On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:31:03 +0000, Duncan Wood wrote:

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:26:49 -0000, Chris Whelan
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:03:47 +0000, Duncan Wood wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:51:16 -0000, Chris Whelan
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:30:26 +0000, Mrcheerful wrote:

[...]

or stick a solar powered charger in it.

I've not been too impressed with one that is used to provide a small
LED light in an outbuilding; I don't think they had the UK in mind
when they designed it!

The vehicle in question is going to be left outside the house, in a
private road; would the presence of the charger not compromise
security?

Chris


If it's not moved for 3 months that'll be rather more obvious.

I don't agree; many folk park in the same place every day, but not many
of them leave a solar panel on the roof!

Chris


How does adding a solar panel compromise security any more than not
moving it for weeks?

The sort of scum that look for unoccupied houses to burgle would not
operate in any one area for weeks; they would only be in one area for a
couple of days.

Seeing the same car outside a house for two or three consecutive days
wouldn't attract their attention, but anything out of the ordinary would
make them think why.

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:43:55 +0000, Mrcheerful wrote:

[...]

I was actually thinking of leaving it on the parcel shelf or dashboard
rather than the roof.

Do they work through glass OK then? I'm pretty sure the output would be
seriously reduced, depending on the type of glass it has.

Personally I think it is all a waste of time, the
battery will be fine for three months, worse way it will need a jump
start. Far more expensive long term damage will be done by running it
for a few minutes every couple of weeks than the slim chance of damaging
the battery (which will still be under guarantee in any case.) Either
drive it or leave it.

Sound commonsense from Mr C as ever ;-)

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

In article ,
Mrcheerful wrote:
I was actually thinking of leaving it on the parcel shelf or dashboard
rather than the roof. Personally I think it is all a waste of time, the
battery will be fine for three months, worse way it will need a jump
start. Far more expensive long term damage will be done by running it
for a few minutes every couple of weeks than the slim chance of
damaging the battery (which will still be under guarantee in any case.)
Either drive it or leave it.

I know for a fact at least some modern BMWs log the time since the last
start and if it's more than what they say (three weeks, IIRC) won't
replace the battery under warranty.

What I really wanted to know is if I can just disconnect the battery. The
end result will be the same if left anyway. But I'm not sure about if it
can be locked up afterwards.

--
*Gun Control: Use both hands.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:47:20 -0000, Chris Whelan
wrote:

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:31:03 +0000, Duncan Wood wrote:

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:26:49 -0000, Chris Whelan
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:03:47 +0000, Duncan Wood wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:51:16 -0000, Chris Whelan
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:30:26 +0000, Mrcheerful wrote:

[...]

or stick a solar powered charger in it.

I've not been too impressed with one that is used to provide a small
LED light in an outbuilding; I don't think they had the UK in mind
when they designed it!

The vehicle in question is going to be left outside the house, in a
private road; would the presence of the charger not compromise
security?

Chris


If it's not moved for 3 months that'll be rather more obvious.

I don't agree; many folk park in the same place every day, but not many
of them leave a solar panel on the roof!

Chris


How does adding a solar panel compromise security any more than not
moving it for weeks?

The sort of scum that look for unoccupied houses to burgle would not
operate in any one area for weeks; they would only be in one area for a
couple of days.

Seeing the same car outside a house for two or three consecutive days
wouldn't attract their attention, but anything out of the ordinary would
make them think why.

Chris


If they're looking that closely then they'll just steal the radio anyway.

--
Duncan Wood

On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:02:14 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Mate has a new Audi A2 - 1.4 petrol IIRC. Later this year he will be going
away in his camper van for three months - touring Europe. It will be
parked outside his front door in a private road.
Now I'd guess there's no way the battery will last that long. I could go
round there every couple of weeks and start it I suppose - but what would
happen if we just disconnected/removed the battery? I could keep that here
and make sure it was charged for his return.
Thoughts, please.

A good long hot run is ideal before a lay up. You don't want any
acidic water in the exhaust or condensing into the sump. Then wash
and wax, vac inside, tyres pumped up to 40psi, squirt of WD40 on both
sides of the discs, oily rag up the exhaust, no application of the
handbrake! Battery on trickle charge a week before he returns, or
use a GOOD battery maintenance charger - lots of them will overcharge.

A cover or a location where tree sap or bird droppings won't be a
problem would be best. There is no need to bother starting it on a
regular basis, it rots the exhaust, deposits crap in the oil and
achieves nothing. Roll the car forward half a rev now and then if you
get the chance and don't forget to reset the tyre pressures. Be aware
of a sticking clutch on restart and poor braking action for the first
few times. The clutch sticking shouldn't be a problem if the car is
fully up to temp when driven before the lay up, drive it round the
block in the ****ing rain and it might be!

