Elise Battery charging??
Discussion
Hi all,
Did have a search but couldnt find an exact answer so sorry if its been asked before.
My s2 elise battery is a bit flat, holding a charge but cannot turn engine. I want to charge it. The question I have is, is it best to do this with the battery in place in the car or should I remove it completely. I've heard removing it can cause problems.
Also what product do most elise owners use to keep their battery in good condition?? My car sleeps outside so preferably something that can cope with that - Solar cahrger?
Cheers
Did have a search but couldnt find an exact answer so sorry if its been asked before.
My s2 elise battery is a bit flat, holding a charge but cannot turn engine. I want to charge it. The question I have is, is it best to do this with the battery in place in the car or should I remove it completely. I've heard removing it can cause problems.
Also what product do most elise owners use to keep their battery in good condition?? My car sleeps outside so preferably something that can cope with that - Solar cahrger?
Cheers
patmahe said:
Hi all,
Did have a search but couldnt find an exact answer so sorry if its been asked before.
My s2 elise battery is a bit flat, holding a charge but cannot turn engine. I want to charge it. The question I have is, is it best to do this with the battery in place in the car or should I remove it completely. I've heard removing it can cause problems.
Also what product do most elise owners use to keep their battery in good condition?? My car sleeps outside so preferably something that can cope with that - Solar cahrger?
Cheers
There have been loads of psts on this subject in the past and i think quite a few people have reommended the solar option in your position and others have recommneded a trickle charger if garaged.Did have a search but couldnt find an exact answer so sorry if its been asked before.
My s2 elise battery is a bit flat, holding a charge but cannot turn engine. I want to charge it. The question I have is, is it best to do this with the battery in place in the car or should I remove it completely. I've heard removing it can cause problems.
Also what product do most elise owners use to keep their battery in good condition?? My car sleeps outside so preferably something that can cope with that - Solar cahrger?
Cheers
I had trouble with a battery on a brand new car that woudldnt start if i didnt drive it for a couple of days,ended up changing the battery in the end. In fact now i come to think about i ended up changing the car as well.
Im about to go away for a week and wont be driving the Lotus so it will be interesting to see if it starts when i get back.
patmahe said:
My s2 elise battery is a bit flat, holding a charge but cannot turn engine. I want to charge it. The question I have is, is it best to do this with the battery in place in the car or should I remove it completely. I've heard removing it can cause problems.
I leave it in the car but disconnect both terminals before charging.
The accumate is the most commonly recommended trickle charger although we've got a Halford own brand which normally spends its life hooked uo to the Horsebox and does the job fine.
I don't know the ins/outs, ups/dowms or right/wrongs of this but when my Elise battery started getting as bit iffy I bought a new one and I've only ever charged it once in nearly two years: I just gave it 24 hrs on the trickle charger when the car was off the road for a couple of months. If for any reason I've not been using the car much I tend to start it and let it tick over for about half an hour to keep the fluids circulating. Longest I've left the car without touching the battery or starting the car is nearly four weeks and the car started straight away. There's no substitute for a healthy battery.
I don't know the ins/outs, ups/dowms or right/wrongs of this but when my Elise battery started getting as bit iffy I bought a new one and I've only ever charged it once in nearly two years: I just gave it 24 hrs on the trickle charger when the car was off the road for a couple of months. If for any reason I've not been using the car much I tend to start it and let it tick over for about half an hour to keep the fluids circulating. Longest I've left the car without touching the battery or starting the car is nearly four weeks and the car started straight away. There's no substitute for a healthy battery.
I've got a Ctek 3600 and it's brilliant. Leave it connected all the time (when it's stationary!) and it constantly checks and pulses the charge to maintain it at 100%. Recommended by Porsche and if it's good enough for them....!
The unit is fully water proof as well, so can be used outdoors as I noticed that you park outside.
The unit is fully water proof as well, so can be used outdoors as I noticed that you park outside.
