Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Hank wrote:
Could I be right in thinking that using a battery charger to recharge
a run-down car battery tends to reduce the life of the battery? On
more than a couple of ocasions, car batteries I have owned have not
survived long after I have used mains plug-in chargers to recharge
them.

Quite the reverse; lead acid batteries last best when kept reasonably
fully charged - hence their continued use in cars where this is generally
the case. Of course like any battery they shouldn't be overcharged.

The reason the batteries needed charging was not due to any fault in
the battery; it was due to the cars having ben standing, undriven, for
a long time.

That is the cause of the problem - car type lead acid don't like being let
go 'flat'. If the car is to be unused for more than a couple of weeks or
so disconnect the battery.

And spend a week getting the electronics to work again when you reconnect..