Winter Charging R129

[yme402]

Seems pretty clear that you never Jump-start an old Merc. Problem I have is that i have no power to my garage to run a trickle charger. Any suggestions....ie would a solar powered one be any use?

[psi310398]

Better than nothing.

Mine didn't drain the battery that fast: R129s are quite resilient and won't crumble if taken out for a half hour spin every ten days or so in winter to keep charge up. Also, if there is any humidity in your garage, probably best to let some air pass over and through the car from time to time.

There's an infrequently used 968 in our street which never fails to start that has a solar panel connected to the the cigar lighter socket and kept on the dash.

P

[PositronicRay]

R129's (and most cars) do not have a live cig lighter with the ignition off. Socket could be rewired to bypass the relay or some other wiring solution.

I keep mine on a ctek during the winter, seems to keep the battery fresh and lasting longer, but previous poster is right a run every now and again would sort it. I'm lucky in that I can lock my car manually without the alarm arming (not all M/Y's do this) so minimise battery drain. Make sure the boot lock works off the key, if the worst does happen at least you can whip the battery out to charge or replace.

Several times each winter enq come up on benzworld.org "my boot lock is seized and battery flat how do I get the boot open"

Most problems are caused by knackered batteries or (less common) a power drain. Avoid aftermarket alarm systems and treat reto fitted radios with suspicion.

[CarsOrBikes]

Just take the battery off perhaps, my 129 lasts ages with it on, but it has gone flat a couple of times, so I either rotate the charger onto different vehicles if I think I'll use them at all, or for the last couple of years I just remove the batteries. The charge lasts longer again if this is done.