Car battery life

geordief

I bought a new battery for the car about a month back.

The old one was struggling and the dashboard was flickering.

I didn't put the new one in as the old one has perked up ,maybe due to the warmer weather.

How long can I keep the new battery aside before I will need to give it a charge?

Will it come to harm if I don't put it in soon?

Senna

Ages, battery's can sit for months in the shop before you even buy it.
Saying that, batteries are cheap and if your old one isn't keep a good charge, might be better off changing it, you could leave a light on and that could be enough to push it under the level needed to start the car.
Nothing worse than a flat battery when your away from home, just change it now and save hassle later on.

brightspark

Are you sure you don't have issues with your alternator?

geordief

brightspark wrote: »

Are you sure you don't have issues with your alternator?

Well it was just the one time really that the battery wouldn't start and that was about 6 weeks ago.

If there was something dicky with the alternator mightn't that have shown up by now?

I was sure the battery was on its last legs as it owes me nothing and I couldn't take the risk of being without a battery.

Since it has worked OK since I haven't bothered putting in the new one -even though it involves a minimum of effort to do.

coylemj

geordief wrote: »

If there was something dicky with the alternator mightn't that have shown up by now?

You mentioned in your first post that the dashboard was flickering, was that the battery light and was it flickering while the engine was running? If so that would indicate that the battery isn't getting a charge which could be a problem with the alternator but in the first instance I'd check the tension on the fanbelt.

delly

Thread moved from DIY (the non motoring kind)

9935452

geordief wrote: »

I bought a new battery for the car about a month back.

The old one was struggling and the dashboard was flickering.

I didn't put the new one in as the old one has perked up ,maybe due to the warmer weather.

How long can I keep the new battery aside before I will need to give it a charge?

Will it come to harm if I don't put it in soon?

Was the car struggking to start every time from cold?
i would get the old battery checked, verify the alternater is working correctly, as the other poster said check the fanbelt condition and tension.
Personally if i thought the battery was goosed , id just change it , it will only break down at the worst moment, late at night , bad area, lashing with rain. They areb cheap enough especially if it wasnt changed in years

geordief

coylemj wrote: »

You mentioned in your first post that the dashboard was flickering, was that the battery light and was it flickering while the engine was running? If so that would indicate that the battery isn't getting a charge which could be a problem with the alternator but in the first instance I'd check the tension on the fanbelt.

The car did not start and the illumination on the dashboard disappeared while the petrol level indicator sort of ran up and down for a second before "going out". (it has 8 "steps" represented by a separate light to indicate how much petrol there is)

I waited a short while and tried again and the car started but I felt it had to be the battery which had almost pegged out.

Once the engine started there were no warning lights.

geordief

9935452 wrote: »

Was the car struggking to start every time from cold?

No , it was just the once but I was expecting it as the battery was getting old and I replaced the last battery after a similar length of time.

The cold weather never really kicked in but I was assuming it would and so I got a new battery.

Yes it would be simple(and sensible) just to put in the new battery. It was just that ,since I was dragging my heels over it I was wondering if the new battery needed to be put in quite soon(and that was on my mind a bit).