I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.



Parts

In article ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

parts


In article ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

In article ,
writes:
On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 30/01/2012 11:16, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In ,
writes:
On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)

Wouldn't one of those 'jump start' devices be more useful ?
I had some of the Maplin ones (basically a sealed lead-acid battery with
a pair of jump leads). Work well enough to start the Moggie Traveller,
but might struggle with a larger engine. The charging 'wall-wart' is
rubbish, though, and will 'cook' the sla battery if left connected too long.

Other ideas - a 'spare' car battery on a sack trolley with jump leads,
or some warning device in the car to remind you to turn 'off' things
like satnav & lights ??

Adrian

I can always jump start from wife's car in emergency.


parts





On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:26:07 +0000, Adrian Brentnall
wrote:

On 30/01/2012 11:16, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In ,
writes:
On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)

Wouldn't one of those 'jump start' devices be more useful ?
I had some of the Maplin ones (basically a sealed lead-acid battery with
a pair of jump leads). Work well enough to start the Moggie Traveller,
but might struggle with a larger engine. The charging 'wall-wart' is
rubbish, though, and will 'cook' the sla battery if left connected too long.

Other ideas - a 'spare' car battery on a sack trolley with jump leads,
or some warning device in the car to remind you to turn 'off' things
like satnav & lights ??

Adrian

In article ,
Adrian Brentnall writes:
Wouldn't one of those 'jump start' devices be more useful ?
I had some of the Maplin ones (basically a sealed lead-acid battery with
a pair of jump leads). Work well enough to start the Moggie Traveller,
but might struggle with a larger engine.

I think you'd really struggle with a diesel, unless you are
talking of one of the trolly based units used by garages.

The charging 'wall-wart' is
rubbish, though, and will 'cook' the sla battery if left connected too long.

Yep - a friend wrote one off in a few days, having plugged it in
in the garage and forgotten about it.

Other ideas - a 'spare' car battery on a sack trolley with jump leads,
or some warning device in the car to remind you to turn 'off' things
like satnav & lights ??

An old non-intelligent charger in the 4-8A range would do too.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:26:07 +0000, Adrian Brentnall
wrote:

Wouldn't one of those 'jump start' devices be more useful ?
I had some of the Maplin ones (basically a sealed lead-acid battery with
a pair of jump leads). Work well enough to start the Moggie Traveller,
but might struggle with a larger engine. The charging 'wall-wart' is
rubbish, though, and will 'cook' the sla battery if left connected too long.

I bought one of the Maplin ones "just in case", after I read about
them on usenet one winter. The advice at that time was that you had to
charge them once every three months, otherwise you might find yourself
in a situation where both the car and battery pack were flat at the
same time! I think I read some posts that people keep them plugged
into the cigar lighter socket to top them up every time they drive.

I was interested in your post about damaging the battery by charging.
What is the best way to ensure the pack is ready for action without
damaging it? Now the cold weather is here, I was thinking about
topping-up the charge in mine, only I can't find the charger!

TIA

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)

Most modern battery chargers won't cope with a totally flat battery. It's
common to have a relay driven from the battery to connect them - to
prevent reverse connection.

--
*Just remember...if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)

Most modern battery chargers won't cope with a totally flat battery. It's
common to have a relay driven from the battery to connect them - to
prevent reverse connection.


I've got a Halfords charger - bought mainly cos I needed one, and that
was the handiest place to get one. I don't know how flat the batteries
it has charged have been. But flat enough to barely light up any lights
IIRC. Has been perfectly fine.

Like/similar to this I think.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...storeId_10001_
catalogId_10151_productId_210939_langId_-1_categoryId_255205
--
Chris French

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
writes:
On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)


Had that happen to a friend the other week.
It was, I think, a Lidl charger.
I took round my trusty Tecmate AccuMate which is a slow charger and
maintenance charger.

I first checked that the Lidl charger wasn't charging.
I then connected the AccuMate to the battery for a minute or so to show that
it would charge the battery.
Tried the Lidl charger again and this time it sprang into life.
The difference must have been marginal.

I have found the AccuMate very good at recovering batteries which were flat,
but it does take a long time so it isn't a quick fix.


Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On Jan 30, 11:16*am, (Andrew Gabriel)
wrote:
The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here.

Ah, OK. These chargers are no good for completely flat batteries.
(They auto-detect them as 6V batteries, and hence stop charging at
around 7V in this case, a few seconds later.)

My Aldi is fine - it has a "charge it even if very flat" button. It
doesn't do 6V at all.

