[epsonix]

really, 80-95Ah is size of battery for cold markets 2.0+ liter diesel engines where you need glow plugs preheating and with this load you need to start engine which is much harder to start than petrol (much bigger compression). For petrol engines 80Ah seems excessive. Problem is elsewhere, charging mainly, S&S if one uses and a lot of energy vampires working all the time (keyless , Alfa Connected Services etc). In terms of quality of batteries, I have some doubts - one guy from polish forum was towed3 weeks after buying car as battery decided to die - nonetheless he driven day before longer distance. Replaced and no issues since. My case - started having issues afer a few months, at 8 months battery replaced as was permanently causing issues and charging was resolving for short time. Eventually it failed on tester and was replaced. New battery I have for more than 1 year and no issues (just had to charge it yesterday, car barely used and only on short distances, IBS started showing 37%, charged OK, open circuit voltage 12.91V a few hours after charging)

 

[MR D4VE]

really, 80-95Ah is size of battery for cold markets 2.0+ liter diesel engines where you need glow plugs preheating and with this load you need to start engine which is much harder to start than petrol (much bigger compression). For petrol engines 80Ah seems excessive. Problem is elsewhere, charging mainly, S&S if one uses and a lot of energy vampires working all the time (keyless , Alfa Connected Services etc). In terms of quality of batteries, I have some doubts - one guy from polish forum was towed3 weeks after buying car as battery decided to die - nonetheless he driven day before longer distance. Replaced and no issues since. My case - started having issues afer a few months, at 8 months battery replaced as was permanently causing issues and charging was resolving for short time. Eventually it failed on tester and was replaced. New battery I have for more than 1 year and no issues (just had to charge it yesterday, car barely used and only on short distances, IBS started showing 37%, charged OK, open circuit voltage 12.91V a few hours after charging)

Another thing to consider, my car is an early 2017 build but I bought it in September 2018. Which means the original battery was sat in the car, albeit probably in low power mode, for at least 18 months. So I'm not surprised I had issues with it. Although, as I've previously stated on this forum, the three times the battery went flat were all my fault because I left a diagnostic tool plugged into the OBD2 port. That said, maybe a new battery in A1 condition would not have gone flat so quickly. I don't really know.
Certainly the Varta AGM battery I have fitted now holds its charge much better.

 

[jwq]

apparently though the "cold weather package" also comes with a bigger generator .....

<snip>
The vehicle may be equipped with two types of intelligent generators for the 2.0 engine:

• 150 AMP intelligent generator
• 180 AMP intelligent generator, if the “cold country package” is present

<snip>

probably doesn't really matter much, as the max charging capacity is hardly used with the IBS anyway

 

[Maser3200]

I'm going to use the negative clamp nut when I fit the lead, it's where I clip on the crocodile clips everytime

Looked at all the options on the negative terminal. Post bolt nut is captive on the thread, connection post is too thick for the M6 wire on the ctek and so is the other bolt (and it is pretty firmly tightened. Only feasible option , as found here is to the body just above the positive terminal. Sleep tight Giulia during the extended lock down....now those 70th Anniversary Abarth 695’s are starting to look attractive.

 

[Balistaff]

I have a battery reconditioner (CTEK MXS 5.0) and I’ve been using it off and on since Feb 2019 (Amazon £68.94). It has brought batteries back to life and once tge battery is recharged, the reconditioner goes into a maintenance cycle to theoretically improve the battery's life. I’ve left it attaches for a couple of weeks, no issues, to my Alfa 159 Ti 1.9JTDM Sportwagon.

 

[epsonix]

I've seen tests of CTEK recond function, guys who specialize in batteries/charges discharged battery did tested various chargers on number of batteries. Each time they discharged battery on test equipment, checked electrolytic density (was always low like 1.16g/cm3), they used one standard charging cycle and then day by day were rerunning RECOND and remesured density, they managed to get back density to high level after addtional 7 reconds cycles. Reconds cycles work at charged battery as much as it can reach with standard charging program, then for a few hours it uses higher voltage (up to 16.2V I think) but at lower currents (since battery is already charged up to some high enough level.

My suspicion is that over time, due to not enough charging, our batteries loose electrolitic density, and so later they become problematic.
My current automatic charger (CTEK like but simpler, no Recond/Repair funciton), charged it to level of 74% (last year on new battery I got 98%) - this was measured next day after charging, and unloaded battery voltage was 12.6V, but with ignition on, it was dropping immediatelly to 12.1V only, so still not that great. I have also old charger (non-electronic), so decided to give it a go on precharged battery, it went over a few hours up with voltage, since it reached 15V (current was like 0.9A), I let it run for around 3h more (over this time it reached 15.5V), kind of simulating something like mild Recond function. Next day after procedure my IBS reported 88% and unloaded voltage was 12.8V. I will give it one more go like this.
Our cars defeinitelly lack on getting battery at high SoC(inteligent charging) levels whenever possible (long journey), and so we weaken battery over months of use at 60-80% of SoC typically measured in real life Giulia/Stelvios. I'll keep you updated with more of my experiments on charging, and of course later on charging improver device I'm going to develop.

