Leaf dead after two week vacation

[TomT]

No, it only charges it for a given amount of time so even if it was near dead or shorted, it would not take down the pack.

OK...follow-on question: So if the LEAF is off, then on that 5th day, it starts charging the 12v battery from the Main battery, and the 12v battery is dead/shorted/drawing excessive current, would it stay in that "trying to charge the 12v battery" drawing power until the Main battery is dead too?

 

[JohnnySebring]

Should I cancel my vacation if my Leaf gets that lonely in 2 weeks? :lol:

 

[KeithFrechette]

In thinking about it, though, it does make me wonder: Why would the LEAF's 12-volt battery need frequent charging when the vehicle is not being used? Is it of a different nature than the 12-volt battery in an ICE car? I've never heard of ICE vehicles not being startable (from an eletrical perspective) simply because they weren't used for several weeks (or several months, for that matter). Or is the battery capacity the same as for an ICE car, but that there is more drawing from it when not in use (such as telematics-related stuff)?

 

[EVDRIVER]

In thinking about it, though, it does make me wonder: Why would the LEAF's 12-volt battery need frequent charging when the vehicle is not being used? Is it of a different nature than the 12-volt battery in an ICE car? I've never heard of ICE vehicles not being startable (from an eletrical perspective) simply because they weren't used for several weeks (or several months, for that matter). Or is the battery capacity the same as for an ICE car, but that there is more drawing from it when not in use (such as telematics-related stuff)?

The short answer is parasitic loads not exceeding two way communication to Brokenwings.

 

[davewill]

In thinking about it, though, it does make me wonder: Why would the LEAF's 12-volt battery need frequent charging when the vehicle is not being used? Is it of a different nature than the 12-volt battery in an ICE car? I've never heard of ICE vehicles not being startable (from an eletrical perspective) simply because they weren't used for several weeks (or several months, for that matter). Or is the battery capacity the same as for an ICE car, but that there is more drawing from it when not in use (such as telematics-related stuff)?

For one thing, it shouldn't have failed like that. Either the battery was faulty, or he left something on that ran it down. Otherwise, I think that there ARE systems running all the time...after all SOMETHING has to be responding to Carwings, watching for plugins, and running the timers.

 

[TomT]

I left mine for three weeks, off the charger, and the state of charge when I returned was virtually identical to when I left; same number of bars and only a few miles less range indicated. So, no, no problem! Do be aware though that Carwings stops communicating with the car after two weeks.

Should I cancel my vacation if my Leaf gets that lonely in 2 weeks? :lol:

 

[planet4ever]

DO NOT USE AN EXTERNAL CHARGER WHILE THE 12V BATTERY IS ON THE VEHICLE, it can damage the DC/DC converter.

That's news to me. Is that in the owner's manual somewhere? :?

News to me, too, and I thought amtoro was wrong, but I'm beginning to think he isn't. The manual says:

Always follow the instructions below. Failure to do so could result in damage to the DC/DC converter and cause personal injury.

The instructions say to charge it from another 12v battery, specifically from a battery in an ICE with the engine running, not from another LEAF. They say nothing about using a battery charger. Now, both the running ICE and a battery charger would provide a higher voltage than 12v, but I don't if there is a difference in the voltage or in its purity.

Ray

 

[Deleted member 1295]

Okay, so finally the tow truck sent by Nissan Roadside Assistance showed up (after maybe 3 hours), and they "jumped" the battery and everything immediately came to life, unlike when I jumped it from my Subaru. I drove it to the dealer (about 30-35 minutes) and they did a quick check of the battery, saying it was most of the way re-charged (reading 12 volts vs. the 2.something I had seen), so I elected to drive it to work. Hopefully it will start when I go home, and that drive will finish the job (plus anything that parking in the sun has done while I've been at work -- I have an SL).

Now I hadn't read about the inverter issue beforehand, so hopefully no damage was done. But if it was, it was done by a company under contract to Nissan, so it should not be my fault.

Did I leave something on while I was on vacation? Not that I know of, but it's always possible. I was very busy that last day before leaving. Hopefully I did, since I think that would explain everything except maybe the excessive charging complete messages.

Oh, and one more thing. Before when I tried to update the charging stations, it always failed. I think I read here somewhere that the cure for that was to temporarily disconnect the battery, and in fact the battery dying also seems to have done the trick. So there's a small benefit of this experience.

 

[garypq]

This was a very interesting thread.
Now I am wondering where the solar cell charger fits into the situation. Is it charging when the car is off? So if I am away, should I park outside, or, leave some grow lights on the garage. ;-)

I have left the Leaf alone for 11 days, and had no problems. I missed the car more than it missed me. In fact, after driving the Leaf daily for a month, I was momentarily confounded by a rental ICE, when I couldn't find the power button. :roll:

 

[TomT]

The solar panel is mostly a gimmick, producing so little power (about 5 watts) that for all practical purposes you can pretend it doesn't exist...

