Removing scuttle panel / battery chargers

[tvrfan007]

Hi all, i'm looking for a little guidance with my recent Cerb acquisition.

Can someone just run through how to remove the scuttle panel and expose the battery before I go home and get heavy handed as Scole mentioned it's very easy to break the fasteners. :P The Cerb is off the road for winter for a simple combination of the fact i'm not driving it in the salt and the fact i'm overseas on business and the girlfriend is not allowed to drive it! I wish to remove the battery from the car as i'm not fond of leaving a trickle charger hooked up for large periods, which leads me to my next question.

I read somewhere that the maximum output of a trickle charger for the TVR should be 7A so as not to cause damage to anything. I already have this very capable Halfords automatic battery charger, but the output is claimed to be 7.5A. Has anyone used this on the car with success or is it too heavy-handed?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

[Gazzab]

Scuttle is easy. Undo the bolts and slide it back slightly (fastners under screen are delicate). Be careful when you remove / replace of paint on wings. Removing battery is a faff. I would leave it in place (and scuttle) and charge in situ. Connect negative to air box mount.
Your charger looks a little crude. I would invest in a trickle charger proper.

[tejr]

Make sure you remove the screws completely to prevent accidents. I'll take a picture of the state of my wing from when I removed it in a hurry to investigate steam pouring out from the battery area on the side of the A12 one time Huge scratches down to the primer.

[Steve_T]

I'd trickle charge via the cig lighter socket, but to charge the battery with a few amps I'd connect to battery positive and a lug on the air con compressor.

[FeelTheNoise]

Of course when Gazzab says move it back a little, that's 'back' if you are facing it, you want to slide it towards the front of the car. As the others said, remove the two bolts completely and give the scuttle a gentle wiggle, should come out easily.

[tvrfan007]

Does anyone have a battery charger they would recommend for the job which is tried and tested?

I don't want to have to remove the battery, but if i'm away from home for 8 weeks i'm not going to leave a trickle charger plugged in for that long - so removing the battery is a necessity at some points in life.

[vroom]

tvrfan007 said:

Does anyone have a battery charger they would recommend for the job which is tried and tested?

I don't want to have to remove the battery, but if i'm away from home for 8 weeks i'm not going to leave a trickle charger plugged in for that long - so removing the battery is a necessity at some points in life.

Buy an Accumate charger for long-term charging.

Lead-acid type batteries love 'em and by having a charged battery in situ means you will be able to open the doors when you come back to use the car.

It's a right old inconvenience when you press the door button and nowt happens!

Fortunately for me the bonnet wasn't locked

[Gazzab]

tvrfan007 said:

Does anyone have a battery charger they would recommend for the job which is tried and tested?

I don't want to have to remove the battery, but if i'm away from home for 8 weeks i'm not going to leave a trickle charger plugged in for that long - so removing the battery is a necessity at some points in life.

Accumate through the cigar lighter. 8 weeks is fine IMHO

[jammy_basturd]

I've got this battery charger which seems to work fine: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

[.Mark]

Or save some money and get the Halfords one, it's kept my Chimaera battery good for 4 years and been on the Cerbera since I got it since May. Currently on the Cerb it's plugged under the bonnet with the live clip on the battery terminal and the negative on a good engine earth.

[FarmyardPants]

Gazzab said:

tvrfan007 said:

Does anyone have a battery charger they would recommend for the job which is tried and tested?

I don't want to have to remove the battery, but if i'm away from home for 8 weeks i'm not going to leave a trickle charger plugged in for that long - so removing the battery is a necessity at some points in life.

Accumate through the cigar lighter. 8 weeks is fine IMHO

+1 Accumate through the cigar lighter has worked for 5 odd years on my cerb.

Just make sure that your cig lighter is done up tight and won't fall to pieces when you use it.

[tvrfan007]

.Mark said:

Or save some money and get the Halfords one, it's kept my Chimaera battery good for 4 years and been on the Cerbera since I got it since May. Currently on the Cerb it's plugged under the bonnet with the live clip on the battery terminal and the negative on a good engine earth.

The one I posted in the first post?

[.Mark]

No, not quite. This one.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

I didn't really read your post fully, sorry, my battery stays in the car and I use this item above. I'd have no worries leaving it attached and plugged in, not left it on as long as 8 weeks, but have come close, and I would do it again.

Like I say I use one on both cars and they have been perfect.

[G20RG B]

FarmyardPants said:

Gazzab said:

tvrfan007 said:

Does anyone have a battery charger they would recommend for the job which is tried and tested?

I don't want to have to remove the battery, but if i'm away from home for 8 weeks i'm not going to leave a trickle charger plugged in for that long - so removing the battery is a necessity at some points in life.

Accumate through the cigar lighter. 8 weeks is fine IMHO

+1 Accumate through the cigar lighter has worked for 5 odd years on my cerb.

Just make sure that your cig lighter is done up tight and won't fall to pieces when you use it.

+2 I always hook it up to the Accumate through the lighter and NEVER had an Issue on my Tuscan, and now the Cerbera

[supersix]

Anything more than an amp or so is not a trickle charger. Mine shares the Optimate I use for the bike, which has a max output of 0.6A when in full charge mode, and much less in monitoring mode. Measured drain is a tiny fraction of that.

I really wouldn't fret about leaving an intelligent trickle charger like an Accumate or Optimate on for weeks or months at a time.

ETA I wired a permanent connector in the boot hooked onto the dim-dip box connections. Cig lighter is equally good, but I prefer to leave the cabin closed - my garage isn't dehumidified, alas...

Edited by supersix on Tuesday 9th November 22:03

[tvrfan007]

Now all I need is someone to point me in the right direction for a well-priced accumate.

[.Mark]

In my experience the cheaper Halfords one is just as good.

[tvrfan007]

Thanks Mark. :-)

[Gazzab]

.Mark said:

In my experience the cheaper Halfords one is just as good.

Is it a trickle charger with low enough amps etc?

The cheapest Accumuate are avail through the Green Reaper BUT they ripped me off ! I sent back mine as didnt work, they then sent me a 2nd hand one! Then denied it.

[gruffalo]

Yep, I use the Halfords one, not problems so far just connect it up whenever thing is closed up, I leave the lead hanging out the front of the car losk her up and then connect otherwise the charger seems to saty in charge mode and not cycle correctly, get hot when it does this but when connected up properly I leave it weeks at a time with no issues.