Cigar socket battery chargers
Discussion
used mine through cig lighter for a while but it kept blowing fuses however i think the battery was on last legs back then. So i moved leads to connect direct to battery. Its very easy to add the leads that come with the charger direct to the battery and charge it that way. yes its not the easiest battery to get at but it can be done in less than an hour ....if its a chim / grif (sorry forgot what it was you had now) then only thing to do is mark the position of the battery so as to make it easy to line up when you re fit it.
andykart said:
used mine through cig lighter for a while but it kept blowing fuses however i think the battery was on last legs back then. So i moved leads to connect direct to battery. Its very easy to add the leads that come with the charger direct to the battery and charge it that way. yes its not the easiest battery to get at but it can be done in less than an hour ....if its a chim / grif (sorry forgot what it was you had now) then only thing to do is mark the position of the battery so as to make it easy to line up when you re fit it.
I would suggest anyone doing this should invest in an in-line fuse.I dont understand all the Hullabaloo surrounding jump starting a Chim.
I needed a jump a while back so I simply reveled the battery in the footwell and just held the 2 jump leads up against (not clamped to) the posts for the 2 seconds it took for the AA bloke to turn the ignition on and job done.
Being as how if you are ever in need of a jump there will be 2 of you presumably (you and the chap offering his car) why is jump starting seemingly an issue?
I needed a jump a while back so I simply reveled the battery in the footwell and just held the 2 jump leads up against (not clamped to) the posts for the 2 seconds it took for the AA bloke to turn the ignition on and job done.
Being as how if you are ever in need of a jump there will be 2 of you presumably (you and the chap offering his car) why is jump starting seemingly an issue?
Derek Smith said:
andykart said:
used mine through cig lighter for a while but it kept blowing fuses however i think the battery was on last legs back then. So i moved leads to connect direct to battery. Its very easy to add the leads that come with the charger direct to the battery and charge it that way. yes its not the easiest battery to get at but it can be done in less than an hour ....if its a chim / grif (sorry forgot what it was you had now) then only thing to do is mark the position of the battery so as to make it easy to line up when you re fit it.
I would suggest anyone doing this should invest in an in-line fuse.Just spotted this thread in the Cerbera forum which is very relevant;
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... dear, how much is this going to cost?
Although in this instance it appears to be due to a socket malfunction, rather than a power overload, it does show that the fuse does not always protect the cars wiring which is what is being implied by others on this thread. That must have been some heat generated to melt the fuse holder
Fortunatley for the OP he was with the car at the time unlike when a car is tucked away in a garage unattended.
Would a charger detect this as fault as there was still a circuit i.e short circuit had not blown the fuse or would it just push more power through thinking it was a discharged battery?
Bodders
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... dear, how much is this going to cost?
Although in this instance it appears to be due to a socket malfunction, rather than a power overload, it does show that the fuse does not always protect the cars wiring which is what is being implied by others on this thread. That must have been some heat generated to melt the fuse holder
Fortunatley for the OP he was with the car at the time unlike when a car is tucked away in a garage unattended.
Would a charger detect this as fault as there was still a circuit i.e short circuit had not blown the fuse or would it just push more power through thinking it was a discharged battery?
Bodders
If you use the cig lighter as a cig lighter, it will get very dirty and corroded!
When you plug the charger in, the high resistance due to the ash could cause it to get hot.
Mine is a new cig lighter, I don't smoke so use the Optimate adaptor, but do make sure it is firmly pushed into the socket.
When you plug the charger in, the high resistance due to the ash could cause it to get hot.
Mine is a new cig lighter, I don't smoke so use the Optimate adaptor, but do make sure it is firmly pushed into the socket.
May be a good idea to get an anderson connector if you dont already have one, and charge through this connection, there are some chargers on ebay with the adaptor already fitted.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-TUSCAN-TAMORA-T350-SAGAR...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-TUSCAN-TAMORA-T350-SAGAR...