Now I am wondering where the solar cell charger fits into the situation. Is it charging when the car is off? So if I am away, should I park outside, or, leave some grow lights on the garage.

 

[highcountryrider]

<snip>
...I was momentarily confounded by a rental ICE, when I couldn't find the power button. :roll:

:lol: :lol:

 

[Nekota]

<snip>
...I was momentarily confounded by a rental ICE, when I couldn't find the power button. :roll:

:lol: :lol:

My ICE car has a power button.

 

[smkettner]

Can't remember exact but I think it was a 1949 Chevrolet that my day had.... push button start.

 

[DaveEV]

Okay, so finally the tow truck sent by Nissan Roadside Assistance showed up (after maybe 3 hours), and they "jumped" the battery and everything immediately came to life, unlike when I jumped it from my Subaru. I drove it to the dealer (about 30-35 minutes) and they did a quick check of the battery, saying it was most of the way re-charged (reading 12 volts vs. the 2.something I had seen),

Sounds like the battery was pretty low - and perhaps your jumper cables didn't form a very good connection. Was your Subaru running when you tried to jump it and did you happen to check the voltage while jumped? Sometimes just leaving the dead battery jumped for 5 minutes is enough to get it enough charge to start.

You might want to keep an eye on the voltage of the battery just in case - running a lead-acid battery dead usually weakens it a good amount (and the longer it's dead the worse off it will be) unless you can get a real good charge on it with a dedicated charger.

If the voltage drops below 12v you'll want to consider replacing it before it leaves you stranded.

 

[TonyWilliams]

That's interesting to know....so does the LEAF traction battery always tries to charge the 12v battery, or just when it is on? If it always try charging it, then we might see more of this issue as other 12v LEAF batteries get older, and starts to die, pulling the HV battery with it.

This has been brought up before on the forum. Apparently, the Chevy S10 electric (I think) would kill the traction battery trying to charge a defective 12 volt lead / acid.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Can't remember exact but I think it was a 1949 Chevrolet that my day had.... push button start.

Those had the starter "button" on the floor, and it was mechanically connected to the starter solenoid.

My 1951 GMC has the same.

 

[svBackstreets]

I left mine in the garage for seven weeks this summer. it was plugged in. When I returned the car was dead. I put a charger on the battery, in the car, and soon started it. That was on July 5th. 12 volt seems to be fine.

 

[Deleted member 1295]

Sounds like the battery was pretty low - and perhaps your jumper cables didn't form a very good connection. Was your Subaru running when you tried to jump it and did you happen to check the voltage while jumped? Sometimes just leaving the dead battery jumped for 5 minutes is enough to get it enough charge to start.

You might want to keep an eye on the voltage of the battery just in case - running a lead-acid battery dead usually weakens it a good amount (and the longer it's dead the worse off it will be) unless you can get a real good charge on it with a dedicated charger.

If the voltage drops below 12v you'll want to consider replacing it before it leaves you stranded.

I suspect the connection wasn't very good with the Subaru (which was running). And I agree that I should keep a close eye on it, especially for the next few days. And thanks for all the input!

 

[lkkms2]

I just learned something new about my 2002 Prius 12 Volt battery. There has always been a way to "see" the voltage if you know how to access it through the display (a series of special steps and menu selections). I found this out after my wife had driving our son to school in the morning, but could not start the car in the afternoon. Something must have been left on to drain the battery, but we haven't figured it out yet (son like to turn on the overhead light) or side door or trunk left adjar with leaving a light on?? I charged it up with a slow 2amp charger and it is working now, but probably ready to be replaced.

Anyway, in researching on line about a battery replacement (quite expensive as these are special batteries) I was also surprised to hear that some people claimed their gas milage increased after replacing the 12 battery that was going bad. Something about the car always trying to charge the low, and deteriorated 12 voltage battery causing a drain on the MPG. I am planning to change out this battery in the near future and will see if this is true. My Prius MPG has been going down somewhat, but I had chalked it up to the car getting older.

Anyway, I wonder if there is a way to diagnos/read the Leaf 12 Volt battery state through the Leaf Display.

 

[garygid]

You too, can help decode the LEAF.

Detective Method to find LV (Low Voltage) Battery Voltage:
1. Starting on page 33 of the "LAN" file in the Service Manual collection of about 51 or 52 files ...
2. Look for a device that reports the 12-volt battery voltage.
3. Determine what CAN-bus that device is connected to (probably EV-CAN or Car-CAN).
4. Download CAN-Do, a Recipe file, and the short-drive Log files.
5. Run CAN-Do, read the Log file, and begin looking for a message that has a data field that is nearly constant, and probably a value of about 12 to 14, most likely times 4, 8, or 16.
6. Report your findings to the forum (in a thread in the "Leaf CANBus" sub-forum).

Have Fun.