[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sudsan

1) I hadn't used my car for about 5 days and had done so only infrequently in the last fifteen days or so. When I went to open the car doors with my remote, nothing happened. I guessed right that the battery could have gone dead. I opened the driver side door manually with the key and after opening the hood, started charging the battery with my C7. However, only the standby light would come on (the blue light on the mode button) and nothing else. I disconnected the charger and checked the battery voltage and found it to be a low, low, 7.25 V. I reconnected the charger and no matter how many times I pressed the mode button, no other led light lit up unlike in the past when the yellow ring around 25 or 50 or 75% would light up. It has already been three hours and the situation is status quo. Is it possible that because of the battery having lost a lot of charge it is likely to take a very long time to even get up to the 25% level?

If the voltage is <9V the battery is probably a goner which is why the charger isn't turning on. To attempt a recovery connect it to your C7 and select the power supply mode which is indicated by a power adapter symbol. To do this press the Mode button for 3-4 seconds. That sets the voltage to about 13.6 V which will raise the battery voltage in due course. Once it reaches >12V you can switch back to the normal mode of operation. Do not leave the battery connected and unattended for very long when the charger is in power supply mode. It may boil off the electrolyte.

2) Concurrent with this situation, with the battery now disconnected and now on charge, I found I could not open any of the doors from inside. neither in front or at the back, since there was no power to the central locking system. The Car is a Toyota Etios. This made me wonder. If there were passengers in the car, and the battery went dead suddenly for any reason, how was anyone to get out if there was no mechanical opening arrangement as in the old days? Or is there, which I don't know about?

A recent incident that happened in Bangalore recently came to mind, where a lady and her young son were charred to death inside a car as they were unable to get out, possibly due to the same reason stated above? Would appreciate your thoughts and recommendations, if any, for avoiding such a disaster.

This inability to release the door locks without power is a fallacy propagated by several people. You can simply activate the door lock knobs or buttons manually just like if it were a non central locking car. NO car manufacturer will design a door lock system that stops working when the power is cut. There are always 2 methods to open the door from inside - the door unlock button at the drivers door AND manually but just moving the lock knob to unlock position and then opening the door normally using internal door release handle.

Sadly those people died because they were unaware, possibly in their panic, of the procedure to unlock the door and were trapped in the car. Trying to open the door when the lock button is on will obviously not release the latch. The only time a door will not open is if the mechanism is damaged or the cable breaks. Then it is the luck of the draw.

Also, the drivers side, even if locked from inside, automatically releases the lock and opens when you use the internal door handle. This is with and without power.

How do I know? Because I take out my car batteries for charging and can manually unlock all doors without power. The drivers and passenger side takes the key after which you can reach in and unlock the rear door

PS - Check battery water level in each cell before attempting to charge it.

[sudsan]

Many thanks R2D2 for your very quick response.

1) For kicking my almost dead battery alive, will try as you recommend.

2) However as far as the door opening is concerned, I have tried all tricks in the book including those you have stated, without any luck. Without any power to the central locking system, the door locks just stay locked and manual intervention cannot be resorted to. I too think, any sensible car designer would incorporate redundancy or a failsafe mechanism in case of a power failure to the central locking system, but having checked it myself, it seems in the case of Toyota Etios at least, there is no other way of getting out of the car, short of breaking the window glass and crawling out? Beats me, to say the least.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sudsan

2) However as far as the door opening is concerned, I have tried all tricks in the book including those you have stated, without any luck.

Did you disconnect the battery to simulate a power failure before attempting this?

There's always a possibility there's something wrong with the mechanism. Has it been checked by the ASC? And no, don't even think of getting FNGs to check unless you are well versed with the locking system's behaviour.

The next time I see or ride in an Etios I will be sure to check this. Because Toyota may have screwed up big time here.

No car that I have owned that came with central locking has ever failed because of low or no power. And that includes the Maruti Esteem and Fiat Palio. Both have manual over rides. I can/could feel the cable pulling at the latch assembly inside the door.

[sudsan]

Did you disconnect the battery to simulate a power failure before attempting this?

Oh yes. Have checked the door opening with the battery disconnected.
I would appreciate if you could verify this for yourself the next time you ride in an Etios
and post your findings here. Mine is a 2011 model Toyota Etios V 1.5 L Petrol.
Many thanks in advance

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sudsan

Oh yes. Have checked the door opening with the battery disconnected. I would appreciate if you could verify this for yourself the next time you ride in an Etios and post your findings here. Mine is a 2011 model Toyota Etios V 1.5 L Petrol. Many thanks in advance

Come to think of it none of my friends own an Etios so I'll have to wait till I hail an Uber/Ola taxi to check this. But they obviously won't allow me to disconnect the battery to experiment.

BTW have you got your car's locking mechanism checked at the ASC?

[sudsan]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Come to think of it none of my friends own an Etios so I'll have to wait till I hail an Uber/Ola taxi to check this. But they obviously won't allow me to disconnect the battery to experiment.

BTW have you got your car's locking mechanism checked at the ASC?

I thought as much that it will take more than a ride to check out the Etios's goof-up if any. But no worries, and thanks. I'm planning to take it across to Nandi Toyota next week and have them take a dekko.

ps My battery has now come alive. Just when I was about to get the C7 to give it a boost charge, like you recommended, it crept into the 25% zone and I just decided to leave it on normal charge. It's now crawled up to 50% and it seems, all is well.

[embee]

After reading this review, I finally bought the Bosch C7 Battery Charger from Amazon.

