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

Thanks to advice from this forum I've been saving a lot of gas by only running the engine during acceleration. However my battery doesn't get charged much and on a cool night recently my battery voltage dropped below 11 while sitting at a light. This is a new battery. I often turn off the brake lights (using e-brake instead) and headlights (unless I'm at the front of the line) at red lights to keep the voltage up. Plus I bump start as much as possible to mimimize starter usage. I have not had a problem starting tbe car yet but I'm concerned of what might happen next winter.

Has anyone who drives like this had their battery drain to the point of being unable to start the engine from a stop? I have a portable battery charger but I'd rather not have to use it while blocking traffic. I'm also wondering if a solar panel charger would significantly help keep the battery juiced.

Yes, its been a problem for a few people here. Your best bet is to plug in once every few days to recharge your battery fully.

Solar is an option, but not the best one for an automotive application.

I found myself having this issue, even with a full charge, when doing 50+ mile highway runs on one of my old batteries. I replaced the battery and haven't had the issue since. However, I have replaced my sunroof with a custom solar charging system to further help keep a good charge and reduce alternator strain.

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.

I charge it daily and I have a POS solar panel too

My deep-cycle battery is usually pretty dead after a long night drive. EOC and running the alternator in the low-output mode (a Honda thing) will do that. I've converted most lights to LEDs. And I have a solar panel. But I still have to charge the battery at home.

I used to have this problem and I went and fitted a 100W solar panel.

When I removed it to tidy up the mounting/ wiring job, I altered my technique so that whenever I need to stop/ slow and I'm EOC'ing, I bump start and DFCO, this spins up the alternator and seems to be enough to keep my battery happy. It always sits at 12.8v in the morning.

I also do my best to minimise loads while the engine is off. I'm still debating on whether the solar panel is going back on.

The alternator will not fully charge the battery if you do a lot of EOC. The voltage may be correct, the amps may be flowing into the battery, but the battery only accepts charge at a certain rate.

I replaced my battery a year or two ago because it failed young. I now trickle charge overnight twice a week.

should we charge our battery's at 2 amp or 10 amp ?

available charge time is 6 hours daily.

I have a group 24 in the trunk with a "smart charger"

ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/how-many-p-g-have-low-battery-30656.html

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"...

yep larger gauge.

works very good.

google "big three upgrade"

^^^ 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).

http://assets.bluesea.com/files/reso...on_chartlg.jpg

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. :thumbup:

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

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.

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

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 ;)

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.