Year 2000 S70 Battery Problem

[D.D. Palmer]

A good friend of mine has a year 2000 S70 AWD with a mere 35,000 miles on
it. They live here (Pittsburgh) but spent 6 months in Florida, hence the low
miles. While they are in Fla each year the Volvo sits in their garage here.
My job is to start it and drive it occasionally. In 2003, the battery died
in spite of me driving it. I put in a DIEHARD for them. Again two weeks ago,
I went to start the car to prepare for their return and, in spite of
starting and driving all winter thru some bitter cold spells, the battery
was dead and would not recharge after a jump and drive.

Is there something in that car that drains the battery when it sits for,
say, 2 weeks without being driven? And is there any reason NOT to disconnect
the positive terminal next winter and perhaps move the battery into the
warmer house? What about a trickle charger? Any danger of leaving one of
those on with no one home and maybe for 2 weeks without inspection? Any
ideas/thoughts on this relatively minor but annoying problem would be
appreciated.

 

[See Text]

I have a 2000 V70 with the original battery. When I park it for more than 7
days, I hook a float charger to the battery to take care of the current draw.
The security system, clock, and who knows what else, is always enabled, and
will take the battery down. I've been away for 6 weeks without a problem..

 

[Mike F]

A good friend of mine has a year 2000 S70 AWD with a mere 35,000 miles on
it. They live here (Pittsburgh) but spent 6 months in Florida, hence the low
miles. While they are in Fla each year the Volvo sits in their garage here.
My job is to start it and drive it occasionally. In 2003, the battery died
in spite of me driving it. I put in a DIEHARD for them. Again two weeks ago,
I went to start the car to prepare for their return and, in spite of
starting and driving all winter thru some bitter cold spells, the battery
was dead and would not recharge after a jump and drive.

Is there something in that car that drains the battery when it sits for,
say, 2 weeks without being driven? And is there any reason NOT to disconnect
the positive terminal next winter and perhaps move the battery into the
warmer house? What about a trickle charger? Any danger of leaving one of
those on with no one home and maybe for 2 weeks without inspection? Any
ideas/thoughts on this relatively minor but annoying problem would be
appreciated.

I used to take the battery out of my bike during the cold months and
store it inside, periodically recharging it. The I bought a battery
tender (www.batterytender.com), and now leave the battery in the bike
and that connected all winter. Other than using fuel stabilizer, that's
all I do to winterize it, and with a quick check of tire pressure it's
ready to go immediately in spring.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

[mdrawson]

I've had a variety of Volvos since 1980, and on every one of them, the
original equipment battery dies in two years (and I simply replace it with a
DieHard and seldom have any further problem. If yours has lasted 5 yrs, you
are either very fortunate or perhaps it's because you put it on the float
charger from time to time.

 

[John Robertson]

what about putting a simple electrical timer on the trickle charger ,they
are only about $7.00 Australian dollars and it will stop over charging the
battery .You could set the timer for 2hours a day or what ever you wish with
out risk .As they run for 24 hours a day just set it for the time you need
power .

I've had a variety of Volvos since 1980, and on every one of them, the
original equipment battery dies in two years (and I simply replace it with
a DieHard and seldom have any further problem. If yours has lasted 5 yrs,
you are either very fortunate or perhaps it's because you put it on the
float charger from time to time.