On 30/01/2012 10:37, wrote:
On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble


You might be better off with one of these then

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...&TC=SRC-engine
starter

Even with a completely dead battery, leave it on high charge for a few
minutes, then hit the boost switch and crank: will sort out even big
diesels. Significantly less effort than jump leads as long as you have a
mains socket handy.

Alternatively, it has enough "oomph" to charge a big battery overnight.

On Jan 31, 6:47 pm, Newshound wrote:
On 30/01/2012 10:37, wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

You might be better off with one of these then

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...er?da=1&TC=SRC....
starter

mmm the manual states:- my asterixes

"With the keys ready in the car’s ignition, get *an assistant* to
switch the
CHARGE/BOOST START switch (2) to the BOOST START position and
IMMEDIATELY turn the key to start the engine

IMPORTANT:
You must switch the charge/boost start switch (2) back to the OFF (O)
position after a maximum of 3 seconds on boost start - wait 30 seconds
before repeating. Failure to do this may damage your battery and the
Start and Charge unit and may invalidate your guarantee.
With the Start and Charge unit connected to your car, never leave the
unit switched to boost start for more than 3 seconds."

I doubt thats possible on your own?

Even with a completely dead battery, leave it on high charge for a few
minutes, then hit the boost switch and crank: will sort out even big
diesels. Significantly less effort than jump leads as long as you have a
mains socket handy.

Alternatively, it has enough "oomph" to charge a big battery overnight.

Jim K

On 31/01/2012 20:35, Jim K wrote:
On Jan 31, 6:47 pm, wrote:
On 30/01/2012 10:37, wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:16:58 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

I need to charge it when a light or the satnav has been left on in
error. at that point battery will be flat. So I need it to get me out
of trouble

You might be better off with one of these then

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/pr...er?da=1&TC=SRC...
starter

mmm the manual states:- my asterixes

"With the keys ready in the car’s ignition, get *an assistant* to
switch the
CHARGE/BOOST START switch (2) to the BOOST START position and
IMMEDIATELY turn the key to start the engine

IMPORTANT:
You must switch the charge/boost start switch (2) back to the OFF (O)
position after a maximum of 3 seconds on boost start - wait 30 seconds
before repeating. Failure to do this may damage your battery and the
Start and Charge unit and may invalidate your guarantee.
With the Start and Charge unit connected to your car, never leave the
unit switched to boost start for more than 3 seconds."

I doubt thats possible on your own?

No, the leads are reasonably long. With the charger propped in the
engine compartment, or on a chair or stool, or even on the ground if the
battery is on the right hand side, you reach through the open drivers'
window to operate the key with one hand, operate the charger switch with
the other. Three seconds is a long time to be cranking. But it does work
best if you give it a few minutes to get a bit of charge in before you
try to start.

On Jan 30, 10:16*am, (Andrew Gabriel)
wrote:
In article ,
* * * * writes:

*I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.


Took nearly two days to fully charge a 41Ah new car battery (Varta
black powerframe) with one of them after the car sat there clicking
the solenoid, then not even that for another day. These chargers
seem too gentle IMO although with their rating one expects a better
performance. I wonder if the slow charge has anything to do with
Powerframe design. I'm willing to be surprised.

In article ,
thirty-six writes:
On Jan 30, 10:16*am, (Andrew Gabriel)
wrote:
In article ,
* * * * writes:

*I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

Took nearly two days to fully charge a 41Ah new car battery (Varta
black powerframe) with one of them after the car sat there clicking
the solenoid, then not even that for another day. These chargers
seem too gentle IMO although with their rating one expects a better
performance. I wonder if the slow charge has anything to do with
Powerframe design. I'm willing to be surprised.

That would be about right if you did it on the 0.8A setting, which
is the alternate charge rate they do.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

thirty-six wrote:

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.

A proper battery charger will start off putting 30A into a flat (but
good condition) battery, and taper down from that. When you've got a
flat battery you want a charger that puts something like alternator
output into it, not a piddling 3A.

Bill

In article ,
Bill Wright wrote:
A proper battery charger will start off putting 30A into a flat (but
good condition) battery, and taper down from that. When you've got a
flat battery you want a charger that puts something like alternator
output into it, not a piddling 3A.

Depends on how long you charge it for. If you want an instant start better
to use a jump start pack. The Lidl one will charge the average battery
overnight ok. One which charges at a genuine 30 amps won't be cheap, and
very few would need it.

--
*Why is the word abbreviation so long?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Bill Wright wrote:
A proper battery charger will start off putting 30A into a flat (but
good condition) battery, and taper down from that. When you've got a
flat battery you want a charger that puts something like alternator
output into it, not a piddling 3A.

