Car wont start

[Strkszone]

Not entirely sure what exactly is wrong here so I'll just explain what's happened.

I recently went on holiday and before I left to go on holiday, my car has been completely fine. It hasn't been driven in 9 days and I've come back to it having a flat battery. I jumpstarted the car and it ran fine up until the point I turned it off (I left it on for around half an hour before determining that it was fine to switch off). The car runs so long as it isn't switched off even with all externals turned on maximum. Although the battery voltage meter has been bouncing around a bit when certain things are turned on. For example: whenever the hazards are pressed the dial ticks low then middle. Does anyone know if this is just a battery problem or a problem with something else like the alternator. I don't think it's the alternator since the battery is being charged and hasn't died on me while the car was on... but I could be mistaken. Any insight at all would be helpful, thanks.

[Daniel2019]

Volt gauge jumping around is fine, that's normal. Will drop when headlights are on etc.

Sounds like your battery just needs a proper charge. 1/2 an hour running isn't really that much. Try a battery charger overnight if you have one.

[Strkszone]

Don't have one, any idea where I could get one for cheap?

Edit: Also any idea why it would've just gone flat after not being driven for 9 days? Surely it doesn't need to be driven *that* often, does it?

[Daniel2019]

No, but if your battery is on the way out it might do it, or if you left your lights on or something.

[Strkszone]

Battery is less than a year old and no lights were left on. I've been meaning to see if there is anything drawing charge out of my battery whilst everything is switched off.

All aftermarket electronics in the car:

Head unit
HID lowbeams
LEDs in the footwells (on when switched or door is open)
All others are stock.

I can't imagine that the LEDs are drawing charge out of the battery when set to "Door."
The car makes a racket if you leave the headlights on, so I'm confident I didn't leave them on either... :/

The battery is from a company called Super Charge if you've ever heard of 'em before.

[rock_it]

Do you have an alarm?

I remember my car would last about 2-3 weeks without going flat ... The less I drove it, it started to drop real quick after that.. I think I ended up getting about 7-9 days on average with the battery that was in it.

But by this stage, the batter was about 2 or so years old.

I ended up buying a trickle charger from Super Cheap. Was about $90 and you constantly leave plugged into power, and on the battery. It drops charge in and out depending on if the battery needs it. I would then alternate what car I had the charger on while I would cycle through and eventually take them all ...

It even had small clamps to attach to my motorcycle battery ...

[Strkszone]

The car came with an immobilizer but I deactivated it. This is a relatively new battery, probably only a couple months old. I'll look into getting a trickle charger then, thanks.

[Daniel2019]

Shouldn't have to use trickle charger though. Something is fubar.

[Bennoz]

$50 on bad earth!

[Strkszone]

Ended up getting the battery replaced. Alternator is running fine. The autoelectricians said that the battery has been cooked and multiple cells are simply not functioning. It wasn't accepting any charge it was just flat out gone. Any ideas what can cause this...?

The battery is a Super Charge MF53 with a CCA of 650 and Max Charging Volt of 14.8.

The new battery is making the car run fine... but I suspect it's only a matter of time before this one goes too...

[Technikhaus]

Can sometimes be heat that causes that.

[Strkszone]

Just took it to an autoelectrician for an Argus Battery Test Report

Drainage = 0.16A

Battery age: 3 days

Recommendation: Replace Soon

Technician:
Battery Model:
Battery Type: MF
Battery Standard: SAE
Reference Value: 650CCA

State of charge: 100%
Voltage: 12.97V
Battery Temperature: 33C/91F

Capacity Test: Warning
Battery Life: 47%
Capacity: 564CCA

Cranking Health Test: Pass
Cranking Health: 100%
Voltage: 10.35V

Charging System Test: Pass
Voltage: 13.92V
Diode Ripple: Pass

Tester Model#: AA500P
SW Version#: v2.8


3 days old and the capacity test is at 50% with a recommendation to replace soon? Wtf..?

[Daniel2019]

Fucked alternator or sh*t earth.

[Strkszone]

Alternator operating fine they said, same for voltage meter. Was told a drainage of 0.16A is the equivalent of leaving the interior light on pretty much. No idea what to make of that...or if anything is causing that like an alarm system or whatever. Just hoping to find out what it is so I can fix the bloody thing ;_;...