75 / ZT / ZT-T diesel battery

On 06/01/2005 21:55:36, in alt.autos.rover, Paul Tinker licked his pencil and scribbled in message

Not the non use, but possibly the use of a booster charger to get the car going after it has been stood.

Modern cars with sophisticated alarms and active sensors use power. The battery goes flat over time. So along comes a bloke with a booster and gets the car running. Some boosters are a bit crappy and bash too much charge into the battery. This can cause allsorts of problems from physical plate damage within the cells to chemical damage such as the formation of insoluble salts within the battery. Both will cause the problems you describe.

This problem is not specific to this car or engine. Not even specific to cars, Vauxhall did the same to my van.

No. I'm afraid it comes down to the law of lemons, or how many batteries in each batch created are liable to fail prematurely. I've been there before with a battery in a 25, I was half way home when I was suddenly aware that the digital milometer (still illumianted) had lost its digits. I ended up pulling off the A23 at Sayers Common to find the battery had just died. A quick call home, followed by use of a spare battery got me home. It was also a case of that if the alternator didn't see a reasonable charge in the battery, it would not operate correctly, which is why the headlights just died.

After that, treat myself to a plug in battery meter from Maplin, good investment for peace of mind.

Incorrect charging or incorrect use of a get you started booster can also kill the battery. The plates inside will distort and touch, resulting in a loss of capacity and voltage. Excessive buildup of sludge in the bottom shorting the plates or sulphurated plates spells the end of the battery. When the cells touch, the sudden release of energy can boil the electrolyte with the possible risk of a battery explosion.

With your battery, like me, you was just unlucky. Just write it down to experience.

PDH