Depends on how long you charge it for.
Exactly. Why wait overnight?

If you want an instant start better
to use a jump start pack.
The 20Ah ones aren't good enough for a big diesel engine (vehicle or
boat) on a freezing morning. No chance. Won't touch it. You either need
a jump start from a big battery (or a pair for 24V) or you need a good
fast charge.
A jump start pack capable of starting a big diesel costs a fortune and
weighs a ton. It has wheels.

The Lidl one will charge the average battery
overnight ok. One which charges at a genuine 30 amps won't be cheap, and
very few would need it.
My Sealey one cost £55. 30A at 12V or 15A at 24V. It's just so much
better than all the crappy low powered ones. It's red as well, and it
makes an impressive drumming noise and a rather nice smell of
smouldering insulation.

Incidentally the 'intelligent' charger/psus for boats are excellent.
£200 but the batteries last a lot longer. I was getting 3 years from the
deep discharge motorhome batteries; now I get five or sometimes six.

Bill

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
Bill Wright wrote:
A proper battery charger will start off putting 30A into a flat (but
good condition) battery, and taper down from that. When you've got a
flat battery you want a charger that puts something like alternator
output into it, not a piddling 3A.

Depends on how long you charge it for. If you want an instant start better
to use a jump start pack. The Lidl one will charge the average battery
overnight ok. One which charges at a genuine 30 amps won't be cheap, and
very few would need it.

Providing the car is in a good enough state that you don't have to
hang on the starter for too long, you only need to get about 1-2Ah
into the battery to get it to start the car. Then the alternator
will bang out over 40A if it's that flat, and get it charged.
You can certainly do that with a 4A charger quite quickly.
You might be able to do it with one of the jumpstarter units used
to charge the battery, rather than directly to turn over the
engine (same as when you only have thin jump leads that can't
carry the starting current).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
writes:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

Would help to know why you need to charge it.

The ones often stocked by Aldi and Lidl are frequently recommended
here. They're usually £12 verses £40 anywhere else. They charge
at 3.8A, which is going to be enough for most purposes.


Alas my Aldi one has just died

On 30/01/2012 8:59 AM, wrote:
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.



Parts




check iStore ... probably an app for it ;-)

wrote in message
...
I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.


I've resorted to having two batteries, and swapping them over when one gets
low.
Changing the battery takes a couple of minutes thanks to the battery tray
design, and a slow charge takes a couple of days to get a marginal battery
back up to full power.

I bought .a new battery because I thought the old one was failing but kept
the old battery as backup.
Now I am thinking that the old battery wasn't as bad as I thought but the
way we use the car is to blame.

We only use the car for very short trips - bulk shopping and the like - or
slightly longer trips to our daughter's house.
In winter, with heated seats, heated screen etc. there is more load on the
electrical system.
So I don't think the car is having time to recharge the battery.

There may be some slow leak to earth (how do you check this with a cheap
mulit-meter) or a loss of efficiency in the alternator (will have it checked
on the next service) but quite probably it is just intermittent short trips
which are to blame.

As we can't get the car close to the house to charge the battery in situ (it
stays out on the road) then a second battery seems easier than removing the
battery overnight every few weeks to top it up.

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We only use the car for very short trips - bulk shopping and the like -
or slightly longer trips to our daughter's house. In winter, with
heated seats, heated screen etc. there is more load on the electrical
system. So I don't think the car is having time to recharge the battery.

If it's an older car, could have a quite marginal alternator. I changed
the original 65 amp one on my SD1 for a current design 100 amp unit.
Needed a bit of fiddling to fit it, but nothing I couldn't manage. Got it
off Ebay new for about 1/4 the cost of a new battery. ;-)

There may be some slow leak to earth (how do you check this with a cheap
mulit-meter) or a loss of efficiency in the alternator (will have it
checked on the next service) but quite probably it is just intermittent
short trips which are to blame.

You need to set it to current (amps) remove one battery terminal and
insert the meter in series, with everything on the car that can be
switched off. Best to short across the *meter* in some way when
re-connecting the battery as the switch on surge could be quite high and
damage the DVM, or blow its fuse. Once the battery has been re-connected
for a few seconds, remove the short.

You should see a reading of no more than 20-40 mA. (0.02-0.04 amps)

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We only use the car for very short trips - bulk shopping and the like -
or slightly longer trips to our daughter's house. In winter, with
heated seats, heated screen etc. there is more load on the electrical
system. So I don't think the car is having time to recharge the battery.

