PC680 Battery / Unable to Jump Start

[rushy_23]

Hi all,

Not a regularly user of the EK9 forum, but recently picked up Stokes' 1998 Racebase.

Its been garaged for the past month, only started a few times. Had to jump start the car 2 weeks ago, was a bit of a challenge due to the tight connections on the Odyssey Race battery and trying to get enough juice to bypass the immobiliser and fire the car up. Eventually go there.

Have just tried to do the same again today but no joy. Connected positives / negatives, charge coming from a Peugeot 207, tried having the peugeot's revs say between 2.5 and 3.5k RPM also.
Took everything off and left the cars for 5 mins, tried a second attempt, connected the cables up, but as soon as the negative was attached to the EK9 body, the indicators lit up and the alarm (aftermarket - Hornet) started to make a few chrips.

We continued by starting the 207, and I (maybe in error) went straight to the Civic to try starting it also. I heard a click when putting the key on the ignition. Think it was the starter motor? Didnt feel like the immobiliser had stopped the car starting.

That attempt seems to have drained that last bit of charge and I felt to be back at square one again. Its odd however, as every time I connect the jump leads up, there is no life in the Civic at all. I get extremely faint lights on the dash. Thats about it..

People are telling me the battery is no good, but I dont believe this to be the case. I "think" the battery needs a good charge. Problem is I dont really know how to do this, especially for a small race battery.

Mine is an Odyssey PC680 (12v and 16Ah). I found the following charger but feel its very pricy...

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/numax-3-stage-battery-charger-10amp-chg

Missus suggested getting a new battery, but again I dont feel its worth "chucking" this one away.


Is there anything I could be overlooking? I feel the alarm is having a part to play in this jump start issue, reason being it made no noises upon initial charge. But once the jumper cables were taken off and refitted a few minutes later, I dont understand why the alarm suddenly came alive, something to do with resetting the immobiliser?

Appreciate any advice you guys may have, and sorry for the long detailed post.

 

[Stokes]

Shouldn't be anything wrong with the battery Rush, it's only a few months old.

How long did you leave the 207 connected? Try leaving it on idle for 10mins to charge.

I think any battery charger will do charge it up.

I had some problems with it dying on me overnight a few months ago, so brought that new battery and made new earths and it had been ok since so I assumed it was that, maybe there is a drain sonewhere.

 

[rushy_23]

Hey Matt,

Just spotted your text. the 207 was on for a fair while, was outside for over an hour in total. I remember you saying, hence avoiding buying a new battery. Ive seen a much cheaper 3 stage charger for these types of batteries. Will try that out with crossed fingers.

Thanks dude.
Rush

 

[waff]

Odyssey race batteries don't like to be connected for long periods of time to the system without a regular maintenance charge (either using the car and charging it via the alternatior, or with a charger). These are really different to the typical acid battery. I always use a "cut off switch" (like the FIA rally ones, to disconnect the battery), to disconnect any Odyssey whenever the cars are not in use for more than 3-4 days.

If you had your battery connected to the car without moving it for some weeks, it's very possible its voltage has dropped. But good news are these things can resurrect from really low voltage values, unlike conventional acid batteries. Of course it will resurrect with less voltage holding capabilities, but it still will be usable for a good time. Also, these Odyssey units have a real good cranking power... I have used these at less than 12.5V and still could crank a K20 engine. And with 12.4V still cranking a little D16 more easily than the acid one.

I have learnt over the years, every 1 to 3 weeks (depending on the age or life status of the battery) some maintanance charging is always required.
Use a charger which has a maintanance "pulse" charging, for a better and long battery life.

 

[oifovo]

Get a decent RC battery charger/balancer and you're sorted. I've used mine for years and I'm yet to find a battery it won't charge. The downside is that you'll need to read up on them a bit as you have to program it for each battery (not as difficult as it sounds!), the upshot is that you can genuinely charge 99% of batteries you'll come across, I've charged camera, phone, cordless drill batteries as well as several car batteries and of course all the battery packs for my RC cars. For the £20 odd they cost when purchased online they are hard to beat!