 

[sdf-1517]

I have the winter package with 95Ah battery. I also had the IBS sensor replaced as it kept triggering S&S system unavailable. (as a side note, I have an alarm system that needs to detect a card, if I forget about it and start the car before the detection happens, that also triggers the same message).

State of Charge view from Ctek Battery Sense:

I used Ctek MX5 to (normal) charge from 57% to 100%, it took about 12 hours.
Dropped to 95%, then I drove the car for 1h-1h30m and it went from 95% to 100%.
Dropped to 85%, drove the car 30m, then up to 89%.

The corresponding Voltage view:

And status now:

It does look like everything is good with alternator and battery charging, but if the car is not used then the battery does discharge and recharging it helps.

 

[Jetronic77]

apparently though the "cold weather package" also comes with a bigger generator .....

<snip>
The vehicle may be equipped with two types of intelligent generators for the 2.0 engine:

• 150 AMP intelligent generator
• 180 AMP intelligent generator, if the “cold country package” is present

<snip>

probably doesn't really matter much, as the max charging capacity is hardly used with the IBS anyway

With the Giulietta it is the other way around, hot climates get a bigger alternator. 120A vs 150A iirc.

 

[jwq]

With the Giulietta it is the other way around, hot climates get a bigger alternator. 120A vs 150A iirc.

that's really weird, as the reason for the bigger alternator is to be able to charge the higher capacity battery, and compensate for the higher current drain in cold climates due to more use of rear window heater, fan, etc.....

 

[Jetronic77]

or higher drain from running AC full blast? i'm guessing the alternator with the higher capacity will heat up less or has more cooling for a given amperage.

 

[jwq]

You made me curious .....
If I look in eper, it displays the same specs for the giulietta, namely 120 Amp standard, 150 Amps for cold country package .....

 

[Jetronic77]

Really, it used to say for hot climates, but i ve not checked in years

 

[Jetronic77]

and i think replacement 3rd party alternators say the same

 

[Jetronic77]

120A, moderate climates
150A, tropical or cold climates

Thats what I found now, searching for spare alternators. Most companies don't say which cars get what though.

 

[jwq]

120A, moderate climates
150A, tropical or cold climates

Thats what I found now, searching for spare alternators. Most companies don't say which cars get what though.

ok, that's another way to go I guess.....
Make you wonder why have a 120 Amp alternator at all then though...... Still, it's Alfa I guess

 

[kostaki1966]

You made me curious .....
If I look in eper, it displays the same specs for the giulietta, namely 120 Amp standard, 150 Amps for cold country package .....

As a side question, how do you look at eper (or keyeper)? I can not find a working version for my Giulia
I am thinking now, I might have to change battery and alternator as I am in a very hot country and car is USA specs...

 

[jwq]

As a side question, how do you look at eper (or keyeper)? I can not find a working version for my Giulia
I am thinking now, I might have to change battery and alternator as I am in a very hot country and car is USA specs...

I bought an eper CD on ebay..... They are not the latest, mine is mid 2014, but I find it a lot more convenient then using the available online versions, where you get kicked out all the time.... For my giulia I have to use the online version though, as eper versions before 2017 have no knowledge yet of the giulia......
example: online eper

 

[kostaki1966]

Superlike @jwq ! I was looking it up everyday for the last week but it was not online. Magically, when you linked to it, it appeared again !

 

[epsonix]

Superlike @jwq ! I was looking it up everyday for the last week but it was not online. Magically, when you linked to it, it appeared again !

yes, it was not working for good a few weeks, now it is back. will be handy. looks like sep 2017 snapshot

 

[Navlet]

Hi All

Just got a Veloce and after following this thread for a while decided to fit a comfort C tek lead ( with traffic light red, amber and green SOC LEDs ) to my battery, +ve on the battery direct, -ve to a bolt through the square hole on bodywork just above the battery . After 8 hours or so my C tek charger had reached float and the green led on the comfort lead was flashing so > 80% SOC. Took the car out today for a drive and put some stuff in boot and noticed the red LED on the comfort detector was flashing ie charge immediately.

I've read a few horror stories on here about cars loosing all charge over night so am a bit worried

The car was fine to drive and as far as I am aware SS was still working so I not sure what to make of it . I will put it on charge tonight though as I have an early start tomorrow.

Any thoughts ?