Battery Drain?

[hotrod3]

Is it normal for Esprits to drain batteries down enough,that you have to run a floating trickle charger, if the car sets for more than a week or so?Is it the alarm system ,that continually puts a drain on the battery?I've noticed that a lot of Esprit owners have this problem.

Edited December 21, 2005 by hotrod3

[jfitz981]

Hey Randy,

The alarm can defintely do that to the battery over time. I know here in philadelphia once the cold weather hits ...my old battery would be dead after about 2 weeks of just sitting. I just recently switched to the optima yellowtop battery. Seems like the problem is now solved.

Jason

[pitstoppete]

my clifford alarm does the battery in, in about 10 days. so, I either set the alarm and hook up the solar trickle charger, or, lock the car in the garage and dont set the alarm. my car still has all the std. fit alarm in it too, and theres a whole bunch of it still plugged in under the dash. i was waiting for the spring to tackle removing all the redundant rubbish from under there. some old stuff may be still taking the mA.

[snuffy]

Yep, alarm, radio, tracker will all drain it in no time at all. Mine is wired to a trickle charger and it's worse in the winter.

[Paul C]

Yep!

Mine is currently tucked up in the garage with the trickle charger on.

On my last esprit (a carbed G-car) i fitted a battery switch and turned it off

when i put the car away. I really liked this as it not only prevented drain but

also eliminated any daft electrical fires etc. Can't do this on the SE as it would

reset the ECU each time and i'd be in learn mode every time i started it...

[x6gas]

Yep me too...

My S4 does actually have a battery isolation switch obviously fitted by a PO that didn't realise (or didn't care) that this would reset the ECU.

Mine goes flat a pancake after 7 days in this weather if don't connect a charger.

To be honest, the original battery in my Elise was of increadibly poor quality. It would go flat fairly quickly and letting it run flat three or four times was enough to shaft it completely.

I heard that Lotus fitted these rubbish batteries to save weight but I suspect saving money was the real motivation!

Anyway, got a heavy duty job from Halfwits (with a 5 year guarantee) and had no worries since...

[Jonathan]

Look at the Ah (amp hour) rating of your battery, this is the amount of amps it can supply in an hour.

I think my Esprit is around 40Ah, take the drain from the alarm, radio, ECU memory and so forth to be....lets be fair.....0.2 Amps ?

It'll last 40 / 0.2 = 200 hours / 24 = 8 Days

The Esprits electrical system isn't going to be as effecient as an every day car, so yes expect it to not last long.

Also letting the battery go flat decreases the charge capacity over time as the cells get weaker - try to keep the battery over 25% at all times and you'll see it behaves better - also don't do what my mate did and left it on idle trying to put back charge into the battery

[docf]

My alarm is disconnected, my alpine radio + ecu kill my brand new optima red top in just over a week. I bought an awesome battery disconnect for $10 and I just kill the battery if I am parking the car more than a couple of days. On another note.. the esprit alternator does not switch on immediately after startup but you can force it on by revving once over 3k rpm. This is helpful after a jump start to keep the car from dieing before you have a chance to get under way. When I first noticed the batter drain I used an ammeter and found a 400 milliamp drain from the ecu alone. Thats enough to kill any battery in a week or 2.

[hotrod3]

What,I don't understand is that my Esprit has the Delco ECM,and standard Clifford alarm system which many cars are running with today.It just seems wierd to me, that those cars (non- Lotus ),that have Clifford systems ,Delco ECM,etc don't have these problems of massive battery drain. I think I'm going to to talk to our electronic specialist at MSD Racing Ignitions and see if I can't rattle some brain cells, this would be a good challange for them. nothing worse than having a great exotic car and having to wander ,if its going to start,when someone says start her up! I do have mine on a floating charger! Which is OK,but its not an "RC car",right its a piece of driving art!!!!

I did put a red top optima battery and cut out switch on it too,but come on who likes having to reload the running perimeters everytime you want to drive the car! Lets see, what I can come up with!!!!!!!

