Bloody Batteries!!!!!

[MrGrumpy]

More bizarre events due to joys of Electrickery....

Today I had a lunch appointment, and was going to take the mk6 Tmax. Go in the garage, disconnect the trickle charger, turn the smart key on, switch the scoot on to unlock it - everything totally normal. I wheel the scoot out, switch off and fit the topbox. Then switch it back on to set off...and there's nothing, absolutely nothing. Not a light, not a click, not a whirr - utterly dead as a dodo.
Smart key battery apparently OK - key switches on and off. Fortunately scoot is unlocked (completely) and so I can wheel it back into the garage, reconnect the trickle charger, and take the mk3 Tmax instead.

Visions of smart locking system failure and other expensive problems.

When I return, try it again, and its still dead. However, I notice that the charge indicator on the CTEK trickle charger has still only reached 2 lights out of the normal 5 or 6, despite being on charge for the last 2 hours or so, and the battery should have been fully charged before that anyway. I'm not a mechanic but I diagnose that the scoot battery has failed - but I'm a bit baffled as to why it was seemingly OK first thing, but then failed completely 3 minutes later. I suppose I should be grateful it failed when the scoot was unlocked, as I'm not sure how you'd move it if it was locked. Of course I can't lock it now either!

Bloody batteries! And we are supposed to depend on these wretched things for everything in a few years!

[StephenC]

Oh dear. At least it's an easy fix that you can sort yourself.

[Data]

How old is the battery Grumpy? Sounds like a cell or pole has failed completely. It normally just happens if it's a pole. Ok one minute, gone the next! Had the same thing on my new car. Usually a pole fails when the battery is older due to corrosion/sulphation. A cell can also go at anytime but usually gives a bit of a warning in the form of turning the motor over from cold in a more laboured way which gradually worsens sometimes quickly or sometimes over a longer period. Your charger is telling you the batt is buggered I suspect. Don't worry though, EV batteries are far more robust. Hope you get it sorted quickly.

[MrGrumpy]

The battery is the original one from June 2017 I think, so 5.5 years old. It been invariably on a trickle charger when not in use....don't know if it did much good in the end or not!

[StephenC]

Not bad going, I guess.

[Data]

The battery is the original one from June 2017 I think, so 5.5 years old. It been invariably on a trickle charger when not in use....don't know if it did much good in the end or not!

Given its very sudden demise it's likely a pole corroded through & it's still sustaining a complete circuit of sorts which is why your charger is getting to two lights. Don't keep trying to charge it in case it explodes!

[MrGrumpy]

Don't keep trying to charge it in case it explodes!

That's good to know! Fortunately I had taken it off the charger, though due to the futility of charging it, than the explosion risk!