Dead Battery...What happened?

[Beelzy]

So, as the title states, I have a dead battery.
But I have a question...
I normally alarm the car, and it sits for weeks at a time and the battery stays charged.
A few weeks back the water pump went out. I put the top in service mode, turned the car off, bit Did Not alarm the car. Yesterday I found the battery dead.

Does not alarming the car make the battery discharge quicker for some odd reason?

Appreciate any opinions, and of course the humorous replies!

[PatM]

Did you leave the key in the ignition??

[Lapister]

It seems that many of us end up with dead batteries without a warning. Mine died on the road and only when I tried to restart it the battery light came on. Replaced the battery then realized the alternator wasn't charging. My VR was bad. So, if in fact my battery died cause it wasn't charging the light never came on to let me know until after the fact.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Beelzy

So, as the title states, I have a dead battery.
But I have a question...
I normally alarm the car, and it sits for weeks at a time and the battery stays charged.
A few weeks back the water pump went out. I put the top in service mode, turned the car off, bit Did Not alarm the car. Yesterday I found the battery dead.

Does not alarming the car make the battery discharge quicker for some odd reason?

Appreciate any opinions, and of course the humorous replies!

Batteries are "consumables" like tires or brake pads, they are not forever and typically die without notice.

[MWS]

Originally Posted by Beelzy

So, as the title states, I have a dead battery.
But I have a question...Does not alarming the car make the battery discharge quicker for some odd reason?

Yes. Maybe. Sort of.

I had a similar question, and started investigating (search my post "interior light delay times"). In short, what I found is that locking the vehicle shortens the delay times of interior lighting (if you have the LED "orientation lights", did you know they stay on for 2 hours after turning off the car if it remains unlocked?). Would this drain a battery? Doubtful, but it does discharge the battery faster than if it was locked. I don't honestly know what circuits remain active with the top in "service position", and if these are also switched off when doors are locked...but if something does remain active, it could also contribute to a battery drain. Would it completely discharge the battery? Dunno.

So to answer your question...hypothetically, yes. Maybe.

[thstone]

Modern batteries are designed to maintain sufficient voltage... until they don't. The days of gradual or graceful degradation are long gone. Very common to work great right up until it dies and then its dead and gone.

[dghii]

Your battery is dead. How old is your battery? Either charge it or buy a new one.

The end.

[Beelzy]

Thanks for the feedback!

For the record though, no key in ignition.