Knackered charger and which battery?

[jsr]

Despite having my car plugged into my accumate charger, i just returned from the garage having found the battery completely dead I can't find my manual for the charger at the moment. The light indicating the 12v supply is illuminated, but neither the fully charged or low level indicators are lit up. Does this mean my charger is broken or my battery is beyond repair.

Or perhaps charge is not getting to the battery so it cant monitor its state? I connect through the cigarette lighter - perhaps it is this that has failed.

With regards to replacement batteries, i have had a quick search and the ABXAGM from Performancebatteries.co,uk seems to get the thumbs up. Just wondering if you had any other recommendations.

Now i have the fun task of getting at and replacing the battery

Cheers,
James

PS - As a bit of background the battery in my 1994 400 was last replaced about 6 years ago. For medical reasons, i have not driven the car for 3 years, but regularly started her up. She would always start fine. Typical that now i can drive again and am looking to get the car back on the road the battery seems to have finally died. Given the length of time without use, i will probably replace the battery anyway.

[pinchmeimdreamin]

I had to replace my battery yesterday, after shopping around online and by phone I went to my local Motor factor with the battery and got a replacement 570 CCA one for £59.99.

[simonej]

My battery had completely died over the cold winter. I tried charging it with a conventional charger but had no joy and had written the battery off.

I decided to buy a CTEK 3600XS as I thought it's something I should probably own anyway, but before throwing the dead battery away I thought I'd see if the 'desulphation mode' actually worked. It seems so! The battery seems fine. I did 3 or 4 short journeys and had no problem starting it each time and the green indicator on the battery was still visible.

So far it seems to have saved me a new battery. Worth a try?

[jsr]

simonej said:

My battery had completely died over the cold winter. I tried charging it with a conventional charger but had no joy and had written the battery off.

I decided to buy a CTEK 3600XS as I thought it's something I should probably own anyway, but before throwing the dead battery away I thought I'd see if the 'desulphation mode' actually worked. It seems so! The battery seems fine. I did 3 or 4 short journeys and had no problem starting it each time and the green indicator on the battery was still visible.

So far it seems to have saved me a new battery. Worth a try?

I've thought about something like that but if that doesn't work i would still have to fork out a similar amount for another battery. I think i'll go for a standard battery like what pinchmeimdreamin suggested. Found a 600CCA chimaera battery for £63 including next day delivery which seems pretty good.

I've also found the manual for the accumate online - seems if only the power led is on and neither of the charge status leds, then the battery is likely to be irrecoverable.