Edited by robbri on Monday 2nd February 02:37
Edited by robbri on Monday 2nd February 02:38
spot on VPower!
in my experience quite a few car fires start as a result of poor connection generating heat.. One of the most common examples is domestic light bulbs.. Eveyones been there .. When the glass shatters. It is essential that contacts are clean and a firm connection is made.
in my experience quite a few car fires start as a result of poor connection generating heat.. One of the most common examples is domestic light bulbs.. Eveyones been there .. When the glass shatters. It is essential that contacts are clean and a firm connection is made.
A year ago I bought a little run-around to ease the cost of running my V8S as an everyday car.
This then proved a very good move as we suffered the fuel price hike. As a result the TVR has since spent more time in the garage, leading to the battery running flat.
I charged the battery at the weekend, and bought a trickle charger from Maplins. Yesterday I attached it to the battery and happily watched the blue light (which flashes when topping up the battery) flash away until the sun went down.
Today on arriving home the blue light is now on constantly - does any one know if this mean that the battery is now fully topped up and won't take any further charge?
Steve
This then proved a very good move as we suffered the fuel price hike. As a result the TVR has since spent more time in the garage, leading to the battery running flat.
I charged the battery at the weekend, and bought a trickle charger from Maplins. Yesterday I attached it to the battery and happily watched the blue light (which flashes when topping up the battery) flash away until the sun went down.
Today on arriving home the blue light is now on constantly - does any one know if this mean that the battery is now fully topped up and won't take any further charge?
Steve
GT TVR said:
I have a Optimate 3 which I plug in the cigar lighter on my Tuscan 2S. It's been charging for 3 days now and still no green light. This can't be right.
I have seen the battery go up from 12,0V to 13,1V (on the dash read-out).
Any ideas?
An optimate is a trickle charger and is very sensitive to any drain in the battery so if your immobiliser is running it will be taking a charge which might be just stopping the battery being 100% also if the battery was *very* flat or has been regularilty discharged it might take a while to repair.I have seen the battery go up from 12,0V to 13,1V (on the dash read-out).
Any ideas?
I gave my battery a re-fresh earlier in the week and the green light went to amber on my Accumate by opening the door and the interior light coming on.
GT TVR said:
Is it harmful to the battery/wiring etc. if it stays in charging mode for a long time?
Not at all, you should leave them plugged in all the time, they are intelligent battery conditioner, not simple trickle chargers, my Griff has been on one for 3 or 4 years and I have a few other cars all plugged into Optimate/Accumates...p.s. As they are plug and forget I have forgotten,
but... is the Optimate the one that's switchable between 6v & 12v or does it auto detect? If the former you may have accidentally knocked it to 6v? And, with the weather being so cold batteries take longer to charge.RichB said:
GT TVR said:
Is it harmful to the battery/wiring etc. if it stays in charging mode for a long time?
Not at all, you should leave them plugged in all the time, they are intelligent battery conditioner, not simple trickle chargers, my Griff has been on one for 3 or 4 years and I have a few other cars all plugged into Optimate/Accumates...p.s. As they are plug and forget I have forgotten,
but... is the Optimate the one that's switchable between 6v & 12v or does it auto detect? If the former you may have accidentally knocked it to 6v? And, with the weather being so cold batteries take longer to charge.I don't think there is a switch for 6/12V, it's only 12V.
The car is in a heated garage so cold shouldn't be a factor.
I had the same problem when charging the battery of the Griff, the green light never came on.
Are you sure it won't hurt to leave it, even if the green light doesn't come on?
BTW how is Grizzly these days?
GT TVR said:
Thing is, the battery was fine when I plugged the Optimate in. So I think it should have shown a green light after 1 or 2 days.
Is it harmful to the battery/wiring etc. if it stays in charging mode for a long time?
As has been said they are intelligent.Is it harmful to the battery/wiring etc. if it stays in charging mode for a long time?
If it is charging then that is not a problem.
It will go into test mode and if it detects a fault it will show the fault light!
Optimate charges, switiches off and waits to see the battery voltage drop over a period of time. Only worry if the fault light come up.
If it keeps topping up, then thats what you bought if for??
By the way,I have turned my interior lights to the off position (never come on) while the car is undercover and not being used. Just in case!
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