30 Days of not driving

I was away for 30 days and haven't driven my leaf since then. When I came back and the car is dead. It won't turn on or the lights won't come on. I left the charger connected.

I'm guessing that the 12 volt battery is dead. I don't really have any tools to test it. I figured I ask before spending time to remove it and take it to the store to get it charged.

Could it be another problem?

You cannot know what the problem is unless you first make sure the 12V battery is charged. 99/100 that is the only problem

A digital multi meter is under $10 Buy one you will use it more than you think.
I have a trickle charger that will charge a 12v car battery. under $50

You could remove it and take it to a place that sells car batteries and they will test it for free. A full test cannot be done with a totally dead battery, but they might charge it for you.

I would buy a battery charger/ maintainer if you go out of town often. You will never have the problem again for $30

Yes, you made a classic mistake by leaving the charger connected for 30 days. It is a known bug that the Leaf 12v battery will not top off while connected to the J1772 plug. Always leave the Leaf unplugged (and ideally in the 60% charge range) when leaving for long periods of time.

If your 12v battery is old, it will be damaged at this point from deep discharge, otherwise you can probably just top it off and be good to go again.

cheers,
Marko

I will return to my 2015 LeafS after a 30 day absence. I left it unplugged, with about 35miles remaining on the GOM.

I have the car wired so I can plug in my BatteryTender Plus periodically. Now I'm thinking I should have kept THAT charger plugged in.

I recently replaced the OEM battery with a Bosch AGM battery. I have plugged the BatteryTender in a couple of times, and the battery charger instantly showed that the battery was 80% charged.

Thoughts? Thanks!

I left the charger connected.

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That was what caused the dead 12 volt battery, as already noted.

I recently replaced the OEM battery with a Bosch AGM battery. I have plugged the BatteryTender in a couple of times, and the battery charger instantly showed that the battery was 80% charged.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Do you take a lot of short trips and few longer ones?

MaxLeafPower,
You will probably find that the 12-volt battery will not accept a charge because it would have been dead after only a few days so it sat discharged for at least 2 weeks.

Gncndad,
Your 12-volt battery should be fine when you return. I frequently park for extended time and have never connected an external charger to the 12-volt battery in my Leaf.

MaxLeafPower said:

I was away for 30 days and haven't driven my leaf since then. When I came back and the car is dead. It won't turn on or the lights won't come on. I left the charger connected.

I'm guessing that the 12 volt battery is dead. I don't really have any tools to test it. I figured I ask before spending time to remove it and take it to the store to get it charged.

Could it be another problem?

Click to expand...

Was it the original battery in your 2011? If so it had a good service life but between age and having been run flat, probably not a bad time to replace it even if it seems to recover.