Will this battery charger be any good?

[Porkupine]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Duty-6V-12V-8-Amp-...

My battery is sometimes causing my daily driver to start a little slowly. Car is 2009, so not expected. had battery tested locally, and told fine, but may need a charge. Will this do the job?

I have seen many recommended for CTEK on this site, but at over £100, I may aswel buy a new battery rather than buy that. Not expecting my battery to get weak again, on this one may be due to previous owner lack of use.

p.s. car is a Mercedes cdi

Thanks

[Leins]

Just get one of these, they're brilliant: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-CTE-MXS5-0-12V-Batter...

They have a reconditioning function too

[TheLastPost]

Porkupine said:

Not expecting my battery to get weak again, on this one may be due to previous owner lack of use.

If this is the case and your existing battery is genuinely fine, and the alternator & charging circuit are working as they should, I'd spend the £20 on diesel and just take the car for a good, long run.

But how long have you had the car and what sort of use do you put it to?

Unless you're doing mainly short journeys, it should have 'recovered' from the previous owner's lack of use by now, unless something else is amiss.

[Porkupine]

TheLastPost said:

Porkupine said:

Not expecting my battery to get weak again, on this one may be due to previous owner lack of use.

If this is the case and your existing battery is genuinely fine, and the alternator & charging circuit are working as they should, I'd spend the £20 on diesel and just take the car for a good, long run.

But how long have you had the car and what sort of use do you put it to?

Unless you're doing mainly short journeys, it should have 'recovered' from the previous owner's lack of use by now, unless something else is amiss.

This is exactly what I was thinking. The guy who tested it said take it for a long drive. Since I bought it around 3 months ago, I drive it everyday, and have been on very long journeys, i.e. Newcastle - London return 2-3 times. He told me perhaps try charging it and it would be fine in that case, as his machine came up with 'battery good' but charge 0%. Whatever that means. The problem I have been having is slow starting when cold. Which I assumed would be battery. Been on STAR machine and no codes showing. So my decision was whether I should invest 20 odd quid in a battery charger and give that a go, or spend approx £200 and get a new battery.
Or do nothing!! And let it catch me out and get stranded somewhere!

[Porkupine]

Leins said:

Just get one of these, they're brilliant: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-CTE-MXS5-0-12V-Batter...

They have a reconditioning function too

Had a look at these, but just seems a lot to spend for just a one-off use! As driving it everyday, I know it won't be allowed to lose charge or suffer again!

[miniman]

Porkupine said:

Had a look at these, but just seems a lot to spend for just a one-off use! As driving it everyday, I know it won't be allowed to lose charge or suffer again!

In which case either jump or bump start it and take it for a good run.

[the_lone_wolf]

Optimate is the standard amongst the motorcycle community

I have two, one has been on continuously for getting on five years now, the new one two, and never had an issue with either

Very much recommended

[jet_noise]

Dear P,

£20 is not much to risk is it?
Anything that get's you started is good in my book.

Hilka is a good brand in tools - I've still got my first socket set from 1976

regards,
Jet

[TheLastPost]

Porkupine said:

...his machine came up with 'battery good' but charge 0%. Whatever that means. The problem I have been having is slow starting when cold. Which I assumed would be battery.

I'd get a second opinion on the battery and check that the alternator is actually charging before believing that.

But first, I'd be tempted to check the connections - particularly the earth connection to the engine block - to ensure that it's not just a loose/corroded connection or that's causing the problem.

Good quality (expensive!) battery chargers have a 'recovery' mode that (AIUI) uses pulses of current to disperse any sulphating of the battery plates but to be honest if the battery is far gone enough to need it, I'd be inclined to replace it anyway.

[Leins]

Porkupine said:

Had a look at these, but just seems a lot to spend for just a one-off use! As driving it everyday, I know it won't be allowed to lose charge or suffer again!

That's fair enough. I use mine on the batteries over the winter when the cars aren't out

Still, a few friends now have asked to borrow it when they've returned home from holidays and a car won't start, so I think they're always handy to have about the place

[DaveEssex]

Porkupine said:

The problem I have been having is slow starting when cold. Which I assumed would be battery.

Can we go back a step or two to understand what the symptoms are.
1. Does the engine turn over slowly when cranked or not - is battery turning over the engine fast enough?
2. Is the battery cranking the engine, at least initially, at a reasonable speed, but the engine isn't able to fire-up?

[Porkupine]

DaveEssex said:

Can we go back a step or two to understand what the symptoms are.
1. Does the engine turn over slowly when cranked or not - is battery turning over the engine fast enough?
2. Is the battery cranking the engine, at least initially, at a reasonable speed, but the engine isn't able to fire-up?

