The OP said his charger does 4amps or 11amps and I would not consider this perhaps as being a 'trickle' charger.
My 40 years's old Davenset has four settings, the highest being 4amps and so I can reallly get a trickle charge on settings 1 or 2 on the charger's settings dial.
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If you have a cheap digital voltmeter you can decide whether to charge or not.
12.4 volts means it is 75% charged, AND SHOULD BE CHARGED not left to fester. Obviously, anything lower and it always needs charging.
A bit of arithmetic is useful. If it is, say, an 80AH battery then at 12.4 volts it needs 20AH to bring it up to full charge - or 5-6 hours with your charger on 4A.
Sorry, I cannot help with the car safety aspect of your charger. I use a (home made) charger that gives 0.5, 1 and 2A and have never had a problem with vehicle electrics. I Always connect and disconnect with the charger switched off.
Hope this helps
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>>> 12.4 volts means it is 75% charged, AND SHOULD BE CHARGED not left to fester. Obviously, anything lower and it always needs charging. <<<
You mean well Brother Aretas but I wouldn't go by those figures personally, better to use a heavy discharge type battery tester but, if the battey won't turn the engine over - it probably needs charging :)
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Charging at 4A is not trickle charging.
We use smart chargers and dont disconnect batteries. They never go above 14.5V so there is no chance of damage to the electrical system. Old style chargers (which sound like the OP's has) are poorly regulated and basically a big mains transformer with some diodes, so can output 40V or more which doesnt do the electrical system any good at all.
You can buy cheap smart chargers from Aldi and Lidl and from what I have seen of them they are eithre a slightly reboxed CTEK or a very very good copy.
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Righto, WT's post has done it, i'm disconnecting and plugging my Absaar dinosaur charger directly onto the battery for a days charge up next week.
Many thanks for all the input, i would have just plugged in but the fact my charger is likely to run at 40v is a step too far to risk.
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Righto WT's post has done it i'm disconnecting and plugging my Absaar dinosaur charger directly
If its one of those orange metal case jobs then I would think about investing in something new and more sophisticated. Some modern batteries are harmed by the old style chargers, battery technology has moved on a lot.
There are some small waterproof smart chargers you can buy for under £30 and they come with a plug/socket so you can hard-wire to the battery. Leave connector under the bumper and plug in when your not using the car for a while. Dont even have to lift the bonnet.
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One more vote for the Lidl/Aldi chargers. The one I have does 6 volt as well so useful for the old Harley. Also does 2-volt but I've never seen a battery like that, anyone enlighten me as to potential use?
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2V glow plug battery?
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Blimey i feel a right stingy old miser, the charger isn't that old (well maybe 10 but thats nowt in the grand scheme) and seemed to be doing a fine job, but you've made me think again, so search for replacement has begun.
Edited by gordonbennet on 21/12/2009 at 22:05
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Or you could just take the old girl out for a run one day over the holiday and save the money.
Take the Merc too.....
Soooooorrrrryyyy !!!!
;-)
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Or you could just take the old girl out for a run one day
Could 'christen' the new year in too, good idea...;)
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Have a look in Aldi/lidl. Their smart chargers are less than £10. I bought my son one for his motor and they seem as good as the £100+ ones we use at work.
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Does anyone know when the trickle chargers were last in at Aldi and Lidl? Things only hang around for a few weeks at most there, don't they?
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Motoring stuff back in Lidl from 14 January including a charger.
tinyurl.com/yc45r36
Can anyone confirm that it is the one they have and is decent?
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link shows a carrier bag,cant see how you could charge with that?
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Thanks for the info bb. First time I've had trouble with a link. I've tried it from the post and separately from the Lidl site and it works for me. I know the Lidl site knows it is my computer because it adds my home store.
Sorry.The link seems beyond me. You'll have to find Lidl yourself if you are interested enough!
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link shows a carrier bag cant see how you could charge with that?
