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Murphy’s Law with my OBD2 reader

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edy:
I took battery out of my car and now charging it (see photo). I got up to “50%” on the indicator yesterday and I was able to start the car to get to work 8am, then left work around 7pm no problem. Then started it again this morning around 8am again no problem. Now I’m at work and just plugged in the charger and it is showing “25%” initially but as I type this message I noticed it jumped up to “50%” already so maybe it was just detecting the state of the battery (see 2nd photo).

I have it set to 6A but since I’m in no rush I will lower it to 2A charging and will leave it in whole day to see if it gets to “Completed” and at what point. I started it 8:30am. I’ll check date when I bought the battery if I can find it in my records somewhere. By the way, has anyone noticed the price of car batteries has gone up 50% or more? When I bought this one it was probably around $60-80 and now the cheapest is close to $120, with some closer to $200? Toronto, Canada… is this yet more pandemic/inflationary pricing going on?

[ADDENDUM 1: According to my records I bought this battery at Walmart in Dec 2012  :palm: for $87.97 along with the charger for $49.97]!!!!

[ADDENDUM 2: Just checked a few minutes ago, it’s a bit past 9am and it’s at “75%”!!!  :-+ ]

tom66:
One thing worth checking is the open circuit voltage.

A good lead acid when charged at room temperature will show an OCV of around 12.5 - 12.7V.  Test this about half an hour after taking it off the charger, but without having applied any load.

If it shows an OCV below 12.2V it's probably dead. 

You can also get most good garages to do a battery test for very little or even free if they can sell you a new battery.   I don't exactly know how these work but I presume it involves loading the battery somewhat and measuring the impedance.  If the 'CCA' figure is less than half the original rating, the battery is probably life expired.

Some batteries seem to last a ridiculously long time.  The battery in my old 206 diesel was factory original, and it never had a particularly easy life, but was still starting the car almost 13 years later, even at -5C.  And that's a diesel with glow plugs and a hard starting job.

DavidAlfa:
If it was Murphy's law, it would have exploded, injuring several people in a day where ambulances were down, putting a whole building block in fire while the firefighters were 500miles away, having a local water supply shortage and dried nearby lakes.

"DAMN IT FIXED ITSELF, FECKING MURPHY'S!"  :-DD

PlainName:
I had battery issues with both our motors. In my case the fuel level sender decided it was going to be a pig and drained the battery overnight. Found the cause by using a thermal image on the fuse box, then checking each item associated with that. Running the battery flat seemed to annoy it and next winter it was on the blink. IME, once they fail or show a reluctance to operate transparently it's only a (short) matter of time until they catch you out at the worst moment.

I fixed that kind of issue with a 'Portable Car Jump Starter' from Amazon. Deeply suspicious that these things can do what they claim, but it really does. Got me going again when I've left battery replacement too long, and it will start a car where trying to jump start from a second battery fails. Worthwhile getting one to shove in the boot ('trunk' for y'all) with the spare wheel, just in case. Impresses other drivers whose cars are unstartable when it gets them going too :)

sokoloff:

--- Quote from: edy on January 05, 2023, 01:39:46 pm ---By the way, has anyone noticed the price of car batteries has gone up 50% or more? When I bought this one it was probably around $60-80 and now the cheapest is close to $120, with some closer to $200? Toronto, Canada… is this yet more pandemic/inflationary pricing going on?

[ADDENDUM 1: According to my records I bought this battery at Walmart in Dec 2012  :palm: for $87.97!!!!

--- End quote ---
$88 in 2012 is $114 today.

Even modest annual inflation accumulated over a decade ends up being quite noticeable.

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