PSA October is Battery Month (North latitudes)

[DennisCA]

Funny how a Mercedes battery produces a different 12V than everybody else’s 12V, and costs 5 times as much.


And I don’t know any cheapskates from Alberta!

Or a BMW battery that has to be programmed in... or else!

[abscate]

My 2001 E320 Mercedes will drain the battery if not started for about 3 weeks. I try to start it more often, but the AC is flat so not fun to drive in summer afternoons.
Seems as if it fits MB is just costs more.
volvolugnut

Oh wow, that's the same reason I haven't driven my C220 much. When I bought it, I tried adding refrigerant, but wasn't getting anywhere. When I looked at the bottom of the compressor with an LED light it glowed green, so someone had already started trouble shooting it by adding dye, I assume.

I hear the Mercedes evaporator? (under dash unit) develops leaks. Many hours to replace. Mine will hold for about the length of summer if I charge it
volvolugnut

Probably not much worse than hours. I needed 12 hours to do Evitas recently, you usually fix a bunch of other stuff, too.

[Krons]

Funny you posted this. I have a dry Yuasa for my BMW motorcycle that’s been in the garage 2 years. Slow crank on my morning commute start today spurred me to finally pour the acid in after work and put it on the charger for a swap. I’ve had the bike 6 years and previous owner did not know the age.

That said—Lithium jump packs are so compact and cheap…and even cheaper than a new battery…procrastination can pay off!

[abscate]

Funny you posted this. I have a dry Yuasa for my BMW motorcycle that’s been in the garage 2 years. Slow crank on my morning commute start today spurred me to finally pour the acid in after work and put it on the charger for a swap. I’ve had the bike 6 years and previous owner did not know the age.

That said—Lithium jump packs are so compact and cheap…and even cheaper than a new battery…procrastination can pay off!

Lithium packs have enabled bad run-to-failure battery behavior indeed. On a -1998 you can get away with it, but 1999- likes to have a good battery

[BlackBart]

Funny you posted this. I have a dry Yuasa

You might have your doc check that out.

[Krons]

Funny you posted this. I have a dry Yuasa

You might have your doc check that out.

Fortunately the prescription was in the box.

The dry battery concept is nice, find it on sale and can leave it on the shelf until you are ready to put it in. Pretty easy process to unseal, fill, cap and charge. The way Yuasa does it seems pretty safe too, while you want rubber gloves and glasses spills seem pretty low risk.