90% of the time car starts as normal.
Some days when very cold and it is first start of the day it cranks a couple of times more than I would expect but still starts. Just a couple of seconds longer than normal. Aside from this no other symptoms. I just assumed would be battery as nothing coming up on diagnosis. And only when cold temperatures.

[DaveEssex]

Porkupine said:

90% of the time car starts as normal.
Some days when very cold and it is first start of the day it cranks a couple of times more than I would expect but still starts. Just a couple of seconds longer than normal. Aside from this no other symptoms. I just assumed would be battery as nothing coming up on diagnosis. And only when cold temperatures.

Does sound like the battery could not be strong enough, so that when everything is cold/stiff it may be to small or in poor condition.
We need to do "is/is not" on this.
I suggest that when you have a quiet moment, and preferably when the engine has recently been run, that you disconnect plug leads and crank the engine to see if it quickly loses power (cranking speed drops off quickly). This will help to identify/eliminate thsi as the fault.
You will need to be able to recharge the battery in case it drains.
More advise is available.

[spikey78]

I agree, go outside and pull the plug leads off of your diesel Merc then report back

[TheLastPost]

Porkupine said:

DaveEssex said:

Can we go back a step or two to understand what the symptoms are.
1. Does the engine turn over slowly when cranked or not - is battery turning over the engine fast enough?
2. Is the battery cranking the engine, at least initially, at a reasonable speed, but the engine isn't able to fire-up?

90% of the time car starts as normal.
Some days when very cold and it is first start of the day it cranks a couple of times more than I would expect but still starts. Just a couple of seconds longer than normal. Aside from this no other symptoms. I just assumed would be battery as nothing coming up on diagnosis. And only when cold temperatures.

Hang on... so you're telling us that the engine cranks (turns over) OK, just that sometimes you have to crank it for a couple of seconds longer than you expected before it will fire?

It's not that the battery is struggling to crank the engine over?

And it's a diesel?

This means:
a) Your expectations are too high: even the best diesels can be a touch reluctant to fire when it's very cold, and/or;
b) Your glow plugs are past their best, and/or;
c) You're not giving long enough for the glow plugs to warm up after switching on the ignition, before cranking the engine over (do you always ensure that the little orange 'coil' symbol on your dashboard goes out before cranking the engine, to indicate that the glow plugs have reached operating temperature?).




[walksoffmuttering]Bloody technically illiterate numpty Porsche owners[/walksoffmuttering]

[Porkupine]

TheLastPost said:

c) You're not giving long enough for the glow plugs to warm up after switching on the ignition, before cranking the engine over (do you always ensure that the little orange 'coil' symbol on your dashboard goes out before cranking the engine, to indicate that the glow plugs have reached operating temperature?).




[walksoffmuttering]Bloody technically illiterate numpty Porsche owners[/walksoffmuttering]

LOOOL.

No I do not wait for the orange coil to disappear. I just turn the key and start immediately. May be I will try this in future. Starting today.

And regarding your second comment....agreed!

[Porkupine]

DaveEssex said:

Does sound like the battery could not be strong enough, so that when everything is cold/stiff it may be to small or in poor condition.
We need to do "is/is not" on this.
I suggest that when you have a quiet moment, and preferably when the engine has recently been run, that you disconnect plug leads and crank the engine to see if it quickly loses power (cranking speed drops off quickly). This will help to identify/eliminate thsi as the fault.
You will need to be able to recharge the battery in case it drains.
More advise is available.

Thanks for this advice.

If the other advice regarding the orange coil symbol does not help, I will look into what you say above. (Once I work out what it is you mean, being a 'technically illiterate numpty' may take me some time to work it out!

[DaveEssex]

Ask a local friend - your bound to find somebody with basic underbonnet knowledge.

[Liquid Tuna]

Porkupine said:

No I do not wait for the orange coil to disappear. I just turn the key and start immediately. May be I will try this in future. Starting today.

This will be why!

[TheLastPost]

Porkupine said:

No I do not wait for the orange coil to disappear. I just turn the key and start immediately.

Diesel engines use the heat generated by compressing the air/fuel mixture to make it explode, unlike petrol engines where a timed spark from a spark plug does the job. Diesel is a relatively heavy fuel that doesn't atomise or burn well when it's cold, so you have a glow plug to warm the cylinder up and help it when the engine is cold.

The little orange coil light is a warning light, whose purpose is to tell you that the glow plugs have not yet reached sufficient temperature to fire the engine. You shouldn't really be expecting the engine to fire until the glow plug light has extinguished (though many modern diesels are good enough that they will). If you read your owner's handbook, it should tell you somewhere that correct practice is to turn the ignition key to the first position, wait for the light to extinguish, then crank the engine with the starter motor. It may take a few seconds when the weather is particularly cold.

If starting is still unacceptable even if you wait for the light to go out, then first suspect would be that the glow plugs need replacing - like spark plugs, they don't last forever.