Edited December 21, 2005 by hotrod3

[TimRdLotus]

I must be the exception. I can not drive mine for 3 weeks and it will start right up. Nothing special, just a group 24 battery. It's got an alarm and sony stereo. Although it is currently hooked on to a trickle charger because I won't be driving it until March or April.

[Jonathan]

You have to remember that we're talking 12v systems here.

The slightest resistance in the wire and connections causes a volt drop which makes the wiring inefficient and will punish a battery supply capability.

Most modern day car looms are designed to be as efficient as possible using expensive design methods, the Esprit loom wont have been tailored for that level of reliability mainly becuase it's not expected of it (most people use a top up charger)

Most modern car get run everyday and also draw a lot less on crank/start which relieves the stress on the battery. When you start dropping voltages, cable distances / connections and cable sections become ultra critical.

I did a repair the other week on a system. 12V battery suppling 0.7amps across a lead, 280Ah rating - should have lasted about 2 weeks but was dying in 2-3 days.

The cable cross section was so low, it caused a 3V drop across it, to power the unit at the end of the cable the current had to rise to supply the power (becuase the voltage had dropped) which in turn causes more of a volt drop on the cable as it is carrying more current (snowball effect) - hence the battery died very quickly.

Putting an ammeter on the battery at rest can give a good indication of whats being drained and if it is excessive.

THe other way is to get a volt meter and put it on the negative of the battery and then on a earthed point (engine / metalwork) and you can see the earth volt drop and determine how good your earthing is on the car. You be suprised to see how many car's I've done that test on and seen nearly 1/2 a volt or so.

[hotrod3]

You have to remember that we're talking 12v systems here.

The slightest resistance in the wire and connections causes a volt drop which makes the wiring inefficient and will punish a battery supply capability.

Most modern day car looms are designed to be as efficient as possible using expensive design methods, the Esprit loom wont have been tailored for that level of reliability mainly becuase it's not expected of it (most people use a top up charger)

Most modern car get run everyday and also draw a lot less on crank/start which relieves the stress on the battery.  When you start dropping voltages, cable distances / connections and cable sections become ultra critical.

I did a repair the other week on a system.  12V battery suppling 0.7amps across a lead, 280Ah rating - should have lasted about 2 weeks but was dying in 2-3 days.

The cable cross section was so low, it caused a 3V drop across it, to power the unit at the end of the cable the current had to rise to supply the power (becuase the voltage had dropped) which in turn causes more of a volt drop on the cable as it is carrying more current (snowball effect) - hence the battery died very quickly.

Putting an ammeter on the battery at rest can give a good indication of whats being drained and if it is excessive.

THe other way is to get a volt meter and put it on the negative of the battery and then on a earthed point (engine / metalwork) and you can see the earth volt drop and determine how good your earthing is on the car.  You be suprised to see how many car's I've done that test on and seen nearly 1/2 a volt or so.

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[hotrod3]

Well, I'm sorry to say guys but our tech here at MSD said that its normal for these Delco units to draw from the battery continually,also add the alarm draw ,radio and also the ALDL connection led for freescan,if you have it permantly mounted as I do. So the best remedy is to Keep it plugged into a Floating trickle charger,when parked for 5+ days. Its still a great car to drive and own! Just a little tempermental. Worth all the effort right!

[Jonathan]

Yeah would have thought that was the memory retaining the settings causing the draw - I'll put an ammeter on mine and let you know what the score is with mine sometime this week.

Get a trickle or even a solar charger, for you lot in the sunny places. My solar panel kept about 250mA on an average sunny day in the UK (ie not too sunny lol) and I never had any probs. My trickle charger is just on 2 croc clips, when I get it back to the bat cave I just clip it on the battery in the boot and shut the hatch on the wires (wont cause any damage). If you hard wire it be sure to fuse it correctly.

[Mark Blanchard]

No trickle charge on mine and it starts ok, (with an immobiliser and alarm). Need to give it a good run every week though to keep it ok.