Car Battery Going Flat

[ScottV]

Hi hope you can advise.

 

I have a 2002 Galaxy Ghia 2.3. I have a problem with the what i believe is the battery going flat. If i use the car every day it starts fine however if i leave it for more than a day, say over the weekend, come Monday morning it is flat and the engine doesn't even turn over. If i charge the battery it starts straight away. I have taken it to an Auto-electrician who advised it was the altinator, which i replaced. Problem continued. I have purchased two new batteries as the same auto-electrician believed the first had a faulty cell. Problem continues.Under testing they say there isn't a unusual drain on the battery. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what i can try next?? i am at a loss and the wife is not amused!!

[Mirez]

There seem to be an increasing number of auto-electricians that basically have very little skills or simply can't be bothered to properly diagnose. A failing or failed alternator would have been easy to spot, but given your symptoms would have been unlikely anyway. A failing battery on the other hand would have been more probable but could have been easily diagnosed to avoid you having to buy an unnecessary replacement.

 

So, I would now question how exactly they are testing "unusual drain"? Ask them how they measured, what results they got and what they expected. Ask over what time frame they tested the car. If they have little clue they'll simply be measuring voltage drop - that

[Gaza]

I had this problem turned out to be the altenator draining the battery somthing to do with a faulty diode?

[Mirez]

I had this problem turned out to be the altenator draining the battery somthing to do with a faulty diode?

 

Not charging the battery, it can't drain the battery unless its internally shorted which is unlikely. Alternators generate AC current not DC current so 6 diodes are used to rectify the AC signal, as/when they fail the DC voltage produced will drop and the battery will be charged much slower. As said though that is easy enough to test for and scotts unfortunately already had his replaced without sucess

[davewill]

I had this problem and it turned out to be a cable between the Alt and the Battery that was frayed and shorting out, causing the battery to drain

[Gaza]

I had this problem turned out to be the altenator draining the battery somthing to do with a faulty diode?

 

Not charging the battery, it can't drain the battery unless its internally shorted which is unlikely. Alternators generate AC current not DC current so 6 diodes are used to rectify the AC signal, as/when they fail the DC voltage produced will drop and the battery will be charged much slower. As said though that is easy enough to test for and scotts unfortunately already had his replaced without sucess

I bow to your knowledge, in my case the voltage could be seen dropping with a voltmeter when altenator was disconnected the voltage drop stopped, replaced the altenator cured problem.

It worked for me. :)