I'm tired of my battery going dead every 3 days. Going to buy a new one, maybe it will hold up better than the stock battery. I got a lot of electronic equipment in my car. Like to find out which one would be best.

Optima yellow top?
optima red top?

Maybe another brand?

What about a gel battery?

 

Every 3 days?? Either you got a lemon battery or you need a remote kill switch for all of your electronic equipment. If it is a good battery (not defective), and still only lasting 3 days, I doubt an Optima anything will last much more than 4-5 days.

 

What sort of electronics? If your battery keeps dying, either you have a bad battery (and replacing it with the same battery will solve your problem), or you are using more power than you generate.

Here's what I do:

I have a 1000watt rms amp and I make every effort to turn my music down really low before I get into my neighborhood - sometimes a mile or so before - especially if I have my fogs/headlights on. You want your battery to be 100% charged every time you leave your car.

Also, I NEVER listen to the radio with the engine off (even before I upgraded my stereo... the battery is for starting engines, not for powering your radio - so if your battery dies while doing something it wasn't intended to do, then that's no fault of the battery).

When I'm in stop-and-go traffic and I'm idling most of the time, I don't play my music very loud either, especially with lights on. Your stock alternator won't be making more than 80A (out of its rated 130A) at idle, so you have to account for that. My one amp can potentially draw up to 100A of current if turned all the way up. You have to account for sparks, lights, fuel pump, radio, etc... if it adds up to more than 80A in your head, you need to turn something off or you're going to eventually end up with a bad battery.

 

I say upgrade your alternator to a 200A alternator.. It's on my to-do list as well.

 

Thanks guys,

Steve, I do most of the thing you do also. I think the biggest culprit is my aftermarket alarmsystem (clifford) It has al kinds of sensors for example a proximity sensor. Other Steve, it could very well be that my battery is damaged now - after all the times it almost went dead.

Still though, there have been many others with dead batteries in the new mustang, so i'm just wondering if a different brand battery would at least hold up a little longer. Maybe a alternator upgrade will help - who would sell those?

 

Get a new battery and better alternator. How does the remote kill switch work?

 

I would suggest the Optima Blue battery it is made for the marine environment and they tend to hold up better than the Yellows.

Richard

 

I re-read my post - sorry about any condescending and/or finger-waving-"this is what you're doing wrong!" tone. I start out as an arshole around 7AM and then slowly ease into Nice Guy around lunch time.

If you have an aftermarket alarm, I think you should look at how much current that drains when your car is off. I would try measuring the current at the fuse that your aftermarket alarm system is connected to.

 

I would also check the current at the fuse. I also have an aftermarket alarm, a Viper with 2 way and mile range. Had it for months now and havent had a problem with my battery once. If it isnt a draw problem or a defective battery it might be your alternator. I would really find the cause of the problem before investing in a solution, especially if you need a new alternator.

 

I frequently run the stock shaker 500 w/cd's and engine off(no more than 10 min at a time)and never have a problem

 

I can tell you through personal experience, that if your car sits for 7-10 day periods, (due to limited usage) driven for only short cycles (distances) or is ran for only 15-20 min. at idle, while in storage ! neither upgrading to a higher rated alternator, or higher cranking battery. Will be enough for the charging system, to prevent your battery from becoming deeply discharged.

Therefore, under these conditions.. the only solution ! is to install a battery tender charger..

 

Yes this is true but at least with a Optima Blue Top he would be able to have the battery discharge and then recharge it without damage to the battery.

Richard

 

Which model optima blue top would you suggest? Would it be ok to use a battery made for marine purposes in a car?

 

Yes it is fine I use one in my F-150 They usually have a bit higher cold cranking amps and reserve capactiy over the Yellow tops.

They make a Starting/Deep Cycle version which is what i use in the truck. Here are the two versions.

http://www.batteriesareus.com/index....a9e646d92411a4

I use this one.

http://www.batteriesareus.com/index....a9e646d92411a4



Richard

 

Optimas have significantly less capacity than a regular Wal-Mart Everstart battery.

Buy a maintainer and keep it hooked up on your battery to prevent it from discharging. Wal-Mart has a Black and Decker 2A maintainer for $18 (made by Vector) while Target has a Duracell 2A maintainer for $20. Either unit will prevent the battery from discharging. The Battery Tender Jr and Battery Tender Plus work as well but are more expensive and have limited charging capacity.

 

Even with an aftermarket alarm you shouldn't have this problem.

Unless you have some kind of crazy stereo with amps drawing massive juice from your battery you have some type of short.

Something is drawing power while it's sitting. I would suspect the alarm if that's the only aftermarket mod (electronically speaking).

So I would check and make sure there's not a short somewhere in that installation.

If your battery is dying every three days a yellow-top optima or anything else probably won't help.

 

Actually, my battery used to last about 5 - 7 days without using the car. The last couple of months it last about 2 - 3 days. My guess is that the battery has gone bad after all those discharges. I have been using a trickle charger, just not all the time.

 

I'm usually really wary of anything that's labelled "As Seen On TV!" but has anyone had any experience with this product? It looks promising..
https://www.batterybrain.com/vcc/car...ybrain/247655/

Supposedly it cuts power to your car after your battery gets drained to a certain level, allowing the battery to always have enough juice left to crank your engine. It might get annoying with your computer/clock/etc resetting all the time, but you would know that every time that happened, you may have just avoided a dead battery.

 

I've been using the same battery tender, for nearly 2 years now. it's an automatic 1.5 Amp unit, I purchased from NAPA auto parts.

Since then, I haven't experienced any further battery issues.

 

Hmm, I googled this and it seems to work. I might just get one. Good one!