Battery advice

[bigmonmulgrew]

Hi guys
I have a 1.6 16V clio
I've had some issues and had 2 faulty Bosch Silver batteries in 12 months. Tested and confirmed.

I'm wondering am I just unlucky. I can get these from Costco for about £60. Wondering if I should push for a refund this time and switch to a better battery. I've found them good in the past. Also could anything on the car actually kill a battery. I'm not talking about draining it here. ITs not draining at all. But could anything cause it to no longer hold charge.

 

[JamesBryan]

If your car isn't draining it and it's just not holding charge, i'd say you've been unlucky with both the ones you've had.

Can get the Bosch S4 from Euro Car Parts for around £50.

 

[bigmonmulgrew]

I've messaged Bosch to see what they say. If no one on here tells me to steer clear then I'm going to assume I've just been unlucky and stick with them since I have had good experience previously.

 

[JamesBryan]

I take it you've done the test with a multimeter, where you remove the negative cable on the battery and put the meter between the battery terminal and the cable that you've just removed? The draw in Amps should be less than 50mA.

 

[bigmonmulgrew]

I have a tester that reads the amps with one of those loops over the cable. I'm sure a proper meter would be better but it seems pretty accurate. Good enough to determine if theres a significant load.

It only goes to 1dp on the amps setting so to detect nothing means its below 0.05

 

[JamesBryan]

Ahh right, I'd prefer to test it properly rather than keep buying batteries.

 

[bigmonmulgrew]

I'm not buying them. The place I got them tests them before refunding me. I'd still rather be sure though.

What do you suggest I test beyond the voltage and amps.

 

[Tim.]

Can get the Bosch S4 from Euro Car Parts for around £50.

Paid sub-£40 for an 063 Bosch S4 on ECP's eBay shop today, which is handy!

 

[Ianboom]

A clamp meter isn't as accurate as measuring in line with the battery. If it under reads by 50ma, there could be enough draw on it to flatten the battery over a few days.