Trickle Charge

[Bonnie and Clyde]

Reading this thread the last couple of days www.hsv.org.uk/topic.asp?t=629755&f=69&h=27
and was wondering would it be worth in this weather keeping the car on trickle charge? It was started and run about seven days ago although it had been sitting for a week. It did start although it struggled. Again i took it out for a run to get it up to temp today and again it struggled to start.
The thing i want to know is; we bought a trickle charger from Porsche as we weren't getting the use of the Boxter S blaa blaa blaa. I was wondering if it would suitable for the Monaro.
Cheers me dears
Mel

[stigmundfreud]

does the porker have a negative earth? If so there is your answer

[Bonnie and Clyde]

stigmundfreud said:

does the porker have a negative earth? If so there is your answer

How am i supposed to know. I'm not smart like you Stigmundo. Do you know

Edited by Bonnie and Clyde on Wednesday 7th January 23:03

[stigmundfreud]

I'd hazard it was a negative earth, check the polarity on your charger it will tell you on there

[eileenb]

Mel,
Our 'sunny, dry days' car in the garage is permanently connected to a battery trickle conditioner charger. Keeps the battery up to par and the 33 year old Pontiac V8 starts first time, every time.

My Ro sat for about 10 days outside over Christmas and started without any trouble at the first turn of the key.

Edited by eileenb on Wednesday 7th January 23:30

[Bonnie and Clyde]

eileenb said:

Mel,
Our 'sunny, dry days' car in the garage is permanently connected to a battery trickle conditioner charger. Keeps the battery up to par and the 33 year old Pontiac V8 starts first time, every time.

My Ro sat for about 10 days outside over Christmas and started without any trouble at the first turn of the key.

Edited by eileenb on Wednesday 7th January 23:30

Cheers for the advice
I'll keep an eye on the battery then Eileen.

[Bonnie and Clyde]

stigmundfreud said:

I'd hazard it was a negative earth, check the polarity on your charger it will tell you on there

Cheers babe i'll have a look

[Black VXR]

If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

[Bonnie and Clyde]

Black VXR said:

If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

I didn't know there was a difference. I wouldn't have thought that Porsche main dealers would have sold us one that in the long term would "fry" the battery. It cost a bomb as well. What do you think?

[stigmundfreud]

Bonnie and Clyde said:

Black VXR said:

If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

I didn't know there was a difference. I wouldn't have thought that Porsche main dealers would have sold us one that in the long term would "fry" the battery. It cost a bomb as well. What do you think?

I think you should have gone to Halfords for your trickle charger, 30 quid is what I paid for my Optimate but thats by the by. A dealer will sell you anything they can even if you don't need it. That car paint protection they do for free thats worth £300 quid etc. I digress. If you go into the Porsche section they will confirm what tool you have and what polarity the car is. 99% of cars are - earth but those pesky fritz might do things different just to make you more likely to buy their tools

[Bonnie and Clyde]

stigmundfreud said:

Bonnie and Clyde said:

Black VXR said:

If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

I didn't know there was a difference. I wouldn't have thought that Porsche main dealers would have sold us one that in the long term would "fry" the battery. It cost a bomb as well. What do you think?

I think you should have gone to Halfords for your trickle charger, 30 quid is what I paid for my Optimate but thats by the by. A dealer will sell you anything they can even if you don't need it. That car paint protection they do for free thats worth £300 quid etc. I digress. If you go into the Porsche section they will confirm what tool you have and what polarity the car is. 99% of cars are - earth but those pesky fritz might do things different just to make you more likely to buy their tools

We paid £350 for our paint protection

[stigmundfreud]

Bonnie and Clyde said:

stigmundfreud said:

Bonnie and Clyde said:

Black VXR said:

If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

I didn't know there was a difference. I wouldn't have thought that Porsche main dealers would have sold us one that in the long term would "fry" the battery. It cost a bomb as well. What do you think?

