car battery charging question!

[stu 9thgate]

hi, i receved a car battery charger / trickle charger for christmas. I was hoping to plug it in and maintain the battery by leaving everything connected. trouble is the instructions say to dissconect the battery from the car before charging!. As you all know, the chim battery is hardly something you can whip in and out in just a few seconds.
Have i Got the wrong thing for the job? or do all battery chargers say this?

[philmccann]

Hi there

If it's a battery/trickle charger, I wouldn't leave it connected for long periods. If that's what you want to do what you need is a battery conditioner such as Accumate/CTek. These charge at such a small current that they can be left on almost indefinitely. They also come with a cigarette lighter attachment. The cig lighter on Chims is "live" all the time, so you can "back-charge" the battery from there.
Some people use the Andersen socket if they have one fitted.

HTH

Phil

[s5tuart]

Wot Phil said.

I have been using one of these with EXCELLENT results......http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OPTIMATE-3-SP-BATTERY-CHARGER-CONDITIONER-IMPROVED-III_W0QQitemZ110209557392QQihZ001QQcategoryZ25643QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Roy the Boy]

I've just ordered one from the tvrmonster site.

http://www.tvrmonster.co.uk/shop/accumate.html

[stu 9thgate]

thats great help thanks, i took the charger back today, i will now need to fix my cigerett lighter though . After the helpfull mechanic at my last MOT tryed to use it to open the door!.

[BrianMillar]

I was having a few problems with my Accumate cigarette lighter connection. It kept breaking contact and not charging the battery.

I removed the cigarette lighter connector and wired the short cable in under the dash.
I picked up an existing earth from under the dash and put the live connection to the terminal marked ‘P’ on the ignition switch.
This terminal is only live with the ignition switch on the “Off” position

The connector end of the cable comes out between the side of the dash and the drivers door pillar. It is not noticeable when not in use and has enough slack to pull the connector out to give easy access when connecting the charger.

[blujay10]

BrianMillar said:

I was having a few problems with my Accumate cigarette lighter connection. It kept breaking contact and not charging the battery.

I also had trouble with the cigarette lighter as it kept blowing the fuse when I connected to my accumate. Tried plugging into the mains before and after switching on, but both methods kept blowing the fuse. So this weekend I hard wired mine direct to the battery,using the connections and instructions that came in the box. Much better although not quite as quick to use. Fitting was simple and I also taught myself how to reset the alarm..!!

[stu 9thgate]

this may sound silly but why would you need to re-set the alarm?. Also will the alarm still work normaly if you run the cable throught he window. The alarm tells you by bleeping if a door or the boot is open. does it do the same with the window too ? . thanks for the replys again.

[blujay10]

stu 9thgate said:

this may sound silly but why would you need to re-set the alarm?. Also will the alarm still work normaly if you run the cable throught he window. The alarm tells you by bleeping if a door or the boot is open. does it do the same with the window too ? . thanks for the replys again.

I had to reset the alarm when I disconnected the battery to fit the wires direct. Easy to do, disconnect the earth lead, leave for 30 seconds, reconnect and press the blipper. Sorts out the alarm and the immobiliser. When i first reconnected the battery all hell broke loose! Alarm went off, indicaters flashed and the red led on the dash was going mad! All sorted by resetting as per previous posts on here.
As far as I know the alarm will work with the wire thrrough the window. My chimaera is kept in a garage and so I dont have to worry about the rain getting in. James

[timshap]

I bought last week on ebay a ctek from tvr supplies....service was excellent and works perfectly giving out 3.6 amps on charge and then pulses on maintain..
With everything off my car loses approx .5 amp/hr it was up to 1.5 amps earlier this year and I dont know why.
So this is perfect to leave on..I will check the battery from time to time.

[philmccann]

HI there

Mine works ok with the window ever so slightly open. Just enough to let the Accumate cable through. Been doing it this way for yonks, and setting the alarm, no problems.

HTH

Phil