crews control
Joined: 18 Mar 2007
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 440
 
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discocuzzy, thanks for the offer, very kind.
I wish it was Heathrow, it'd be a whole lot easier as home's not that far either.
Simon, It's not the state of the battery that made me ask the question, it's the fact that I read somewhere on here about a current requirement even when the vehicle is left off? I can't seem to find out how significant that drain is, but if true, there must be a limit to how long you can leave the vehicle without use before there isn't enough power to re-start. With my previous merc it was about eight weeks even with a tip top battery. If it's not an issue, then great, I've probably misunderstood.
 Paul
D3 TDV6 HSE
Buckingham Black / Alpacca Leather
...This message written with recycled electrons...
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 Wed Jul 23 2008 11:03pm |
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simon
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Location: ...
Posts: 14842
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I understand your concern... get the dealer or LRCS to answer you and agree to send out recovery if their info turns out to be wrong.
Like I said, three weeks and not a sniff of an issue... not even a low charge starter motor sound. Fired up first time as if I'd parked it only an hour ago.
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| Wed Jul 23 2008 11:08pm |
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90BHP
Joined: 18 Oct 2006
Location: Half way along the road on the right
Posts: 1623
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Yea great - recovery is just what you want to wait for after a long haul flight, followed by an early morning 200 mile drive home  . Avoidance seems to be the idea behind the thread.
Like others I have left mine for 2-3 weeks with no problem, starts first time.
If worried, have a look on the car park website, should have a key for facilities offered - one of them should be a free jump start for stranded motorists  "To finish first, one first has to finish ...."
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| Wed Jul 23 2008 11:32pm |
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Alex08
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 726
 
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The £9.99 Maplin charger also comes with battery post clips - run the wire out the passenger door and under the open bonnet, clip to the battery and voila - no live socket required. Takes 2mins and if done neatly the wire isn't even visible from the outside. The plastic battery cover is laid (not clipped) on top before the bonnet is shut
What this does give you is aircon/fan from the start rather than having the first 15 mins of your journey in the stale heat of the car as the systems are disabled due to low voltage. I actually use 2 on mine to keep the battery cheery when the car sits for a week or more and they only need daylight not sunlight - and not much either although the charge is greater the brighter the conditions.
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 1:38am |
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norto
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Location: batemans bay
Posts: 1021
 
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Alex08
Mine seems to drain back at night.
Does yours have a diode or something similar Peter
"Global Warming" The religion of the left
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 3:29am |
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tempestv8
Joined: 11 Oct 2006
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 26
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Maybe buy a spare battery and some jumper leads..... 
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 7:28am |
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flydive
Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Location: Lugano
Posts: 21
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Also, if you park it in access height the car goes into sleep mode. I converted my diesel RRS to run on an environmentally friendly mixture of caribou fat and baby seals oil
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 9:32am |
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TallPaul
Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Location: Underground, overground, wombling free.
Posts: 445
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norto wrote:Alex08
Mine seems to drain back at night.
Does yours have a diode or something similar
The Maplin one should have a Diode in to stop this, although perhaps cheap ones don't, the £10 panel is only like a 1w or 1.5w, so a diode probably eats a percentage, perhaps they left this out!
flydive wrote:Also, if you park it in access height the car goes into sleep mode.
When we bought our Disco, I noted that all the dealers always park the cars locked in crawl mode, I suspect they know something that's not shouted about that its better for long term parking of the cars in this mode. I assumed it was so the suspension was not under load, but perhaps its related to sleep mode?
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 12:17pm |
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Bodsy
Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: No....! Yes.....! Maybe....!
Posts: 5954
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Glad I always park in airport parks in Access Mode.  it! It's got a load of black bits on OK!!!
13th in the TPC
We D3, therefore we are.
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 12:57pm |
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Alex08
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 726
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norto wrote:Alex08
Does yours have a diode or something similar
As TallPaul says they have a diode. The flashing blue light is definitely off at night and the battery certainly does charge (or rather does not lose charge!)
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 1:42pm |
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TallPaul
Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Location: Underground, overground, wombling free.
Posts: 445
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Alex08 wrote:
As TallPaul says they have a diode. The flashing blue light is definitely off at night and the battery certainly does charge (or rather does not lose charge!)
Blue LED!
Must be an upgrade, my old panel has a red LED...
I keep considering getting one of the larger 5w panels that were on sale recently, and mounting it on the third sunroof... not convinced suction cups would hold for long periods though. Could be useful to kep the second battery charged IF I ever get the damn thing fitted!
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 1:50pm |
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AndrewW
Joined: 06 Aug 2007
Location: Saddleworth
Posts: 1290
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TallPaul wrote:
The Maplin one should have a Diode in to stop this
Sure does  ...
> 20MΩ on test
Blue LED tells lies - flshes from about 4 volts upwards  06 TDV6 SE Tonga Green
Mantec Plate (with three "dings"), BCB rope, Hidden winch (hidden in garage...), Webasto timer (in box), TorqTuned ((tee hee)²), Origin b2 (in case), Traffic master jam warner (in expectation), FT8800, Motorola GM360, INTEK H-520+ (in a tangle)
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| Thu Jul 24 2008 6:43pm |
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