I use the Optimate, a battery charger/conditoner which was originally made to handle the (very) fragile motorcycle electrics during in situ charging.
The main difference between it and the Accumate is the above, that it is more gentle - albeit slower - when charging.
You can hook it up and leave for as long as you wish - it just turns on and off as needed.
Excellent product. ( Don't worry about the motorcycle tag or 'only for batteries to 35 amp', it works fine on car batteries - just slowly. )
The main difference between it and the Accumate is the above, that it is more gentle - albeit slower - when charging.
You can hook it up and leave for as long as you wish - it just turns on and off as needed.
Excellent product. ( Don't worry about the motorcycle tag or 'only for batteries to 35 amp', it works fine on car batteries - just slowly. )
We just had a very similar issue. We jumped the car and took it for a long run, the same thing happened again.
The indicator on the top was black (indicating it needed a charge) so we decided to get a proper charger. A couple of cells also looked a little low, so we topped them up and charged the battery with a Halfrauds jobby.
Went to put the battery back in the car and realised my hand was wet - looked at the battery and one of the plugs over the cell cover was dripping water. I took the cover off, up-ended the cover and shook out the water and dried the inside and the cover itself, ready to put it back in the car... Then the 'water' started to fizz when it hit the ground, and then I came to realise my fingers were tingling somewhat.
So we bought a new battery, and all is well with the car - just a shame it is not quite as powerful or have the same engery capacity as the OEM one.
The indicator on the top was black (indicating it needed a charge) so we decided to get a proper charger. A couple of cells also looked a little low, so we topped them up and charged the battery with a Halfrauds jobby.
Went to put the battery back in the car and realised my hand was wet - looked at the battery and one of the plugs over the cell cover was dripping water. I took the cover off, up-ended the cover and shook out the water and dried the inside and the cover itself, ready to put it back in the car... Then the 'water' started to fizz when it hit the ground, and then I came to realise my fingers were tingling somewhat.
So we bought a new battery, and all is well with the car - just a shame it is not quite as powerful or have the same engery capacity as the OEM one.
RobM77 said:
Genuine question from someone who doesn't know much about electrics: Why would I need to disconnect the terminals before I charge my battery?
I've often wondered that. To charge a battery you need to supply a significantly higher voltage than the battery puts out (for a 12V lead acid accumulator about 15V seems to be ideal) but by definition the alternator has to put out enough voltage to charge the battery and that obviously doesn't damage the car's electronics. I suspect it does no harm whatsoever unless the it makes the alarm thinks its being tampered with.
ETA: I have always charged all my cars with the battery connected and never had a problem.
Edited by kambites on Monday 19th May 12:00
kambites said:
RobM77 said:
Genuine question from someone who doesn't know much about electrics: Why would I need to disconnect the terminals before I charge my battery?
I've often wondered that. To charge a battery you need to supply a significantly higher voltage than the battery puts out (for a 12V lead acid accumulator about 15V seems to be ideal) but by definition the alternator has to put out enough voltage to charge the battery and that obviously doesn't damage the car's electronics. I suspect it does no harm whatsoever unless the it makes the alarm thinks its being tampered with.
ETA: I have always charged all my cars with the battery connected and never had a problem.
Edited by kambites on Monday 19th May 12:00
I think the electrics side was more a worry when we had chargers that just did that - charge. Many of us just guessed when the battery was charged, and ended up frying the thing. This would then put massive pressure on the alternator/rectifier as it tried to recover a deadish battery...the whole system would die. ( Suzuki bikes from the 80s were notorious for this )
I used a halfords batttery charger.
A lot depends on the quality of the battery. The OE battery would take a month to go flat, and lasted 5 years. I replaced it with a Halfords battery, which after 6 months would not hold a charge for more than a week. The replacement warrantied battery wsa the same.
I then switched to a Bosch Silver (Just £60 from HiQ) batttery and it has been left weeks without being charged and started first time.
