. Going to be busy with my tester to hand.
A few basics to start.
Commonly seen are two types of batteries. Crankers and leisure. What we are interested in are crankers capable of tolerating heavy sharp spikes of high current (amps) drain without failing. These are also suitable for use with 12v DC to 240VAC inverter units found in boats, caravans and motor homes for conversion of 12v DC storage to 240V AC consumption where on your travels you may want to make use of the occasional home domestic type equipment ie a hair dryer, small kettle etc. Using that equipment and indeed a high current engine starter places a high drain on battery cells. As such the battery employed must be able to tolerate heavy spike loads and recover without damage to its internal plate construction.
Leisure batteries are only suitable for light 12v discharge loads such as lights, small pumps, and so on. They are more tolerant of being discharged to lower voltage levels than a cranker. Only a fool uses a leisure battery to run an inverter or start an engine on a regular basis.
Whichever type of battery in use it is frequently subject to discharge, poor management, neglect and infrequent intelligent recharging. This is why switch mode chargers such as the Ctek and similar help alleviate problems associated with keeping any battery up to maximum charge level regulated by intelligent charger circuitry.
That having been said, commonly car alternators are devoid of such intelligent circuitry and in service rarely if ever maximise their true storage capacity or do they achieve an optimised voltage level. In service on a car a battery suffers due to frequent spike loads when starting and indifferent recharging. That can damage battery cells and failure begins to occur. Cold temperatures in winter exacerbate the problem further and as we all know, the time most batteries expire is in the winter. A battery will suddenly fail with little or no warning.
When that battery expires, we all try to resurrect the battery by external charging. Many is the time when that is unsuccessful. We all grab a volt meter and check terminal voltage. If it is good, we can`t understand why the car won`t crank and fire. You might have terminal voltage but little capacity. Conversely you may have capacity but little voltage. You could also have a combination of both failure faults. How do you test?
What has to happen is a load voltage drop test to ascertain what is happening within the battery when a load is applied. With a drop tester connected you can crank the engine and watch to see how low the terminal voltage drops. The tester also has a load switch which allows an internal element to be placed in circuit with the battery terminals to manually place a load on the battery. The tester will also show a working alternator in action with a voltage increase visible.
The tester will load the battery for around ten seconds. You watch to see how low the voltage drops and the speed, instant or otherwise that terminal voltage recovers when the load is removed. Instant recovery indicates a shot battery. The circuitry within the tester analyses what has occurred during the test and gives an indication of whether the battery condition is good, middleing or dying. Further temperature and other variable factors which need to be taken into consideration are detailed within the instructions issued with the test unit.
The tester is issued with instructions for use and guidance. The unit I bought takes all the guess work out of battery condition testing and at £21 is a great addition to anyone's garage tool kit. Suspect battery, grab the tester and then you know for sure what you are dealing with. When the old Draper unit gave up last week, I felt totally naked! Odd how these things can affect you. A drop tester is part of my personality!!
I apply several rules gained though installing, attempting to recover or condemning batteries on an almost daily basis.
I`ll treat any battery with suspicion if not capable of holding 12.8v off charge after one hour. I`ll condemn after one recharge attempt any battery failing to achieve less that 12.4v. I`m ready to scrap any battery falling to 11.5 v as it will never reliably hold a recharge. I`ll not waste my time on it further.
If I spot bulged end panels on a battery, that is immediately ditched. The plates have sulphated, expanded and cell capacity is significantly reduced.
NEVER recharge a battery if lead acid is leaking from the vents. It may explode when charged.
Never buy a battery, even new, if it has been stored on a concrete floor. It gets a cold in its bottom and is a candidate for the scrap pipe. Pick one of the top of the pile.
Store a battery that is out of service on a timber bench preferably on a piece of carpet or other insulating material. Use a Ctek or similar charger to maintain a battery in peak condition.
Hope that helps.
For further information on attending my next master class, please contact my secretary who will be please to relieve you of applicable course fees.....
Mike
I manage batteries almost everyday. Tomorrow will be manic. All the yachties are arriveing for Easter and their boat engines will refuse to start. Going to be busy with my tester to hand.
A few basics to start.
Commonly seen are two types of batteries. Crankers and leisure. What we are interested in are crankers capable of tolerating heavy sharp spikes of high current (amps) drain without failing. These are also suitable for use with 12v DC to 240VAC inverter units found in boats, caravans and motor homes for conversion of 12v DC storage to 240V AC consumption where on your travels you may want to make use of the occasional home domestic type equipment ie a hair dryer, small kettle etc. Using that equipment and indeed a high current engine starter places a high drain on battery cells. As such the battery employed must be able to tolerate heavy spike loads and recover without damage to its internal plate construction.
Leisure batteries are only suitable for light 12v discharge loads such as lights, small pumps, and so on. They are more tolerant of being discharged to lower voltage levels than a cranker. Only a fool uses a leisure battery to run an inverter or start an engine on a regular basis.
Whichever type of battery in use it is frequently subject to discharge, poor management, neglect and infrequent intelligent recharging. This is why switch mode chargers such as the Ctek and similar help alleviate problems associated with keeping any battery up to maximum charge level regulated by intelligent charger circuitry.