>>
No they charge you for the bag :-)
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ULTIMATE SPEED CAR BATTERY CHARGER ULG 3.8 A1= (0.8A and 3.8A)
http://www.kompernass.com/pages/_pdfs/8d482d0881872092277164c1ba3844ab.pdf
Edited by direct2000 on 19/01/2012 at 21:00
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i never ever charge anything built after 1995 with the battery connected anymore with my starter charger even on tickle
as has been said these old things work on a regulator and diodes and arent smooth enough for modern car ecu dangly bits
wang it in the bin with the old honda 90 (or stick em both on the bay)
but new buy quality buy one with a named name (im sick of buying electrical lookalikes that last a year and a day and go off with mother hubbard in a puff)
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...Them solar trickle chargers are they any good..
When i called the AA out to my CRV when the petrol flap wouldnt open. The AA man said if you do only small runs most of the time you will find the battery will flatten soon. He said the reason for this was when the car is switched of the onboard computer still uses the battery.
He said you can do no wrong in getting one of them solar trickle chargers there cheap as chips and well worth it.
Anybody any experience of using one of these. Also what do you reckon about what he said about the battery on CRV.
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I've used a smaller version of this with some success, but wished for a larger one, so may well invest the £13. Note that not all cigarette lighter sockets are connected when the ignition is off, though...
maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223251
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You can buy cheap smart chargers from Aldi and Lidl
I got one for the motorbike (Tronic H-3056) from LIDL for £4.99 a few years back. Not sure if it's man enough for a car battery, but it keeps the bike battery topped up through winter. Cheapest equivalent I'd seen was something like £30.
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Head hung in shame, had no idea things had changed so much, am just about to order a CTEK 3600, unless someone convinces me i'm doing wrong, that should cope with conditioning the 105ah battery on the Hilux too.
Unless it gets here extremely quickly the conditioning charge i want to give it will have to wait a couple of weeks.
Much obliged for bringing me up to date chaps...Absaar 4/11amp charger going begging.;)
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Update, CTEK 3600 smart charger ticking over nicely under the bonnet, Absaar dinosaur will no doubt be borrowed permanently by my daughter at some point.
Much obliged for the needed advice all.
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How disappointing GB. I was rather hoping to hear that you had whisked Mrs B off in your classic burbling Mercedes coupe for a romantic break in a remote Scottish/Welsh/Irish castle instead. To have redirected some of those funds to a trickle charger won't do at all.....goodness me no.....what a let down.......
;-)
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How disappointing
Well thats me, though we did promenade arm in arm down icy pathways to the Coop, and purchase some new carpet and kitchen floor coverings instead....see i know how to spoil a girl....far better long term investment too..(nods from lady B too)
Should i open an online relationship passion advice service soon?
Just to top 'disillusioned with bennet' up, we'd have used the pick up for such a romantic foray anyway.
On the pick up subject, to show how good i am to my lady i'm going to fit some sound deadening material at various points around the body to cut down on the road noise from the tyres...could have used that advice in my online column instead, but thats a freeby on me and a taster of good romantic on road advice to expect.
-:)
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i'm going to fit some sound deadening material at various points around the body ...
Whose body may I ask ?
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Whose body may I ask ?
Now you come to mention it, following the brussells and beans intake...;)
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I've been wondering how you got on with your battery GB, our Almera hasn't been used lately but it started 'on the button' yesterday.
I was also thinking of Teddy's Note, and how his battery went belly up on him.
In my owners handbook it says to disconnect the battery if the car isn't used for over 30 days (WOW!)
I too have a big orange Abwhatever charger and I've just dug out a Bradex BX60 thingy which I think would be ok, but - I'll not take the chance and instead will get a new one from ALDI, so they'll be 2 battery chargers for Dusty Bin come the morn.
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I believe that most if not all smart chargers have a "standby" mode where the clips aren't live unless a battery is connected across them and you select what sort of charge you are going to give the battery. This is to prevent the exciting spark when you first connect up.
