Another Bad Battery Victim
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 499
Likes: 4
From: Loxahatchee FL
Another Bad Battery Victim
Mark me down as a victim of a bad battery. 2015 3LT Z51 convertible, about 1200 miles, took delivery early Feb 2015.
Last Tuesday I drove about an hour, parked for a few hours, drove about 1/2 hour, parked for a few hours came out to start the car and very slow crank, no start. No warning symptoms prior to the no start. Went to the dealer this morning and got a new battery under warrantee.
Rick L.
Last Tuesday I drove about an hour, parked for a few hours, drove about 1/2 hour, parked for a few hours came out to start the car and very slow crank, no start. No warning symptoms prior to the no start. Went to the dealer this morning and got a new battery under warrantee.
Rick L.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,016
Likes: 73
From: Texas
Stuff happens, you’ve been taken care of. Hope you did a top off charge on the new battery. A battery in storage isn’t likely to have a full charge and you should not rely on the alternator to bring it all the way up unless perhaps you’re on very long trip on the interstate. Don
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,543
Likes: 854
Mark me down as a victim of a bad battery. 2015 3LT Z51 convertible, about 1200 miles, took delivery early Feb 2015.
Last Tuesday I drove about an hour, parked for a few hours, drove about 1/2 hour, parked for a few hours came out to start the car and very slow crank, no start. No warning symptoms prior to the no start. Went to the dealer this morning and got a new battery under warrantee.
Rick L.
Last Tuesday I drove about an hour, parked for a few hours, drove about 1/2 hour, parked for a few hours came out to start the car and very slow crank, no start. No warning symptoms prior to the no start. Went to the dealer this morning and got a new battery under warrantee.
Rick L.
You will be glad you made the purchase.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 49,418
Likes: 3,931
From: Best Island in the U.S.
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '17
Suggest that you consider buying a CTEK MUS 4.3 smartcharger and keep this connected to the battery when not driving the car. These cars have a tendency to eat up batteries. Connect the CTEK eyelets directly to the 10mm battery terminal posts.
Amazon.com: CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 12-VoltBattery Charger: Automotive
Amazon.com: CTEK (56-304) Comfort Connect Extension Cable: Automotive
You will be glad you made the purchase.
Amazon.com: CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 12-VoltBattery Charger: Automotive
Amazon.com: CTEK (56-304) Comfort Connect Extension Cable: Automotive
You will be glad you made the purchase.
No modern car needs a battery tender when sitting for a few weeks or less. If it does there's a problem that needs to be fixed, not a tender that treats the symptom and ignores the cause.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 11,825
Likes: 2,478
From: Ft Lauderdale
Tech Contributor
AMEN...so much false data coming over from the c5/c6 days....Chev sells a batt charger because the vette demographic is to store over the winter, not because the battery needs "help" in normal use due to a flawed current retention problem.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 761
Likes: 49
From: Ringwood New Jersey
If, for some reason my battery dies, Im just gonna get an AGM battery and be done with it. I have AGM's in my boats and cars. They last years longer and can be recharged many times from dead with no detrimental damage...
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 11,825
Likes: 2,478
From: Ft Lauderdale
Tech Contributor
absolutely....everything I own has an Odyssey in it, and the vette will have it soon too. And Odyssey kills Optima on durability, google them.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,543
Likes: 854
Totally incorrect. Who stores their cars for winter in Florida, the southern states, TX, NM, AZ, CA the list goes on.
Owners can do what they like, think what you think. I own several premuim sports cars all with advanced electronic components that eat up battery voltage. I would not be without a smartcharger connected to the C7 or the other cars at any time.
I have never had a battery related issue when using these CTEK smartchargers. They are made for a purpose, to keep battery voltage at it's highest level possible.
SMART BATTERY CHARGER's
CTEK designs and manufactures a range of smart battery chargers and accessories to suit all types of lead-acid batteries and therefore vehicles including cars, bikes, marine vessels, agricultural vehicles and even lawn mowers.
A CTEK smart battery charger is fully automatic, spark proof, reverse polarity protected and requires no specialist knowledge to use. Furthermore, due to the patented pulse maintenance technology, the CTEK smart battery charger range can be connected to the battery for months at a time meaning users can simply connect and forget.
All of CTEK’s smart chargers are fully automatic, spark proof and reverse polarity protected and require no specialist knowledge to use. Furthermore, due to the patented pulse maintenance technology, the range of chargers can be connected to the battery for months at a time meaning users can simply connect and forget.
A CTEK smart battery charger will undergo a series of stages during the charging process to disulphate, revive, charge, condition and maintain all types of lead-acid batteries, prolong their life and saving the user time and money in the future.
Furthermore, a smart battery charger will stay in constant communication with the battery throughout the procedure, charging only to meet the needs of the battery and therefore eradicating the possibility of over-charging or under-charging the battery and reducing its lifespan as a result.
