Hi guys,
I only use the car every now and then and the immobiliser flattens the battery. What battery would people recommend getting to try and avoid this. I hate he use of constantly having to disconnect my battery or recharging it all the time.

Ryan

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Why don't you put a monitor on it? Cetec or redarc

Thanks for the advice Peter, but I'm going to need more info. What is a monitor?

Ryan

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

I have a battery charger with a cigarette lighter end on the cord, and i plug this into the cigarette lighter in the car via an slightly open drivers door window. The charger is connected to the mains via a timer that I have turn on for 30 minutes each day. I just unplug ti when I want to use the car, and the battery is always fully charged.

I really like this idea and know someone else who does this with their mini, but I don't have a power source where the car is stored. I've thought about solar but that could get messy and over complicated.

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

The solar panel can be very good actually. You connect it across the battery, and I like to sneak the cable (it has an inline plug) up under the parcel shelf . The little solar panel just plugs in when you want it, or you store it in a rear pocket out of sight. The plug can't easily be spotted either.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Would something like this work?

http://m.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/ ... ger/340106

Could I leave it connect to the battery for extended periods of time without worrying about damaging the battery?

I'd probably replace the alligator clips so I could have the plug attached to the battery at all times.

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

That's exactly the unit I was thinking of. I have two of them here.

Yes you can leave it connected. Its max output is 30 milliamp, so it will make up for what your immobiliser uses and will spend the day making up for the current used overnight.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Excellent, thanks Mick. might grab one tomorrow and see how it goes.

I'm also going to grab a new battery. What should I be looking for?

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

I have a similar problem, the Pioneer Radio/CD head unit eventually drains the 640CCA battery.
I hook the charger up every Friday night. It's a good one not a cheapie.
To save unloading the boot to get at the battery, I hook the charger's clips to the battery cable stud on the starter solenoid, and a head nut.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I keep a 'Battery Fighter' on the Moke when i'm not driving it much. It can have a quick connect coupling which I poke out through the grille, or just clips onto the solenoid. Its not grunty enough to charge a battery that is dead flat, but keeps an Ok battery topped up. Because its regulated it doesn't overcharge when the battery is fully charged.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

this is one of the ctek range. I have 3, brilliant bit of gear that comes with all you need.......and it doesn't need sun to work. I tried the elcheapo solar panel and believe it or not, it melted in the sun, really good stuff...not!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CTEK-XS0-8-T ... 43bfce09dd

With a little extra trouble...you could connect a portable starter to the car for say an hour each day...or whatever was needed to counter the immobiliser drain...

http://www.soldsmart.com.au/Portable-12 ... gQodoyIA8g

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"Show me the Mini!"

It sounds to me like you're going about the wrong way to solve the problem. Yes, you can keep the battery charged, but an immobilizer shouldn't discharge the battery so quickly. My old one would last about two weeks before the battery started showing signs of a struggle - but it turned out to be the alternator anyway. I've since changed alternators (to one of ConvertableMini's upgraded ones) and changed to anew alarm and immobilizer. I went on holiday for almost 6 weeks with the alarm/immobilizer activated, and it still started up fine.

What I would suggest is seeing how much current is draining from the battery with an accurate multimeter. Then unplug the alternator and check the difference. If it is the immobiliser that's draining, get a new one. If you're happy to do the install yourself, they're very cheap.



Any head unit should have a permanent +12V connection and an accessories connection. The accessories connection effectively acts as a relay - if there's no accessories connection, your head unit should only drain the smallest amount of power (only to keep time and radio presets etc - a AA battery would have enough power to do this). No head unit should drain a battery unless it's old/cheap and given a long amount of time (several weeks).

Well I suspected the alternator, but I cannot measure any mA drain from it with the engine off.
Yes the ign switch has an accessories position, all that does is let the radio work without ignition on.
IMO it's the permanent 12V+ connection that keeps its memory alight that's the problem.
I could turn the battery isolation switch off, but then I have to re-program the !^&%$* head unit each time. PITA...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.