A lot depends on the quality of the battery. The OE battery would take a month to go flat, and lasted 5 years. I replaced it with a Halfords battery, which after 6 months would not hold a charge for more than a week. The replacement warrantied battery wsa the same.
I then switched to a Bosch Silver (Just £60 from HiQ) batttery and it has been left weeks without being charged and started first time.
jondude said:
A problem area is that the stronger (faster) the charge, the more acidic gasses collect in and around all the engine compartment and wiring. You can help by removing the cell caps and lifting the bonnet, but it really doesn't take too much effort to corrode nearby wires. You then get everyone's favourite....the intermittent electrical failure.
I think the electrics side was more a worry when we had chargers that just did that - charge. Many of us just guessed when the battery was charged, and ended up frying the thing. This would then put massive pressure on the alternator/rectifier as it tried to recover a deadish battery...the whole system would die. ( Suzuki bikes from the 80s were notorious for this )
But a battery charger which puts the same PD across the terminals as the alternator (about 14.5v?) can be left attached permanently with no adverse effects - otherwise the alternator itself would kill the battery while you were driving along.I think the electrics side was more a worry when we had chargers that just did that - charge. Many of us just guessed when the battery was charged, and ended up frying the thing. This would then put massive pressure on the alternator/rectifier as it tried to recover a deadish battery...the whole system would die. ( Suzuki bikes from the 80s were notorious for this )
Yep, take your point but if I remember rightly - and this is still the case - every time a battery is close to discharge ( which can be the case is the cells are destroyed through overcharging ) then this puts extra pressure on the alternator as it works way, way past it's normal workday trying to charge a battery which won't charge properly.
With a sporadically charging battery, the one which appears fine then is flat the next day, the alternator is, in theory, always running at maximum power....it fries.
I'll try to find more info as I'll admit to having a sketchy memory of the true details and reasons when Suzuki GS 550s/750s and the GSX range kept blowing up! ( But the cure was either beefier electrics or ensuring the battery was 100% charged and healthy at all times )
With a sporadically charging battery, the one which appears fine then is flat the next day, the alternator is, in theory, always running at maximum power....it fries.
I'll try to find more info as I'll admit to having a sketchy memory of the true details and reasons when Suzuki GS 550s/750s and the GSX range kept blowing up! ( But the cure was either beefier electrics or ensuring the battery was 100% charged and healthy at all times )
jondude said:
Yep, take your point but if I remember rightly - and this is still the case - every time a battery is close to discharge ( which can be the case is the cells are destroyed through overcharging ) then this puts extra pressure on the alternator as it works way, way past it's normal workday trying to charge a battery which won't charge properly.
With a sporadically charging battery, the one which appears fine then is flat the next day, the alternator is, in theory, always running at maximum power....it fries.
I'll try to find more info as I'll admit to having a sketchy memory of the true details and reasons when Suzuki GS 550s/750s and the GSX range kept blowing up! ( But the cure was either beefier electrics or ensuring the battery was 100% charged and healthy at all times )
Any battery which is allowed to discharge will indeed put a lot of strain on the diodes in the recifier pack , this combined with the heat from the exhaust manifold can/will lead to premature failure of the diodes as they only have a limited heat range.With a sporadically charging battery, the one which appears fine then is flat the next day, the alternator is, in theory, always running at maximum power....it fries.
I'll try to find more info as I'll admit to having a sketchy memory of the true details and reasons when Suzuki GS 550s/750s and the GSX range kept blowing up! ( But the cure was either beefier electrics or ensuring the battery was 100% charged and healthy at all times )
It's always prudent to keep the battery trickle charged and have good alternator shielding in place to minimize such failures.
I use an accumate and bought the cigarette socket adaptor. I can leave the battery in situ and connected whilst charging - prevents the crocodile clips jumping off the terminals which can happen relatively easily. Obviously not an ideal solution for when parking outside but thought I'd mention for those who have access to a garage.
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