12V battery - thoughts on variability of the issue

LBX2024 · Sunday at 08:59 PM

I'm expecting my LBX in December and have been following the threads about the 12V Battery issues on here and on FB, and wondering why some people seem to have issues while others (with apparently similar usage patterns and common sense being applied re not drawing power while not in Ready mode) do not.

I've noted the (welcome - thank you) information around the background drain on the Battery when the car is locked and unused. But the results that people are seeing do not seem to reflect this consistently, with many instances being reported where the Battery seems to have failed long before the period that the drain would have implied (while others do not experience this).

I saw a comment about batteries degrading which sent me off into Google to look at what happens when lead acid batteries are fully discharged, and then (worse) left in that state. Not good news - potentially permanent damage, perhaps to the point of no repair.

To my theory about the variability that is being seen. I've seen reports of people having issues with their car after e.g. a service. I've seen reports of dealers not warning people about needing to be in Ready mode while playing with settings, lock the car while washing it, etc. So what are the chances that some cars have batteries that have been damaged by being drained to flat (possibly more than once) before they are ever delivered? This would explain why some seem to be okay and others not.

And if that it something which resonates with people on here - anyone know how we can check on the health of the Battery on collection, or very soon thereafter? Deliberately running it to zero to see how long that takes seems more than a little self defeating!

Any thoughts anyone? Or am I barking? I don't pretend any great understanding of this stuff, just putting two and two together and quite possibly making five...

Herbie · Sunday at 10:32 PM

Some good observations and questions there Red.

The problem is that, by its very nature, it's very difficult to make accurate comparisons because there are so many variables. Things like temperature, how many times it's been flattened, how long it was left in a discharged state etc., etc., will all take their toll on the Battery.

1 hour ago, LBX2024 said:

anyone know how we can check on the health of the battery on collection, or very soon thereafter?

There is a good test that can show the state of the Battery but you'd have to get the car home to do it, because to be accurate it needs to be charged up first. You'll need to buy a load tester or drop tester as they're sometimes known, like this one from Amazon. I'd stay away from the modern digital ones because they measure various parameters and then calculate what they think the result should be. They don't actually do a real load test at all and in my opinion, there's no substitute for a real test.

So, charge the Battery up using a proper charger (not a trickle charger), then run the drop test and the tester will indicate the true state of the Battery.