Jump to content

Battery life during medium term storage?


Recommended Posts

This is my first tech question here so bear with me. We have a new 2017 Edge SEL w/ Sync and no Navigation. We've had to store it in the garage at our primary home for about 7 weeks while in Oregon and I wonder how long a new fully charged battery will last? I didn't put a battery tender on it after a faulty tender ruined two deep cycle marine batteries on my boat. I have no idea what the parasitic load is during storage since the Edge electronics are much more complex than our old 07 Highlander (that one had about a 8 week limit on storage). Will we return in 2 weeks to a dead battery? I've had cars that the parasitic load was so high would drain down in 3 weeks (Infiniti Q45).

 

TIA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Parasitic load is only a few milliamps but a battery will continue to discharge even there no load connected.

 

Seven weeks is pushing the envelope, as WWW stated, install a cutoff or connect a battery tender. Either way will prolong the life of the battery.

 

Example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N729FS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_SekRzbFTH7TCN

Edited by enigma-2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! I guess I'll find out when I get back how long it has held a charge. I'll put a small tender I have on it next time but being away bothers me if something were to fail in the garage. If it's only a few mA it's no problem. I've had one car with about a 75mA drain (aftermarket alarm) and it was a real issue. The battery tender that failed was a well known brand permanent on-board marine charger/tender that didn't shift into 'maintain' mode, ruined the batteries in two weeks. Luckily no fire and the boat was outside.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! I guess I'll find out when I get back how long it has held a charge. I'll put a small tender I have on it next time but being away bothers me if something were to fail in the garage. If it's only a few mA it's no problem. I've had one car with about a 75mA drain (aftermarket alarm) and it was a real issue. The battery tender that failed was a well known brand permanent on-board marine charger/tender that didn't shift into 'maintain' mode, ruined the batteries in two weeks. Luckily no fire and the boat was outside.

 

I parked my Edge Titanium with Sync, navigation and Ford's perimeter alarm system for about three and a half weeks in June while on vacation and came home to a dead battery. To be fair, I probably made a couple short trips before I left so the battery might not have been quite fully charged. By short, I mean 5 to 10 minute drive, park, 5 to 10 minute drive, park again, then 10 minutes to home and park for 3.5 weeks.

 

This was a problem for me with my previous vehicle as well, so I keep one of those Li-Ion battery boosters in the center console. It's probably not the best solution, but at least it only takes a minute or two to get the car started again when the battery is dead. It actually took me longer to get the door open using the key than it did to get the car started after I got in.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Update: I got back today after 8 weeks and am totally amazed. The battery was only down to 12.08V and it started right up. What's odd is we left the car doors locked while in the garage, with both fobs stored over 30' away, and it was unlocked when we returned. Is this some sort of default program that unlocks the doors if voltage gets too low? That might be an issue if the battery ran down for some reason while parked at the airport, etc. No complaints from me though, I was sure it would be stone cold dead!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did anyone else has access to the fobs or car during your absence? Even if you pull out the battery, the doors will remain locked.

Low voltage can cause all kinds of problems, but I doubt it would allow the doors to unlock. (But if it can, your right that would be a real problem).

Edited by enigma-2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did anyone else has access to the fobs or car during your absence? Even if you pull out the battery, the doors will remain locked.

Low voltage can cause all kinds of problems, but I doubt it would allow the doors to unlock. (But if it can, your right that would be a real problem).

Nope, no one had access to the fobs during that time (locked in the gun safe). Maybe I'm missing something but the car auto-locks when we park it and walk away with the fob right? If not the salesman explained it wrong but I doubt we somehow accidentally unlocked it before storing the fobs. I'll have to check that out tomorrow, we only had the car 3 days before we left so I have a lot to learn still. I am still surprised the battery stayed above 12V that long, I'll have to put a .01 ohm shunt on the negative cable and see what the parasitic load actually is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NO! The car does not auto lock that way. It only locks if you use the button inside or on the fob or touch the top of the door handle. Your salesman is wrong.

 

Auto lock means the doors lock while driving above 5 mph.

Thanks for the correct info. Well so much for car the salesmen knowledge of the car LOL It's my wife's car and shes a technophobe so this well be a slow uphill learning curve for her and I'm not a very patient instructor. Her 07 Highlander had 'real knobs' not buttons to work most accessories. For parking lot security reasons I need to find out how to make it unlock only the drivers door with the fob or door handle rather than all of them. Most remotes have you hit unlock twice to unlock all the doors. The owners manual isn't clear on this but I suppose it's in there somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...