These chargers will go to standby if power is lost e.g. during a power cut or if the supply is accidentally switched off.
HTH
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Both my Optimisers (different models about 3 years apart in design) have a hardwired feature that allows the charger to be plugged in into the bike's electrical system in half a second - The latest has a display that goes through a self-test before charging commences.
Edited by Pugugly on 04/01/2010 at 13:37
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The feature Hawkeye mentions re the smart charger looking for a battery before it applies an output is a pain on my otherwise excellent Halfords smart charger. Mine assumes anything under 10.5 volts or thereabouts means there is no battery so it is impossible to start recharging a badly flat battery. My old car has stood for 2wks in this snow/frost and the battery has virtually died. I had to apply 12v to the battery via a universal transformer and then clip on the proper battery charger... once the charger had activated its output it would then maintain this OK with the transformer removed.
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Well proof of pudding, the battery must have benefitted from that few days i left the posh new charger on.
The starter turns over for the brief moment it takes to fire much quicker now.
Maybe it's that 'equalising' thing that Navy mentioned earlier, whatever it is it's a big improvement..i'm sold, and will treat my batteries to an occasional slow charge from now on.
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Did you disconnect the battery GB? I don't, the doom merchants haven't frightened me with their tales of potential disaster. Glad your "posh new charger" is making a difference.
Edited by Old Navy on 07/01/2010 at 19:13
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Missed the edit.
By giving your battery a long gentle charge you have ensured that all the cells are equally and fully charged.
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Lidl have their smart battery charger on sale from 14/1/10 at £12.99.
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The reason I got a CTEK 3600 "smart" charger, which I have had in use for a year now, was because I did not want to have to disconnect the car battery before charging it. I use it particularly in the winter, when the car is unused for a few days at a time and simply leave it connected to the battery, in situ, continuously. In the past, there was a noticeable drain on the battery when unused for a week or two but it is now always fully charged. I have also charged a variety of leisure "75" size batteries very effectively with it as well as a motorcycle battery. I know that it may cost a bit more than some but it does exactly what it says "on the box" and I am very pleased with it.
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Got one these the other day as I don't have a 6V charger handy in the house.
Seems well put together. Four modes.
Mode 1: (7.3V / 0.8A) for 6V lead acid batteries less than 14Ah capacity.
Mode 2: (14.4V / 0.8A) for 12V lead acid batteries less than 14Ah capacity.
Mode 3: (14.4V / 3.8A) for 12V lead acid batteries 14Ah-120Ah capacity.
Mode 4: (14.7V / 3.8A) for 12V lead acid batteries under cold conditons or some AGM batteries 14Ah-120Ah.
Charging only starts after selection of mode, not connection of leads.
After power loss, returns to stand-by, doesn't remember last setting.
Does float and pulse charging usual smart charger stuff.
Only problem was it was a 77Ah battery I had to charge and I wasn't sure how flat it was, but hadn't been used in a number of months. I knew it'd be slow given the 0.8A output in 6V mode. Took 39 hours to get the green light!
Whilst good for maintenance charging of 6V batteries, I think I'll keep my eyes peeled for an old-school Davenset Junior or similar.
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Did you disconnect the battery
Not with the new jobbie Navy, but i would have if i'd used the old arc welder instead.
If this new charger really is posh thats a first and probably last time i'll ever qualify.;)
edit..thanks for the Lidl's tip i'll let the lad know.
Edited by gordonbennet on 07/01/2010 at 20:43
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I use the same charger on my bike (and on my car) , aditional power plugs can be bought at maplins , they are for tamila model racing cars (about 90p) , i have wired those to 3 bikes and also have one on my car , yes it does take ages to charge?
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Things have changed a bit since my day's in the Motor trade. Every garage used to have a wheeled Krypton 12 / 24 volt charger / boost starter. Flat batteries - no problem, if things were a bit sluggish on the 12v boost / start setting, just switch to the 24v setting and give her a spin. It always worked with no damage done.
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