MikeT's C5r 1.6 hdi Estate

[myglaren]

12.6V just now, before unlocking.
12.4V after unlocking and dumping some tools in, rising to 12.5V within ten seconds.

[MikeT]

It's quite literally a right royal pain in the back for me to maintain the battery unless done in-situ which isn't feasible due to remoteness of our parking bays. Would be great if I could use the EV charging points in the high street.

Steve, is your car hydraulic? If so, your battery seems to absorb the pump drain far better than mine did.
How did you get the measurement before waking up the car, is the power socket constantly live?

[myglaren]

It is plugged in to the socket behind the gear stick and is permanently lit. Will see if I can get a photo but it is very dark out now.
Easy to see through driver's window.

[MikeT]

It is plugged in to the socket behind the gear stick and is permanently lit. Will see if I can get a photo but it is very dark out now.
Easy to see through driver's window.

No need for photo Steve - just wasn't sure if the feed was permanent. I know it doesn't need ignition on, but wasn't sure it stayed live regardless. Might wire my radio power to it, if that's the case!

[myglaren]

Display doesn't show up well here - swamped by the flash unfortunately.

ETA: One of these

[myglaren]

Sorry, forgot to confirm that the car is hydraulic.
Wasn't a couple of weeks ago when all the hydraulicy stuff drained out onto the road - which is when the battery got it's recharge.

[MikeT]

Trying to get my head round some options I may have for charging the battery.

I could remove it, take it indoors and hook it up to my mains auto-charger but really don't relish the idea of having to reset everything each time (radio, date/time, anti-pinch, etc, etc)

Alternatively, I have a large 120A leisure battery (and my old Xantia battery that's still in good condition) that i could take out to the car. Would jumping them be sufficient or would they equalise before fully charging my 75Ah cranking battery?

If not, I also have a 300w inverter I could plug my mains charger into but again, would there be sufficient capacity considering the conversion losses (x2)?

Thirdly, I also have a 12vDC input mutli-charger I bought mainly for charging LiPo's. It has programs for different battery chemistries which includes Pb (lead-acid) that I presume would be more efficient.

Choices, choices...

[MikeT]

Nope, battery won't accept much more, that's the best it gets. As long as it still starts first time I'm not overly concerned but will monitor voltages for signs of further degradation.
The dash power-gauge is a gimmick, surely? I read a variance of up to 3volts on my DMM but cannot discern any needle movement on the dash. Pffft.

Meanwhile, recorded another regeneration today, with 74% soot loading in just under 500km. Still, the ave distance over last 5 regens has yet again increased, so something's working right and hopefully not contaminating the oil as much.

It was also good to see the ave mpg since last refill (250miles) trip over 61 on the display today, despite the extra fuel used to cook the DPF on gas mark 600 for five minutes.
Maybe the Miller's had a part in all this, though this is still using regular shell diesel instead of the V-Power I used to use.
I guess we're getting winterised fuel now, will be interesting to see what, if any difference it makes.

[MikeT]

Nightbreakers turned up in post today and noticed on the box where it highlights the features vs standard bulbs - brighter, further light penetration etc - it shows lifetime is halved

Perhaps my expectations of the previous blown Halfords own 50%+ were just unrealistic to last as long as standard bulbs, rather than suspecting my car might be the cause of the early failure.

I <3 my C5

[CitroJim]

As they say Mike, you can have a long but dull life or a short but brilliant one

Applies to bulbs too; no such thing as something for nothing... Or a free lunch

[GiveMeABreak]

It's the trade-off I think Mike - certainly for the conventional halogens - more power, brighter - less life - very apt as Jim put it.

Having said that, in comparison with the Xenon technology, there doesn't seem to be a sacrifice on the bulb life when comparing standard with the Xenarc Unlimited Nightbreakers for the D1S, looking at their chart:

[MikeT]

I take my hat off (if I wore one) to Osram for clearly showing life expectancy is 50% less.
Perhaps it's something to do with the them adding a puff of xenon gas to a halogen filament bulb that reduces their life so drasticallly?

[GiveMeABreak]

I replaced my standard factory fitted OSRAM D1S Xenon D1S bulbs with these Night Breaker Unlimited Xenarcs above and was immediately impressed.

On my Previous MK II with the bi-directional Xenons, they had an additional standard H1 Main Beam lamp in addition to the directional Xenon. I changed the H1 standard bulb for a high performance brilliance bulb probably similar to yours (but wasn't a Halfrauds brand - I think possibly Bosch) and that was a really good matching crisp white light that made a hell of a difference.

Why the hell they removed that in the X7 I'll never know - instead they put in the side light unit right next to the Xenon with a piddly 5W5 bulb - good for sod all - so in my case that had to go and so I upgraded those bulbs with some LEDs that are fantastic. It should be noted that the design of the 'sidelight' (on the Xenon headlamp models only) is such that it does not provide a direct view of the bulb to oncoming drivers. The bulb itself is masked and the light is diffused and dispersed equally around the housing. I don't advocate LEDs for headlamps bulbs where not factory fitted.

[CitroJim]

Perhaps it's something to do with the them adding a puff of xenon gas to a halogen filament bulb that reduces their life so drasticallly?

Maybe. Perhaps it dilutes the effectiveness of the halogen in assisting the migration of tungsten atoms back from the envelope to the filament...

More likely though is they're simply over-run...

I agree it's good that Osram admit it...

[MikeT]

This is an interesting statement (though it provides no source for the claimed fact) https://www.powerbulbs.com/blog/2012/01 ... bulbs-last

One of the most common reasons why car bulbs fail is a higher running voltage on the vehicle electrical system. The European standard for this is 13.2V, but many cars in reality run at a higher voltage than this. Manufacturers have done this to power the increasing level of electronics in a vehicle.

As a result, as little as a 5% increase above the recommended running voltage can cause a significant reduction in bulb life.