[mayankk]

Bumping this thread very selfishly.
Is there anyone in noida/east Delhi who can loan me a charger for s few days?
My tucson's battery has gone flat, and though I got it jumpstarted and even drove it for half hour, it did not manage to build up enough charge. I do not have time to take her out for a 2 hour drive, but i can take the battery out and charge it at home.
SO, if anyone can help. Thanks!

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Bumping this thread very selfishly.
Is there anyone in noida/east Delhi who can loan me a charger for s few days?
My tucson's battery has gone flat, and though I got it jumpstarted and even drove it for half hour, it did not manage to build up enough charge. I do not have time to take her out for a 2 hour drive, but i can take the battery out and charge it at home.
SO, if anyone can help. Thanks!

If it doesn't charge enough in half an hour, you are very likely to have a problem with the battery or your alternator.


Jeroen

[shobhitk]

I am charging a 12v car battery using the Regeneration mode of the C7 charger. The issue is that initially things are normal and the regeneration light keeps flashing for about 3 hours. After about 3 hours the red status-indicator light switches on (the regeneration light still keeps flashing).


The problem is that the charger is stuck on the red light (alongwith flashing regeneration light) for more than 17 hours! The battery is relatively new and is in a good condition. I suspect that there is something wrong with the charger.


Can anyone confirm if this behaviour of the charger is normal and if normal then how many more hours will it take to completely charge the battery and switch on the green light?


Regards

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shobhitk

I am charging a 12v car battery using the Regeneration mode of the C7 charger. The issue is that initially things are normal and the regeneration light keeps flashing for about 3 hours. After about 3 hours the red status-indicator light switches on (the regeneration light still keeps flashing).

Please do NOT use the regeneration mode of the charger unless it is absolutely necessary. High voltage employed in this mode can damage the plates and cause the water to boil off.

The only time you use this mode is if the battery has been unused and has stored with a state of charge where sulphation may have occurred i.e. <70-80%. This is generally employed for older batteries.

The problem is that the charger is stuck on the red light (alongwith flashing regeneration light) for more than 17 hours! The battery is relatively new and is in a good condition. I suspect that there is something wrong with the charger.

This shows an error. Please ensure the water is topped up. Only distilled water please till the bottom of the vent holes. Do not overfill or the electrolyte will boil over. Then restart the charge process.

I am not sure which car or battery you have but the charging process should be over in 12 hours if the battery is OK. A faulty battery will not accept a charge and the red LED may light up.

[shobhitk]

Originally Posted by R2D2

...Took off the vent caps and restarted the reconditioning process again. A few hours later the process was complete but the charger showed the battery as at around 25% charge when it wasn't so. A check with the DMM confirmed the charge voltage was at about 13.4V which meant the recond mode was done. The the charger was then set back to normal mode (it's supposed to do this automatically but didn't) and it resumed the float charge...

The situation is exactly the same as you had posted above earlier. Just like in my case, you also had to start the normal charging mode manually to resume the trickle charging process.


Interesting thing to note is that when i manually start the normal charging process, the charger immediately goes to trickle charging mode.


The battery is Exide and around 2 years old and i started the regeneration process because Exide officially mentions that the same should be carried out atleast once a year.


Also the water in the battery is distilled and already topped up before the start of the charging process.


I think there is something wrong with the charger.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shobhitk

The situation is exactly the same as you had posted above earlier. Just like in my case, you also had to start the normal charging mode manually to resume the trickle charging process.

Yeah, it seems funny that it didn't switch back to normal charging mode.

Interesting thing to note is that when i manually start the normal charging process, the charger immediately goes to trickle charging mode.

That's because the battery is fully charged. There are 3 ways to check the state of charge in a battery:

a) Specific gravity, you need a hydrometer. Normal Sp Gr is approx 1230-1280 depending on electrolyte temperature.

b) A digital voltmeter - when fully charged the battery will show 12.66 volts after being disconnected from a charger for about 12 hours, at a room temperature of about 27 C.

c) A smart battery tester - these gadgets are expensive but can check charge level, internal resistance and capacity after which they produce a report on the health of the battery.

The battery is Exide and around 2 years old and i started the regeneration process because Exide officially mentions that the same should be carried out atleast once a year.

AFAIK, that's for industrial and inverter stationary batteries. Not for car batteries where acid stratification does not occur. When driven the car's movement mixes the acid+water solution pretty well.

As I said before you will damage the plates if this is done without reason. Do not use the regeneration mode unless absolutely necessary.

I think there is something wrong with the charger.

Well, I do not think so. But if you do just take it to the dealer you bought it from and have Bosch take a look at it.

[shobhitk]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Yeah, it seems funny that it didn't switch back to normal charging mode....

..........


...Well, I do not think so. But if you do just take it to the dealer you bought it from and have Bosch take a look at it.

But R2D2 we know that after successfully completing the regeneration process the C7 is not automatically switching to the normal charging process which should normally end with initiation of the trickle charge process. And i have tested it with 2 different car batteries. Same result.


It is not working as is mentioned in its manual. Dont you think this is abnormal behaviour on the part of C7?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shobhitk

It is not working as is mentioned in its manual. Dont you think this is abnormal behaviour on the part of C7?

Yes, it doesn't switch back to trickle charge so one could assume it to be a fault OR a gap between the functionality/program written in the smart charger's chip and the instruction manual. I don't care because I rarely use the regeneration mode. In fact I've used it just twice in the 1-2 years since I purchased the charger. That's why and here I am sorry for repeating this the 3rd time - use that mode with caution and only if necessary. It can reduce battery's longevity.

Automatic smart charger or not I keep a close eye on batteries when they are on the charger and do not keep the charger connected and operational for over 7-10 days. If the car won't be used for extended periods I just disconnect the negative cable.