Technical Isolating or disconnecting the battery

[jonkino]

HI Everyone, I'm a newbie on here so thanks for having me. I have a question and was not too sure where to post it, I hope it is fine here.

Please can someone advise me, My partner and I live in a hot climate in Southern Italy and my parter has gone back to the Uk for a couple of months and she wants me to disconnect the battery whilst she is away because last year when she went back to the UK 3 months and came back the battery had gone flat with it being connected and not used for three months. We had to have a new battery on the car even though it was not even a year old. The garage told us if leaving the car unused for any long period it is adviseable to disconnect the battery especially as in the. summer it is often 40 degrees here.

So if I want to disconnect it for a short period like 2-3 months what is the best way to do it? Should I disconnect it completely, like all three cable (as shown in the pic) - though I am worried that this would make the battery forgets the computer settings and cause issues when we come to reconnect it and then we would maybe have to reset everything. I just went in my local Fiat garage and he said just dis connect the Earth cable (that is all I need to do) the earth I believe is the one that connect to the pin on the right hand side negative terminal. Or he said disconnect the earth and then the negative. i am confused cause I always thought to isolate and disconnect one would always take of all the cables ( the earth the negative and the positive). Anyone know for sure.? Would appreciate any accurate thoughts. I havee disconnected the earth and now there is no power to the car - will stop the battery from draining or will it still discharge gradually if left for 2-3 months unused? I hope someone can advise me?

 

[steveras57]

HI Everyone, I'm a newbie on here so thanks for having me. I have a question and was not too sure where to post it, I hope it is fine here.

Please can someone advise me, My partner and I live in a hot climate in Southern Italy and my parter has gone back to the Uk for a couple of months and she wants me to disconnect the battery whilst she is away because last year when she went back to the UK 3 months and came back the battery had gone flat with it being connected and not used for three months. We had to have a new battery on the car even though it was not even a year old. The garage told us if leaving the car unused for any long period it is adviseable to disconnect the battery especially as in the. summer it is often 40 degrees here.

So if I want to disconnect it for a short period like 2-3 months what is the best way to do it? Should I disconnect it completely, like all three cable (as shown in the pic) - though I am worried that this would make the battery forgets the computer settings and cause issues when we come to reconnect it and then we would maybe have to reset everything. I just went in my local Fiat garage and he said just dis connect the Earth cable (that is all I need to do) the earth I believe is the one that connect to the pin on the right hand side negative terminal. Or he said disconnect the earth and then the negative. i am confused cause I always thought to isolate and disconnect one would always take of all the cables ( the earth the negative and the positive). Anyone know for sure.? Would appreciate any accurate thoughts. I havee disconnected the earth and now there is no power to the car - will stop the battery from draining or will it still discharge gradually if left for 2-3 months unused? I hope someone can advise me?

What you have done in the picture is disconnected the battery negative lead which means nothing in the car can operate as the circuits cannot be completed, this in itself will slow down and discharging of the battery, however ALL battery's naturally slowly discharge over time so therefore the best plan would be to also disconnect the other (positive ie red) battery lead as well ,and occasionally top up the charge with an appropriate battery charger! (wet cell battery's need a different charger to agm or lithium iron battery's) to keep the battery in top condition for when you want to re-use the car, you should not have to many issues when reconnecting other that having to re-set the clock etc as all the major parameters for the car are stored in the ecu computers and will not be affected by disconnecting the battery!,
Alternatively why not just keep everything connected up as normal and take the car out for a drive for an hour or so each month that should maintain it in normal shape!( longer and faster drives will be better than around town)!

 

[jonkino]

What you have done in the picture is disconnected the battery negative lead which means nothing in the car can operate as the circuits cannot be completed, this in itself will slow down and discharging of the battery, however ALL battery's naturally slowly discharge over time so therefore the best plan would be to also disconnect the other (positive ie red) battery lead as well ,and occasionally top up the charge with an appropriate battery charger! (wet cell battery's need a different charger to agm or lithium iron battery's) to keep the battery in top condition for when you want to re-use the car, you should not have to many issues when reconnecting other that having to re-set the clock etc as all the major parameters for the car are stored in the ecu computers and will not be affected by disconnecting the battery!,
Alternatively why not just keep everything connected up as normal and take the car out for a drive for an hour or so each month that should maintain it in normal shape!( longer and faster drives will be better than around town)!

Hi
Thanks for the info. Can you suggest what type of charger I should buy as i understand there are different chargers for different batteries/. I am not sure what type of battery I have on the car. I have uploaded a couple of photos of the label on the top and the reference numbers. Are you able to identify the type of battery and charger to buy please? Thanks in advance. By the way, I am not able to take the car out for occassional runs as its not insured right now - my partner will reinsure it when she gets back in SEPT.

 

[steveras57]

You need a "smart" charger!- google E F B battery charger for some options!
Also if you google what is a EFB car battery you will get loads of relevant info on them!

 

[The Panda Nut]

Smart chargers can be left connected to your battery all the time and stops charging when the battery is charged, resuming when it drops enough to need charging. No battery will like being left 3 months uncharged. Its not what the battery is designed to cope with and will certianly shorten the battery life.

I have a Smart charger from Aldi stores it was around the 30 euro cost and seems really good. I have a spare battery and it maintains it seemingly in top condition. Its been connected for 12 months and still seems healthy by all measures I can see.

 

[ZaphodB]

Apart from all the good advice which has already been given , it would be prudent to find out how old the battery is?

There will be a 4 digit date code somewhere on the battery , often times embossed into the plastic casing.

A car battery might be expected to last anything from 3 years to maybe twice that (depending on its use)

A deteriorated battery will obviously lose its charge (just sitting there) faster. The old it gets the less likely it is to survive without use.

 

[jonkino]

Apart from all the good advice which has already been given , it would be prudent to find out how old the battery is?

There will be a 4 digit date code somewhere on the battery , often times embossed into the plastic casing.

A car battery might be expected to last anything from 3 years to maybe twice that (depending on its use)

A deteriorated battery will obviously lose its charge (just sitting there) faster. The old it gets the less likely it is to survive without use.

Thanks everyone for advice. The battery was only purchased last August so not 12 months yet.