Home > Puma (Tdci) > Battery upgrade advice? |
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Balvaig Member Since: 19 Feb 2016 Location: Fife Posts: 732 |
All cars fitted with an alarm or immobiliser will eventually drain the battery if not used regularly. A few weeks is not bad going. However if you drain a battery you will cause damage to the battery. I have a permanently wired in CTEK charger for when car is not used regularly.
Which battery or batteries to use will depend on what extras you are adding. Lots of threads on the forum on dual battery set ups. |
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6th Mar 2017 8:50am |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
If plugging it in isn't practical then consider a solar charger. Just make sure that it's connected to the battery rather than the cig. lighter, as that isn't permanently live. Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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6th Mar 2017 9:05am |
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zsd-puma Member Since: 09 Aug 2016 Location: Kent Posts: 2720 |
You could just fit a battery isolator and turn the battery off when it's not in use, they have a very low self discharge rate.
Failing that it's as above, solar or mains charger. If you have 13 pin towing or twin electrics then you can simply plug the charger into the towing socket. |
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6th Mar 2017 11:29am |
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nickhodgson Member Since: 08 Dec 2009 Location: Zambia Posts: 174 |
I would expect a normal Puma with the genuine LR battery to give you much longer than a couple of weeks. A couple on months should be achievable.
Does yours have the genuine LR battery? The Genuine LR battery is a great battery and will last for a long time if well looked after. I would go for another Genuine LR battery if yours is indeed dying. Are your battery terminals tight? What is the voltage at the battery when its been sitting for a while? What is the voltage showing on the battery when the engine is idling? Does turning the lights and fan on make much difference to voltage when the car is idling? 1995 300tdi Defender 90 P/UP 2011 Puma Defender 130 D/C 2000 300tdi Defender 110 P/UP 2015 Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE |
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6th Mar 2017 1:08pm |
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defender9 Member Since: 12 Mar 2016 Location: Fylde Coast Posts: 1629 |
I had a Puma from new for 8 years and was sometimes out of use for a couple of months due to working abroad with no trickle charge, it lived outside on the drive and it always started first turn.
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6th Mar 2017 1:28pm |
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NinetyTD4 Member Since: 22 Apr 2011 Location: North Posts: 397 |
Sounds there is something else bad. Usually a Defender can sit for month without problems. Try to find the bad part of the wiring, did you do anything stupid, or is something broken? Never forget: cars have owner, Landrover have field service personnel.
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6th Mar 2017 2:47pm |
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AWOL Member Since: 31 Oct 2013 Location: UK Posts: 222 |
That's exactly what I do, but made a 10m extension cable out of 4mm arctic cable for the 12v side so that the CTEK charger can sit tucked away in garage whilst power runs out to defender via 13 pin. Nice thick cable means no significant voltage drop (around 1/10th what you'd see from 1.25mm cable which would probably be useless for that sort of extension). Only needed to top it up once. Oddly coincided with the first time the wife drove it. And the lights being left on. It's more normally used with my other car where a 13 pin trailing socket runs to cigarette lighter (wired using standard ctek cable to pass the door seals) for most of the winter. |
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6th Mar 2017 8:54pm |
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zsd-puma Member Since: 09 Aug 2016 Location: Kent Posts: 2720 |
Or a Yuasa one from Halfords, they're cheaper than the LR ones, but have a slightly higher CCA and AH rating. 900/100 rather than 800/90. |
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6th Mar 2017 10:36pm |
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zsd-puma Member Since: 09 Aug 2016 Location: Kent Posts: 2720 |
I expect a plug and play trailer harness is available for your other car, just fix the socket up behind the bumper somewhere, saves running the cable into the car. |
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6th Mar 2017 10:38pm |
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Moles Member Since: 17 Mar 2016 Location: Wiltshire Posts: 40 |
Thanks for the advise.
Funny, I was expected a load of suggestions to go dual battery..... Oh well, I'm going to have to do something. I'll see if I can get the battery out and tested perhaps. Cheers, Steve |
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7th Mar 2017 10:50pm |
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gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5111 |
A dual battery set up will not solve the problem of a battery drain if the vehicle is left standing; all it will achieve is two flat batteries albeit you theoretically will get twice as long before the vehicles batteries are dead.
Factor in the cost of setting up a dual system and you would be better as suggested purchasing a CTEX smart charger with a quick release attachment wired to your battery. AC chargers of course are only good if you park near an AC power supply. Solar charger as also suggested are very good, I bought this solar charger from Maplins to keep my battery charged when the Land Rover is not used for a time and I have been very pleased with it especially with the cost £49.99 The solar panel is an amorphous receptor and is ideally suited to the northern European climate to enable the optimum use of daylight hours. It can even operate behind glass. I keep it propped up inside the Defender against the front windscreen. http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/13w-solar-briefcase-n00cx For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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8th Mar 2017 1:00pm |
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