Post Hurricane Sandy question

[rafterscott]

So with the recent hurricane I lost power for 7 days during which time I was charging my cell phone in the car, probably about 12 hours was spent charging the phone without the car running (we also have a gas shortage over here).
Over the last day I've gotten a message shortly after a couple minutes of driving saying check system charger (wipers & windows were also operating slower). After running the engine the error disappears & wiper/windows are fine but I'm curious if charging the phone that long caused the error & any possible long term damage.

Battery, alternator and the cable between them was replaced less than 18 months ago. Thoughts if you have any?

[Breeves002]

I would go ahead and check your alternator voltage, could be weak. My guess is you did run the battery down possibly, and it said that because it was trying to charge the battery back up and the alternator didn't output enough. You probably have a weak alternator so it was tough for it to keep up with charging the battery and running all the electronics. You did say you replaced the alt 18months ago... I hope it isn't going! Check voltage! You can to it in engineering test mode so it's easy to do. Charging the phone shouldn't cause long term damage... Worst thing it can do if everything is working perfectly is drain your battery.

Just my guess.

[rafterscott]

Thanks Sam, I appreciate it!

[rickpark]

Sounds like you deep-discharged the battery which is not something that most car batteries tolerate very well. It may have changed the charging profile of the battery outside of the design parameters of the alternator and charging system.

Perhaps with time as the battery charge is maintained either through use or supplemental trickle charging, the problem will go away.

If not, I would bet that a new battery fixes things.

[Breeves002]

I would trickle charge the battery with an external charger if you have one like rick says.

[SoNic67]

It's colder outside. Any battery that is older than 3 years might have issues with that...

[sheila]

Put a 2amp charge on the battery overnight.

[crackhead]

It sounds like you deep discharged the battery. When that happens crystals form on the plates. You can save the battery by getting a Battery Charger/ Tender that has a desulfation mode. The Desulfation is done by pulse charging the battery.

I have the Schumacher SP2 that I use on my tractor and Motorcycle and it actually works.

[rafterscott]

Hey just to close this out it turns out I had a POS alternator. When I had everything replaced it was through a Ford center that was going out of business so I'm thinking they just took whatever was leftover in inventory & put it in there. The cable between the alternator & the battery will also needs replacing.

[Breeves002]

Well congrats on getting it fixed! Stinks they used a junk unit!