EOC = No battery charging. Is this ever an issue?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

I had the same issue for a while. Got a deep cycle battery and upgraded the wires from the starter. Can key start after sitting a good 10 minutes with marker lights and turn signal on.

How did you upgrade starter wires? Larger gauge? How does it help? ... I also charge my 40ahr deep cycle battery at night. I have an on-board 25amp "smart charger"...

[dirtydave]

yep larger gauge.

works very good.

google "big three upgrade"

[NoD~]

^^^ also note: Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) VS Copper Clad Aluminum (CCA) wiring. If you use CCA instead of OFC, you need to increase the gauge size to compensate! I used an amp-clamp and measured all my wiring to make sure I had the right gauge (or larger).

[Sven7]

I never had an issue with the Anal Probe, but it should be said that letting the engine run for a mile to charge the battery is not going to ruin you, either. If you're having problems, just driving normally for a couple miles during the trip would be a great short-term solution before you go LED and PV.

And, please use your brake lights instead of the emergency brake. Cars have brake lights for a reason.

[Arragonis]

Has anyone worked out the savings vs. Costs of eoc and battery charging ?

[AndrzejM]

I just drove from home to Prague ~600km one way with EOCing almost the whole way. Headlights and markers turned on, radio on, ocasionally wipers due to rain in some places I was passing by. No issues with the accumulator. It was fully charged before I started my trip though. Accu is like 6-7 years old. And a bit bigger than it's needed and suggested by the factory for my VW Polo. That was the one I had anyway so since it's still going strong I have no intentions to change it.

[HeadlesNorseman]

keep in mind dropping the battery voltage constantly on a typical car battery will shorten its life. i know the mileage game is the goal but not at the expense of a 100$ battery(money, pollution/inconvenience). i would say from my own guesstimate a battery only needs about 30 mins of running time to FULLY charge, from like a dead/jumpstart situation. that being said, i gave up shutting my engine off at stops, unless i know they are lengthy, like a train crossing.

alternatively, EOC/no idling as much as you want in the day time, conservatively or lights off at night only. and if you must, just stop doing it for the last 15-20 mins of your drive home before you park, to let the battery recover

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by HeadlesNorseman

i know the mileage game is the goal but not at the expense of a 100$ battery(money, pollution/inconvenience).

I'll save around $500 in my first year of EOC/ idle stop with EMMA. If the cost of a product is roughly indicative of how much pollution results from it's manufacture (obviously you can't apply this theory to every product), then a $100 battery is a small price to pay. I'd guess the battery will go on another two years at least, when it will be replaced by my 5 year OEM warranty. Even in normal use, modern car batteries seem unlikely to make it much past 3 years.

There's also inconvenience in making six extra fuel stops a year.

YMMV

[UltArc]

As a link...

[Arragonis]

I've never had to buy a battery so I don't know the costs there. I did have a bad alternator which nearly killed a battery but that car was sold with the same unit in it and starting first thing every morning.