Originally Posted by
LUDELVR
So I have a fairly new battery (a couple of years old) and am having a few issues with it now. The car it is in is only driven in summer and has a propensity to sit for months at a time. After each winter (around March/April) for the past 2 years, I've had to jump start the car with a battery pack and after running, it's held its charge until it sits once again for a long period of time. It has also sat for about a month's time in July while I go on vacation and would need another jump start when I would return.
I've noticed that it seems as though the time it can maintain a charge is getting shorter and shorter. About a month ago, I noticed that only after a week of sitting, the car was not able to start. I then bought a 2 amp trickle charger and left it over night and got a full charge on my battery at about 12.7 volts and it started right up but just last week I let the car sit overnight and the battery had dropped to around 12.2 and the car wouldn't start unless I used the battery pack jump start. 2 nights ago after driving the car all day and having a full charge, the battery needed another jump start the next morning. Last night, I brought my jump start pack to work and had to use it after work and drove across the city to the NW from the deep SE and let the car sit for about an hour and a half and when I went to start it, it cranked right up. I then drove home and let it sit and checked the battery in the morning and again, it was down to about 12.3 so I threw on the trickle charger for about 2 hours for the drive this morning.
I'm just wondering if there is a slow drain or if the battery is shot. I haven't had any issues with any electrical aspects of the car so I'm leaning toward the battery. Could the battery be knackered from the multiple jump starts or could I have accidentally overcharged it with the trickle charger the first night (I can't remember how long I actually had it on initially)?
I'm guessing I will need a new battery but I just want to know what I need to do differently next time.