Battery completely drained

[YarisOwnersDad]

Does anyone know if a car battery normally suffers any long term ill effects from being totally drained? It was foggy this morning on the way to work, so I had my headlights on, and when I pulled into my parking spot at work, I forgot to turn them off. When I went out at lunchtime to start the car, the battery was dead, and I had to get a jump from someone.

I wish our Yari had that automatic headlight feature, but I know we can't have everything at such a low MSRP.

Tom

[talnlnky]

a single full discharge should have no noticeable impact on the battery from your standpoint.
YES it does do damage

No, you shouldn't go out and buy a new bat now (unless it starts doing this very often)

Yes, try to get in a rythym or schedule so this doesn't happen again

Yes, You should trickle charge that battery overnight as soon as possible to ensure it has the best charge possible as soon as possible after you do drain your bat.

[1stToyota]

Does anyone know if a car battery normally suffers any long term ill effects from being totally drained? It was foggy this morning on the way to work, so I had my headlights on, and when I pulled into my parking spot at work, I forgot to turn them off. When I went out at lunchtime to start the car, the battery was dead, and I had to get a jump from someone.

I wish our Yari had that automatic headlight feature, but I know we can't have everything at such a low MSRP.

Tom

I'd have the battery charged [10 amps or less] fully before I drove it too much...alternators don't make good chargers; they're designed to maintain a battery, not recharge a dead one.

[TheRealEnth]

Don't you get that annoying yet useful long beeep when you turn the ignition off and the lights are on?

[YarisOwnersDad]

Don't you get that annoying yet useful long beeep when you turn the ignition off and the lights are on?

I thought so, but I guess I just wasn't paying attention this morning.

Tom

[YarisOwnersDad]

I'd have the battery charged [10 amps or less] fully before I drove it too much...alternators don't make good chargers; they're designed to maintain a battery, not recharge a dead one.

Well, I had the afternoon off for a half day of vacation, so I ended up driving the car the 24 miles home after it was jump started. Think it is still necessary to put the battery on a charger?

Tom

[sex]

1stToyota meant 10 volts. If you have a multimeter, check the voltage across the terminals. You want at least 10. AutoZone near me checks/charges batteries free as a courtesy

[nemelek]

The few times in my life where I let a battery go completely dead it has never been the same again. No matter how I recharged it. I would wait a few weeks and then go get a load test on the battery from an auto part store.

[talnlnky]

1stToyota meant 10 volts. If you have a multimeter, check the voltage across the terminals. You want at least 10. AutoZone near me checks/charges batteries free as a courtesy

no, he really didn't... your battery won't charge if the charging source is only 10v.... UNLESS your battery is below 10v. when you have a dead battery, it might only rate 6-10volts... a 10v battery has very little juice if any. the charger should be at least 13v otherwise it'll do a poor job.

A 10amp charge is meant for a quick jump start. go for a 1-2amp trickle charge, its meant to give a much fuller charge.

Charging batteries is like pour a glass of guiness. if you do it fast you will fill up the glass, but it won't actually be full, it'll be a wierd frothy mixture of liquid and air bubbles.... You'll get some, but its not really a full glass. You pour it extremely slow and you'll actually get more in your glass.

remember, batteries use chemical reactions to produce electricity, it takes awhile to get all the chemicals set up for those reactions when re-charging.

[IllusionX]

draining it once will not totally damage your battery. Doing it often will destroy it, but well.. Btw, if you noticed your lights were one at lunch time... your battery was probably not COMPLETELY drained.

I think driving ~30mins put enough juice to the battery to not die on you tomorrow. _I_ wouldn't worry about it. but like talnlnky says, putting it on a tickle charger is best for the battery.

[YarisOwnersDad]

draining it once will not totally damage your battery. Doing it often will destroy it, but well.. Btw, if you noticed your lights were one at lunch time... your battery was probably not COMPLETELY drained.

I think driving ~30mins put enough juice to the battery to not die on you tomorrow. _I_ wouldn't worry about it. but like talnlnky says, putting it on a tickle charger is best for the battery.


Oh, it was drained alright. Even the automatic door locks wouldn't operate. When I used the key to get into the car and put it in the ignition and turned it, I got NOTHING. There was absolutely no response at all from the ignition, not even a feeble attempt to start.

Tom

[1stToyota]

no, he really didn't... your battery won't charge if the charging source is only 10v.... UNLESS your battery is below 10v. when you have a dead battery, it might only rate 6-10volts... a 10v battery has very little juice if any. the charger should be at least 13v otherwise it'll do a poor job.

A 10amp charge is meant for a quick jump start. go for a 1-2amp trickle charge, its meant to give a much fuller charge.

Charging batteries is like pour a glass of guiness. if you do it fast you will fill up the glass, but it won't actually be full, it'll be a wierd frothy mixture of liquid and air bubbles.... You'll get some, but its not really a full glass. You pour it extremely slow and you'll actually get more in your glass.

remember, batteries use chemical reactions to produce electricity, it takes awhile to get all the chemicals set up for those reactions when re-charging.

Yeah, 10 amps or less. 2 amp charge could take as much 24 hrs to fully charge a dead battery, 20 amps will do it in about 4 hours. Quick charge (about 1 hour) needs at least 30 amps. Jump/Engine Start on my charger is 275 amps.

Any time I quick charge I remove the - battery cable...charging volts can go beyond 16v when charging is near complete.

[1stToyota]

Well, I had the afternoon off for a half day of vacation, so I ended up driving the car the 24 miles home after it was jump started. Think it is still necessary to put the battery on a charger?

Tom

You probably just warmed up the alternator a bit more than usual. A trinkle charger for a few hours would be better than just getting in and driving the car again.

[RedRide]

My experience has always been that it you completely discharge a battery, it will recover.

However the life of the battey will be cut. How much life it will lose can vary depending on the overall condition /age of the batterey. If the battery is fairly new, you should still have years of life in in it.

[talnlnky]

if you start to develop a habbit of leaving the lights on... you might consider buying a deep cycle battery when you have to buy a new battery.... Deep cycle bats are designed to be discharged and recharged many times. I ran an Optima Blue top Deep Cycle in the past and loved it... never had any problems. Deep cycles generally cost more money.

[YarisOwnersDad]

if you start to develop a habbit of leaving the lights on... you might consider buying a deep cycle battery when you have to buy a new battery.... Deep cycle bats are designed to be discharged and recharged many times. I ran an Optima Blue top Deep Cycle and love it... never had any problems. Deep cycles generally cost more money.

Hopefully, I have learned my lesson. I got used to those automatic headlights in the Cobalt I was driving before I got my Yaris, and I never had to think about turning headlights on or off.

Tom

[YarisOwnersDad]

Thanks for all the replies, Peeps.

The car seems to be doing fine, and I guess only time will tell if I did any permanent damage to the battery by leaving those lights on until the battery was flat.

Since I had to drive it home after getting the jump start, I never did put the battery on a trickle charger. I'm sure that would have been the best thing to do, as some of you have suggested.

Tom