Battery Drain after 10 days away

[londonxk8]

hello - so installed a new Bosch batter a couple months ago, and car been running well. However, went away for 10 days, and have come back - the batter is totally dead. I couldnt disable the alarm. So will take the battery out tonight and charge it. besides checking for any lights on in the boot or glove box etc, what else can i do? is this a common fault on the xk8?

thanks

[Old Peter]

Hi Jason,

Some members leave the car on a trickle charger when they are away.  The XK8 is a big car and things like the alarm will use a little power.  We were away for 8 days with the car on the drive, and although it started OK I did check out the battery and put it on charge for a couple of hours.

Regards,

Peter.

[londonxk8]

Hi Peter,

unfortunatley my car is parked on the street, so cant run a trickle charger. i may look into installing a battery cut off switch though, or could simply unplug hte battery when travelling. after 10 days, my new battery was totally dead, which i dont think is good for these modern batteries. seems to be holding a charge now though thankfully

[londonxk8]

Hi Peter,

unfortunatley my car is parked on the street, so cant run a trickle charger. i may look into installing a battery cut off switch though, or could simply unplug hte battery when travelling. after 10 days, my new battery was totally dead, which i dont think is good for these modern batteries. seems to be holding a charge now though thankfully

[Roger Southey]

I have the same problem so also use a trickle charger. One question though is it necessary to disconnect the battery cables before connecting the trickle charger to the battery terminals

[Old Peter]

Hi Jason,

There are so many electrical sensors etc in modern cars.  I charge my battery every two weeks as I don't do many long runs.

If you could find a solar charger big enough to charge your car that could be the answer.

Regards,

Peter.

[Manniewinaename]

I use a solar charger I bought from Halfords (-15% discount with my Jag Owners club card.). It supplies enough electric to run the alarms etc.

I left it for 2 months the last time and on return she fired up 1st turn of the key.

It plugs into a 12v power supply in the boot which works when ignition is off.

You can also plug it to the OBD port and it charges that way.

I highly recommend them for long term parking at airports.

As Jags are so susceptible to problems caused by battery discharge they soon pay for themselves.

 

As a sidenote, it will not charge your battery, merely supply enough power to run the alarms which cause the battery to discharge.

[riku007]

Hi steve,

I know this is a long shot, but can you share the details of the solar charger, make, model. My XKR just drained the battery while driving thankfully i recognized some of the signs and pulled over to a safe place. It could be the alternator or a dead battery. Either way I'll get it checked out and if possible add the solar charger to prevent it happening again.

thks R

[Freebird Paul]

Morning Richard,

I recently purchassed a solar charger and although i have used it these past few weeks it's difficult to say whether it's any good for when the car is left for long periods. I will be going away for a month later in Sept so that will be a true test of it's ability.

Anyway here is a link from amazon to take a look: https://aax-eu.amazon.co.uk/x/c/JIZfbp4BSFq-wEyNOmSbh04AAAGRpx4oXwMAAAH5AQBvbm9fdHhuX2JpZDMgICBvbm9fdHhuX2ltcDEgICCaDDQz/http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDGX2MYK/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pf_rd_p=5d943da7-b45b-4f0a-b413-7648ce2a1b78&pf_rd_r=AF0QMHTEHP2878RZR4XS&pd_rd_wg=M5sv6&pd_rd_w=G7sXO&pd_rd_r=5efe37c6-7667-4712-bb44-80d96ff86ee7&aref=Aq4z8PyH7I 

[riku007]

Thanks. 
Do let me know how it works while you’re away. I’ll hold off any purchase until then. 
Thanks again 

R