Falls Creek trip - battery care?

[Jaundiced Eye]

Hi All,
2yrs back we did a family ski trip to Falls for a week. Century Ultra High Performance 4x4 battery around 2.5yrs old. A day prior to departure I headed down to "check" all was ok. Battery was knackered.....bump start and a tour down the hill to Mt Beauty to recharge, but next morning when we actually left it didn't even crank the motor.

At the time I had asked the agents about taking the battery out and storing in the warm cabin. They advised not to since it may interfere with the "settings".......

Now here I am again headed to Falls in late August. The replacement Century 4x4 is now 2yrs old and I'm pondering the same things. 90% of my says take it out and stash it in the cabin or you'll simply have the same problems again.

Any advice on how to go about the sub zero temps and battery life?

Cheers, Hank

[erad]

It is mainly in the luck of the draw with batteries. If your battery goes dead when you park it - anywhere - you will lose your settings anyway. Yes - keeping your battery warm will help, but if it is that low it is probably near dead anyway. I would risk it and make sure you have either a jump starter or some long jumper leads and a friendly car to jump start off.

[spot01]

Make sure it is fully charged before parking the car - some people stop & restart the engine several times without driving far, reducing the battery charge - try to leave it running until ready to park it. These "smart alternators" (if fitted to your NT - unsure exactly when they started fitting these?) sometimes don't fully charge the battery unless something is drawing some current, so make sure something like lights, heated seats, etc. is on until you turn the car off. Also, turn the interior lights off (switch by interior mirror) when unloading the car.
Before trying to start the cold car, make sure everything is turned off, eg, auto headlights, heater & a/c, radio, etc.
If you have a "jump starter", use it to give the battery some help with the first start (don't wait until you have tried already, as you may not get a second chance).
Then cross fingers and..............

You could get the battery load tested - if it fails & is still in warranty you might get a new one. If it fails the test & its out of warranty & on its way out, you have a choice to replace before it lets you down, although I would expect more than 2 years from a quality battery.

[Jaundiced Eye]

I was hoping it would not be such a "fingers crossed" scenario.

In 2015 my battery was cranking from cold without any issues. This model of battery should go 4-5yrs.
I took the care to turn any consumers of power off around 30mins before arrival in Falls, and that after an 11hr run from Adelaide. Battery full by then you would have to think.
Cabin light switch off etc etc.

When I say "settings", I really don't care if the cabin clock needs adjustment thereafter.

More interested to know if there are any particular issues with engine ECU etc related to losing battery by disconnecting it.

[zoom]

Been going to the snow for 50 years in 40 different cars and never had a battery fail

Your worrying about nothing

[DaveH]

I replace my main starting battery very 2 years regardless of whether I think it OK or not as I don't want to get caught out in the bush. On the plus side for me the old battery ends up in one of my other cars or one of the kids cars so it is not wasted and I get 4 years out of it.

[vrx26]

Hi All,
2yrs back we did a family ski trip to Falls for a week. Century Ultra High Performance 4x4 battery around 2.5yrs old. A day prior to departure I headed down to "check" all was ok. Battery was knackered.....bump start and a tour down the hill to Mt Beauty to recharge, but next morning when we actually left it didn't even crank the motor.

At the time I had asked the agents about taking the battery out and storing in the warm cabin. They advised not to since it may interfere with the "settings".......

Now here I am again headed to Falls in late August. The replacement Century 4x4 is now 2yrs old and I'm pondering the same things. 90% of my says take it out and stash it in the cabin or you'll simply have the same problems again.

Any advice on how to go about the sub zero temps and battery life?

Cheers, Hank

Don't forget to fill up as well with Alpine diesel when you are planning to stay for a while. Some say that regular diesel tends to get "waxy" in freezing temperature making it more difficult to start.

[PradoEater]

I had no issues with optima blue top starting the Paj in the morning in -7c in jindabayne. Century didn't do it for me few years ago either although lasted longer then OEM and NRMA calcium

[flyboy]

Are you maintaining it and topping it up with distilled water?

Most important thing you can do.

[Jaundiced Eye]

I bought a spare battery in the end and took it along just in case; lived in the warm cabin for the duration.

Regular battery started without too much trouble so in the end the spare was not needed.

[Merts]

I'm highly dubious that the 'warm cabin' would be any warmer than the engine bay when the vehicle has been sitting, not running, overnight. Everything, inside and out, will be at whatever the ambient temperature is.