Anything longer than a few months, or a classic, needs much more
attention. I've been laying a classic up overwinter for 25 years or so
and the routine, running to around 80 points is now honed to near
perfection by feedback such that it used by an increasing number of
owners. It gets an MOT, followed by a full clean outside, underneath
with a pressure washer and inside, and then a full service, with brake
pads retracted and a whole host of other protective things with wax
and silicone spray/grease over the space of two lazy 5 hour days
before it goes into the dehumidified garage. I know I can return to
the car 6 months later, or in one case a few years back 18 months
later and it will be on the road in less than 30 mins, start on the
button and run all through the summer without missing a beat - others
with the same model will **** about fiddling with things every weekend
during the summer when they could be driving.

--

In article ,
Mike wrote:
Mate has a new Audi A2 - 1.4 petrol IIRC. Later this year he will be
going away in his camper van for three months - touring Europe. It will
be parked outside his front door in a private road.
Now I'd guess there's no way the battery will last that long. I could go
round there every couple of weeks and start it I suppose - but what would
happen if we just disconnected/removed the battery? I could keep that here
and make sure it was charged for his return.
Thoughts, please.

A good long hot run is ideal before a lay up. You don't want any
acidic water in the exhaust or condensing into the sump. Then wash
and wax, vac inside, tyres pumped up to 40psi, squirt of WD40 on both
sides of the discs, oily rag up the exhaust, no application of the
handbrake! Battery on trickle charge a week before he returns, or
use a GOOD battery maintenance charger - lots of them will overcharge.

A cover or a location where tree sap or bird droppings won't be a
problem would be best. There is no need to bother starting it on a
regular basis, it rots the exhaust, deposits crap in the oil and
achieves nothing. Roll the car forward half a rev now and then if you
get the chance and don't forget to reset the tyre pressures. Be aware
of a sticking clutch on restart and poor braking action for the first
few times. The clutch sticking shouldn't be a problem if the car is
fully up to temp when driven before the lay up, drive it round the
block in the ****ing rain and it might be!

Perhaps you missed the part that it will be parked in the street? Also
absolutely none of this is needed for a new car left for three months in
the summer. It's only the battery that's going to be the problem.

--
*A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Nedavno Mrcheerful napisa:

Far more expensive long term damage will be done by running it for a
few minutes every couple of weeks than the slim chance of damaging
the battery (which will still be under guarantee in any case.)
Either drive it or leave it.


I have a car ('88 Audi 100 2.3E) that I do not use, and I start it up
once every month for a half an hour or so.

Should I not do that? What is the best (low budget) way for keeping the
car unused for a couple of years?


--
___ ____
/__/ / \ ** Registrovani korisnik Linuksa #291606 **
/ / \/ /\ \ ** Registered Linux user #291606 **
/__/\____/--\__\ ** http://counter.li.org/ **

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:11:45 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Mrcheerful wrote:
I was actually thinking of leaving it on the parcel shelf or dashboard
rather than the roof. Personally I think it is all a waste of time,
the battery will be fine for three months, worse way it will need a
jump start. Far more expensive long term damage will be done by running
it for a few minutes every couple of weeks than the slim chance of
damaging the battery (which will still be under guarantee in any case.)
Either drive it or leave it.

I know for a fact at least some modern BMWs log the time since the last
start and if it's more than what they say (three weeks, IIRC) won't
replace the battery under warranty.

What I really wanted to know is if I can just disconnect the battery.
The end result will be the same if left anyway. But I'm not sure about
if it can be locked up afterwards.

As others have said prep it (good run with minimal electrics on to get
everything fully to temp and charge the battery a bit), see if you can
disable the alarm or ultrasonic sensors and then park it up all locked up
(i.e. double locked so the deadlocks kick in, if it has them?). If the
battery is flat when they get back to it give it a jump start and tell
them to take it on a long run.

Leaving any kind of charger attached inside the car is an invitation for
the local scrotes to investigate

If you/they are are worried then rather than running the engine every
couple of weeks or weekly why not just plug in one of those rechargeable
booster battery's (the ones that plug into the cigarette socket) at that
frequency just to keep the battery topped up? They might need it to start
the car in future if this is going to become a regular occurrence.

--
Chris

Yvan wrote:
Nedavno Mrcheerful napisa:

Far more expensive long term damage will be done by running it for a
few minutes every couple of weeks than the slim chance of damaging
the battery (which will still be under guarantee in any case.)
Either drive it or leave it.


I have a car ('88 Audi 100 2.3E) that I do not use, and I start it up
once every month for a half an hour or so.

Should I not do that? What is the best (low budget) way for keeping
the car unused for a couple of years?

if the storage is dry and airy then the engine will not suffer till many
years have passed. starting it up puts lots of condensation and unburnt
fuel into the engine which leads to rusting of the bores, valve stems etc.
so if you start it every few weeks you are just encouraging more damage.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Mate has a new Audi A2 - 1.4 petrol IIRC. Later this year he will be
going away in his camper van for three months - touring Europe. It
will be parked outside his front door in a private road.
Now I'd guess there's no way the battery will last that long. I could
go round there every couple of weeks and start it I suppose - but
what would happen if we just disconnected/removed the battery? I
could keep that here and make sure it was charged for his return.
Thoughts, please.

I'd be inclined to get a gizmo such as this:

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/i...rc=google-base

Google; there are cheaper alternatives.

Would beat farcked radio code and software plus the car would still be
alarmed.