Moreover, each CTEK smart battery charger regulates mains voltage to protect any sensitive electrical and hi-fi equipment.
CHARGING FACTS
CHARGER AND BATTERY
The most important property of a battery charger is that it reaches the exact voltage during the charging cycle. If voltage is too high, the battery boils. The battery becomes unusable due to dried-out cells and crevice corrosion, which occur due to high acid concentration and overheating during charging. If voltage is too low, you end up with an incompletely charged battery that will lose more and more capacity until it gradually becomes unusable.
BATTERY CHARGERS AND EQUIPMENT
Interruptions and ripple from voltage and current can destroy sensitive equipment connected to the battery, such as:
Radio equipment in cars.
Tele-equipment in caravans.
GPS and navigation instruments in boats.
Sensitive equipment in rescue vehicles.
Data and control boxes.
Do what you think is best, but don't complain if you have battery related issues due to drains on your battery or when testing a battery you determine the battery is not putting out a correct voltage.
Last edited by nmvettec7; Mar 20, 2015 at 03:09 PM.
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 11,825
Likes: 2,478
From: Ft Lauderdale
Tech Contributor
all this "high tech sports cars need a charger" went out when they switched to non volatile RAM a few years ago, before that it was really bad and cars did drain. BMW even had an "airport" switch on their 7's, that would shut everything down for long sits...they did away with that switch in about 2009 after they switched.
think what you want, but I'm happy with my decision...we will disagree.....for normal driving schedule , a charger is totally unnecessary.......if I'm going more than 3-4 weeks sitting , I'll charge to full, then pull the neg cable....or in the 3-4-5 week period, I'll put it in transport mode....
think what you want, but I'm happy with my decision...we will disagree.....for normal driving schedule , a charger is totally unnecessary.......if I'm going more than 3-4 weeks sitting , I'll charge to full, then pull the neg cable....or in the 3-4-5 week period, I'll put it in transport mode....
Last edited by Glen e; Mar 20, 2015 at 04:13 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 49,418
Likes: 3,931
From: Best Island in the U.S.
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '17
all this "high tech sports cars need a charger" went out when they switched to non volatile RAM a few years ago, before that it was really bad and cars did drain. BMW even had an "airport" switch on their 7's, that would shut everything down for long sits...they did away with that switch in about 2009 after they switched.
think what you want, but I'm happy with my decision...we will disagree.....for normal driving schedule , a charger is totally unnecessary.......if I'm going more than 3-4 weeks sitting , I'll charge to full, then pull the neg cable....
think what you want, but I'm happy with my decision...we will disagree.....for normal driving schedule , a charger is totally unnecessary.......if I'm going more than 3-4 weeks sitting , I'll charge to full, then pull the neg cable....
Pro
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 602
Likes: 119
From: Southern Ontario
While in Florida for 2.5 months this winter I disconnected the battery, upon return I put my smart charger on it. It was fully charged in about 6 hrs, the smart charger is just a trickle charge, so little charge lost over that period. I probably could have just started the car up and carried on. Thru the summer I don't use the charger at all, it is not a daily driver, no issues.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,543
Likes: 854
Research, Research, Research........
Considering spending 11:19 to review this and educate yourself. Who knows more .....a Certified Corvette Tech or you?
Corvette Battery Maintenance with GM Technician Paul Koerner
Do you think Jay Leno is a dumb car collector?
Considering spending 11:19 to review this and educate yourself. Who knows more .....a Certified Corvette Tech or you?
Corvette Battery Maintenance with GM Technician Paul Koerner
Do you think Jay Leno is a dumb car collector?
Last edited by nmvettec7; Mar 20, 2015 at 03:49 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 49,418
Likes: 3,931
From: Best Island in the U.S.
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '17
If my C7 battery life is shortened a little bit because I don't connect a tender to it every time I park it I'm perfectly fine with that.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,016
Likes: 73
From: Texas
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 878
Likes: 61
From: Louisa, Ky
The charging system now being computer controlled cycles on and off just like your water heater. And just like a water heater if you catch it at the low temp setting and demand a long hot shower it doesn't deliver as long as you may be used to. It is possible to park this car at the bottom off the cycle when it was about to kick back into charging mode and it is relying on sufficient reserve to cover up this problem. Thus slow crank is the result. I have noticed this with mine. The trickle charger alway takes about 4-5 hours to top this battery off, telling me that the cars system does not keep the battery at the same level. I have never got the error code for low voltage. Nor high voltage when it was showing 15.2 volts in cold weather recently. I have verified dash readings at many times and places with Fluke meter. The system gets as low as 12.8 before kicking back on. I prefer right at the battery when checking system performance. I agree this system needs a battery with good reserve capacity.