That having been said, commonly car alternators are devoid of such intelligent circuitry and in service rarely if ever maximise their true storage capacity or do they achieve an optimised voltage level. In service on a car a battery suffers due to frequent spike loads when starting and indifferent recharging. That can damage battery cells and failure begins to occur. Cold temperatures in winter exacerbate the problem further and as we all know, the time most batteries expire is in the winter. A battery will suddenly fail with little or no warning.
When that battery expires, we all try to resurrect the battery by external charging. Many is the time when that is unsuccessful. We all grab a volt meter and check terminal voltage. If it is good, we can`t understand why the car won`t crank and fire. You might have terminal voltage but little capacity. Conversely you may have capacity but little voltage. You could also have a combination of both failure faults. How do you test?
What has to happen is a load voltage drop test to ascertain what is happening within the battery when a load is applied. With a drop tester connected you can crank the engine and watch to see how low the terminal voltage drops. The tester also has a load switch which allows an internal element to be placed in circuit with the battery terminals to manually place a load on the battery. The tester will also show a working alternator in action with a voltage increase visible.
The tester will load the battery for around ten seconds. You watch to see how low the voltage drops and the speed, instant or otherwise that terminal voltage recovers when the load is removed. Instant recovery indicates a shot battery. The circuitry within the tester analyses what has occurred during the test and gives an indication of whether the battery condition is good, middleing or dying. Further temperature and other variable factors which need to be taken into consideration are detailed within the instructions issued with the test unit.
The tester is issued with instructions for use and guidance. The unit I bought takes all the guess work out of battery condition testing and at £21 is a great addition to anyone's garage tool kit. Suspect battery, grab the tester and then you know for sure what you are dealing with. When the old Draper unit gave up last week, I felt totally naked! Odd how these things can affect you. A drop tester is part of my personality!!
I apply several rules gained though installing, attempting to recover or condemning batteries on an almost daily basis.
I`ll treat any battery with suspicion if not capable of holding 12.8v off charge after one hour. I`ll condemn after one recharge attempt any battery failing to achieve less that 12.4v. I`m ready to scrap any battery falling to 11.5 v as it will never reliably hold a recharge. I`ll not waste my time on it further.
If I spot bulged end panels on a battery, that is immediately ditched. The plates have sulphated, expanded and cell capacity is significantly reduced.
NEVER recharge a battery if lead acid is leaking from the vents. It may explode when charged.
Never buy a battery, even new, if it has been stored on a concrete floor. It gets a cold in its bottom and is a candidate for the scrap pipe. Pick one of the top of the pile.
Store a battery that is out of service on a timber bench preferably on a piece of carpet or other insulating material. Use a Ctek or similar charger to maintain a battery in peak condition.
Hope that helps.
For further information on attending my next master class, please contact my secretary who will be please to relieve you of applicable course fees.....
Mike
X350 Co-ordinator
2004 XJR
2004 XJR
Re: Battery Drain.....
It does echo the old ways though, like how to test an in line fuse, take it out and throw it away then replace with new fuse.......the processes used during the drain testing involved trying things by removing fuses and replacing them, this could have actually cured the problem, its back home now so its staying put for a couple of days while I chuck a couple o buckets o water over it to get the shine back then we will see if it will start....... 
Re: Battery Drain.....
Before you start up, Joe, lift all the fuse box lids and touch each relay in turn. Check to seen if any one of them is warm. If there is any warmth there, it could be that that relay is duff and permanently holding in. Just an idea.
Mike
Mike
X350 Co-ordinator
2004 XJR
2004 XJR
Re: Battery Drain.....
After arriving home I left the car in the garage for three days, without any Cetek or charger in place ....came out and tried the start up....first time on the button, smoth as the babys back end
Did a journey about 40 miles and back on B roads and motorways without a hitch.......
So pleased but there is still that awful doubt we get at the back of my mind......
Did a journey about 40 miles and back on B roads and motorways without a hitch.......
So pleased but there is still that awful doubt we get at the back of my mind......
Re: Battery Drain.....
The final outcome so far..........it is now almost September 2014 and the Daimler has been used for most of the summer shows, ending up at our holiday home being used again during several shows with our East Coast Thoroughbreds Car Club for aprox 6 weeks......after the "drain problem" was evidently sorted by N&S jag specialists of Wakefield, I took the precaution of buying an emergency starter pack, the one with a battery and attached leads which you charge up for emergencies it has a trickle lead to keep it topped up in the car en-route, not once did I need to use it all the time I was away this summer. So as N&S said they had the "drain" on test for 4 weeks and found nothing, neither did they ask for any fees......so the outcome is im still in the dark until it either behaves it self or goes flat on me again......but this time im covered this battery pack, quite a good one, only cost the same as a new battery but the peace of mind it gives is priceless.......joe
Re: Battery Drain.....
All good so far then, Joe.
I know it can be frustrating when you can`t find a fault especially when there have been issues in the past. Very difficult to mend something when seemingly it `aint bust!
I have a similar issue on S-types. I carry a spare header tank in case the fitted one gives up and splits wide open!
Those jumper packs give a good peace of mind. Look after it well and keep it charged up.
Mike
I know it can be frustrating when you can`t find a fault especially when there have been issues in the past. Very difficult to mend something when seemingly it `aint bust!
I have a similar issue on S-types. I carry a spare header tank in case the fitted one gives up and splits wide open!
Those jumper packs give a good peace of mind. Look after it well and keep it charged up.
Mike
X350 Co-ordinator
2004 XJR
2004 XJR
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