I think you should have gone to Halfords for your trickle charger, 30 quid is what I paid for my Optimate but thats by the by. A dealer will sell you anything they can even if you don't need it. That car paint protection they do for free thats worth £300 quid etc. I digress. If you go into the Porsche section they will confirm what tool you have and what polarity the car is. 99% of cars are - earth but those pesky fritz might do things different just to make you more likely to buy their tools

We paid £350 for our paint protection

if I could I would hug you just for that

[Bonnie and Clyde]

stigmundfreud said:

Bonnie and Clyde said:

stigmundfreud said:

Bonnie and Clyde said:

[quote=Black VXR]If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

I didn't know there was a difference. I wouldn't have thought that Porsche main dealers would have sold us one that in the long term would "fry" the battery. It cost a bomb as well. What do you think?

I think you should have gone to Halfords for your trickle charger, 30 quid is what I paid for my Optimate but thats by the by. A dealer will sell you anything they can even if you don't need it. That car paint protection they do for free thats worth £300 quid etc. I digress. If you go into the Porsche section they will confirm what tool you have and what polarity the car is. 99% of cars are - earth but those pesky fritz might do things different just to make you more likely to buy their tools

We paid £350 for our paint protection

if I could I would hug you just for that[/quotThankyou

[eileenb]

Yes, the little battery conditioner we use for the car laid up in the garage came from Halfords as was about £30. Made by Draper I think.


It's the Draper BM1 here - http://www.draper.co.uk/Pages/Pagesource/p73.pdf

[Magic919]

Bonnie and Clyde said:

Black VXR said:

If the car is used most days there is no need for this. A new battery might be in order. Sure when laying up a car for weeks at a time you need to have a battery conditioner fitted - don't put a normal charger on long term you will fry the battery...

I didn't know there was a difference. I wouldn't have thought that Porsche main dealers would have sold us one that in the long term would "fry" the battery. It cost a bomb as well. What do you think?

I think the 'Porsche' charger will be just fine. Could well be a re-badged CTEK and they are good chargers. You can leave a car on one of those indefinitely.

[v2rac]

Are we not talking about battery chargers that come with a black and a red wire with crocodile clips on the end to connect to the battery. Has something new come on the market that means you have to have a charger to match your car. Sorry if being a touch dim.

[granada203028]

A good quality battery charger should be regulated to 13.8 - 14.0V. For trickle charging a few 100mA is sufficient for a battery in good condition. For charging, up to a few 10's A will help to get some useable charge quickly in to a flat but again otherwise good battery. If voltage regulated the current will naturally drop back to the trickle level when it is fully charged. A duff battery the current may not drop back and it will heat up. It is possible then for thermal runaway to occur if the charger is powerful and the ambient temperature high.

For a car in regular use it is unlikely any additional charging will extend the life of the battery significantly. Similarly "fancy" lead acid batteries such as optima spiral plate types aren't worth it unless you are really trying to save weight by using a small one. We had some in a battery pallet truck at work and they only lasted 2 1/2 years. Not very good even allowing for a bit of abuse/neglect.

[Black VXR]

We are talking about battery conditioners which cut out once the charge is complete and then monitor the voltage as long as connected to the car. They cut back in and out as required. Battery chargers run a trickle charge all the time and will fry the battery if left connected. Conditioners are useful as most modern cars are using some power even when switched off (alarms, music system memory and clocks etc) these low discharges will kill off a battery if the car is not run for a while (in some cases two weeks or less). The cold makes batteries less efficient and of course the cold also makes the oil thicker, making cranking speed slower. These things all conspire to spoil your fun. If the battery is good then a conditioner may be required. If the battery is end of life, no amount of charging will help it re-new.

Hope this helps

[ads_green]

A battery conditioner is more than just an auto sensing charger - it sends a modified pulse through the electrics that cause any crystal formed on the metal plates (they form if the battery goes completely flat) in the battery to breakdown and restore the capacity of the battery.

[Bonnie and Clyde]

Just wondered if it would work. Thanks for all your help