I left Kyiv 2.5 months ago thinking it could be a 2-3 week trip but I put a solar battery trickle charger on just in case. It didn’t work, the battery was completely flat and took 3 different cars to jump start. Now it seems fine, but I’m scared to let it sit for more than 4 days in the cold without driving it. I was even thinking of selling it as it’s a hassle to own. But I love this GTS and know I won’t be able to find another one in this condition for the price again.

Here’s the video update: https://youtu.be/y7kzHu20oO

I’m actually sitting at the shop now doing my first oil change, I drove it maybe only 1,000 miles max these past 6 months but I figured it was time anyways.



It’s my first time owning a winter car. (I’m from California)

Snowy day in Kyiv, Ukraine

This beast needed a wash, bad.

Jumping the dead battery after 2.5 months of sitting. Trickle solar charger failed.

Getting an oil and filter change

 

Слава Україні! The rolling outages must have a lot to do with the charger not working. Least you still have a car. We were looking to return but now on hold for a while. Stay safe! Lots of winter tires there.

 

These cars do drain battery if left unattended. Not sure why your trickle charger did not keep it charged? Perhaps battery is on the way out?
I had this issue and always kept it on a plug in charger but it kept getting worse so I replaced battery with a new very large (~1000 amp hours) AGM battery. These batteries hold up better to constant low amp drain that some computerized cars tend to have.
Two years later and I have never had to plug the beast in again and I let car sit for weeks or months between driving it. Car is garaged though which I would recommend. It does pain me to see yours sitting in the snow and with leaf litter. Sunroof drains clog with debris easy.
Though being Ukraine you surely have more important concerns than a car. I'm sure if car was in Kherson it would be gone by now.

Stay safe while in Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini!

 

Thoughts are with you and your fellow countrymen in Ukraine.

If you've been using a trickle charger, I highly recommend investing in a battery maintainer if they're available. (Porsche sells some, and CTEK maintainers are used by a lot of people on these forums.) If left on long enough, a trickle charger can ruin a battery because it never stops charging. A battery maintainer simulates driving the car, and won't continue charging once it senses the battery has been charged. I use mine if I know my Cayenne won't be driven in the next 3-4 days, and some folks on this forum leave their Cayennes on maintainers all winter long without driving them -- but they start right away when needed in the spring!

If the trickle charger has ruined the battery -or if it's questionable in your mind -- I would recommend investing in a new battery as well. (And then keep it on a maintainer if possible if you won't be driving it within another day or two.)

 

I have used the CTEK charger on my failing battery for about a year before replacing battery. So in my case i believe it was just a weak battery. Probably 2nd battery but no date on it and no records in car.

 

It's not that you needed 3 cars to start the P!g, it's just that regular jumper cables are current limited and only works if your car battery still has at least some juice. If you got one of them 225A jump starters, it would probably start it.
As for your solar charger, are you sure it was hooked up correctly? Do you know if it worked at all?
Finally, the battery may still come back. I once bought a car from auction that came with a battery so dead jumper cables + jump pack could not get the car to turn over. I put the slow charger on, left it for 2 days, and the battery went on to live a long life. I actually shipped that particular car to family in Ukraine: even after being on a ship and in transit for almost 2mo, that battery started the Jetta 2.0L turbodiesel right up at a port in Poland.

 

Update: Thanks guys.

It started after a jump with a 225A jump starter and after me driving it for 1 hour.

Now it works, but if I don't drive it for 4 days it struggles to start.

My mechanic checked it and said it's at 55%. Batteries here are out of stock because of the war and power outages and it's hard to get news ones, so I figured I'd save the $300 and try to keep this one alive for as long as I can.

The solar charger was hooked up correctly, but it either did nothing, or didn't do enough.

Here's the video update:

 

i would change the battery.


How are things in Ukraine?

 

You really need a battery maintainer rated at 2 amps. The SP-200 solar charger you used is rated at 2.4 watts. Under perfect daylight, that's 0.2 amp, and once the sun goes down, you have nothing. At best, it might keep a tiny motorcycle battery (that's not connected to anything) from self discharging overtime.

Being drained absolutely dead, your battery will have lost capacity. Try and find a modern charger with a battery recondition setting to help reverse sulfate buildup on plates.
I have a Stanley charger that does it and it's worked very well. My 5 year old lawn tractor battery got to the point it couldn't hold a charge for more than a day. I let the charger do the recondition thing and the battery ended up like new and is currently still working great after 2 years.

 

1hr of driving is definitely not enough to recharge a fully drained battery (assuming the battery is still salvageable). A good battery will take 12-18 hours to fully charge. No, putting it on a "fast" charger will not speed it up, as the battery only takes higher amperage in the beginning, rest drops off to slower charge rate.

If you drive the car infrequently, you need to figure out another way to charge and maintain the battery. Maybe if you fully charge the battery and THEN put the solar charger on, maybe it'll keep up. But, if you potentially put the maintainer on when the battery was already low on charge from the car being driven infrequently, that solar thing did not have much of a chance. That's why it's called maintainer and not a charger.

 

Nothing is easy in Ukraine right now I am sure.
A battery that is dead like yours from no charge for long time especially in cold climate can sometimes be rejuvenated. Unless battery is very old you may be able to bring it back.
From what I remember you need to have enough amperage to "break through the sulfite barrier". We used to sell battery backups for critical support for aquatic livestock. Here is some of what I remember and from some notes we still have:
"Equalization (EQ):
Equalization is a controlled overcharging of a fully charged battery. This overcharge mixes the electrolyte, evens the charge among varying battery cells and reduces permanent sulfation of the battery plates. It is energy invested in lengthening the life of the battery. Though the PV system battery bank receives a good deal of cycling and gassing through normal activity, equalization is a complement to this activity and as a rule of thumb should be done every 60 to 90 days. The equalization process consumes water and produces much gassing, so your batteries should be well ventilated during this charging. Equalization charging voltages vary widely, as do duration times, so the batteries should be monitored closely during this process. Check periodically during the EQ process. You don't have to check every cell each time, but watch any that show a high variation from the rest of the cells. Keep checking the specific gravity of the electrolyte until you receive three readings of 30 minutes apart which indicate no further increase of specific gravity values. Keep a record of individual cell voltages and specific gravity before and after equalizing. Equalization will take your voltage to 15 volts or higher (30 volts on a 24 volt system) so make sure any DC loads are disconnected before you begin."

 

Here is another article we had saved on battery maintenance / selection. Old but still some good info in here.