Earlier today, just as I was about to fire up my baby, I noticed that there was a lot of dust/filth all over the windshields and tailgate. When I opened the door, the interior lighting was somewhat dimmer than usual, which led me to consider the possibility of a weak battery. When I tried to start the engine, all I got was the infamous "clackety clackety clack" of relays not receiving proper input voltage. My V1 RD was also behaving erratically, powering on and off seemingly at will (it's designed for a twelve volt supply line).
After popping the hood I duly noted with a multimeter that the voltage across the battery terminals was only [just shy of] ten volts in lieu of the proper twelve. No wonder the car wouldn't start!
But now I was perplexed. It wasn't that long since I'd last driven, so what caused this sudden inexplicable near quarter discharge? I was totally stumped until I noticed another resident trying to start his Mazda 323 and suffering the EXACT same symptoms. I checked his battery and it rendered a paltry eight volts. Now what are the chances of two cars in the same garage suffering the exact same symptoms during the exact same time period by virtue of unrelated coïncidental cause? Yeah, quite, so now there were two of us looking for an answer...
It turns out that my landlord and a hispanic guy (José? Hmmm, I guess I identify all Hispanics with that name, whether real or imagined ;) were blow torching in the garage earlier. Now, that certainly explains the dust and filth on our cars, but what of the sudden battery discharge? I'm almost certain there's a link, but what aspect of blow torching would turn a twelve volt car battery into a ten or eight volt one? Heat? Atmospherics? Dust? Are our batteries irrevocably damaged, or will a simple charge/boost do the trick? (Yes, I'm still stuck with a ten volt car battery for the time being...)