If it's an older car, could have a quite marginal alternator. I changed
the original 65 amp one on my SD1 for a current design 100 amp unit.
Needed a bit of fiddling to fit it, but nothing I couldn't manage. Got it
off Ebay new for about 1/4 the cost of a new battery. ;-)

There may be some slow leak to earth (how do you check this with a cheap
mulit-meter) or a loss of efficiency in the alternator (will have it
checked on the next service) but quite probably it is just intermittent
short trips which are to blame.

You need to set it to current (amps) remove one battery terminal and
insert the meter in series, with everything on the car that can be
switched off. Best to short across the *meter* in some way when
re-connecting the battery as the switch on surge could be quite high and
damage the DVM, or blow its fuse. Once the battery has been re-connected
for a few seconds, remove the short.

You should see a reading of no more than 20-40 mA. (0.02-0.04 amps)


Thanks - my digital meter showed virtually nothing but I whipped my analogue
meter away quickly as it went off the scale.
Will try the shorting trick.
I was trying to work out if the voltage of the system made a difference to
the amperage shown.
Both meters only measure milli-amps - analogue goes up to 250 mA.
Load should be for maintaining the radio and computer but not much else.

I have just seen that Lidl are offering a battery/alternator tester for
£2.99.
I assume that this just measures voltage across the battery when resting and
when the alternator is running, but it could be worth a punt.

The car is a Volvo 850 so I assume the alternator is good for charging
unless it is getting 'tired' - we have had the car about 5 years now and had
no problems before.
At P reg it is now about 16 years old so various bits may be reaching the
end of their service life.

Cheers

Dave R

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On Feb 7, 5:11*pm, "David WE Roberts" wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in ...









In article ,
* David WE Roberts wrote:
We only use the car for very short trips - bulk shopping and the like -
or slightly longer trips to our daughter's house. In winter, with
heated seats, heated screen etc. there is more load on the electrical
system. So I don't think the car is having time to recharge the battery.

If it's an older car, could have a quite marginal alternator. I changed
the original 65 amp one on my SD1 for a current design 100 amp unit.
Needed a bit of fiddling to fit it, but nothing I couldn't manage. Got it
off Ebay new for about 1/4 the cost of a new battery. ;-)

There may be some slow leak to earth (how do you check this with a cheap
mulit-meter) or a loss of efficiency in the alternator (will have it
checked on the next service) but quite probably it is just intermittent
short trips which are to blame.

You need to set it to current (amps) remove one battery terminal and
insert the meter in series, with everything on the car that can be
switched off. Best to short across the *meter* in some way when
re-connecting the battery as the switch on surge could be quite high and
damage the DVM, or blow its fuse. Once the battery has been re-connected
for a few seconds, remove the short.

You should see a reading of no more than 20-40 mA. (0.02-0.04 amps)

Thanks - my digital meter showed virtually nothing but I whipped my analogue
meter away quickly as it went off the scale.
Will try the shorting trick.
I was trying to work out if the voltage of the system made a difference to
the amperage shown.
Both meters only measure milli-amps - analogue goes up to 250 mA.
Load should be for maintaining the radio and computer but not much else.

I have just seen that Lidl are offering a battery/alternator tester for
£2.99.

I got one years ago from Tandy for about £5 , It saved me needing to
risk damage to multimeters which were part of my tools for
employment. The one I have is a go/no go device for the different
conditions and show from an unservicable condition to an overcharge
condition. There are 5 LEDs . Works in the dark too.

I assume that this just measures voltage across the battery when resting and
when the alternator is running, but it could be worth a punt.

I don't remember how long ago Tandy were last trading, at £3 it is
tremendous value for the important measurements in a charging system.

The car is a Volvo 850 so I assume the alternator is good for charging
unless it is getting 'tired' - we have had the car about 5 years now and had
no problems before.
At P reg it is now about 16 years old so various bits may be reaching the
end of their service life.

Suspect the wires themselves.

On Feb 7, 11:59*am, "David WE Roberts" wrote:
wrote in message

...

I need to replace my car battery charger. Battery is on 2.5ltr
diesel. So 6 amps I assume

recommendations appreciated.

I've resorted to having two batteries, and swapping them over when one gets
low.
Changing the battery takes a couple of minutes thanks to the battery tray
design, and a slow charge takes a couple of days to get a marginal battery
back up to full power.

I bought .a new battery because I thought the old one was failing but kept
the old battery as backup.
Now I am thinking that the old battery wasn't as bad as I thought but the
way we use the car is to blame.

We only use the car for very short trips - bulk shopping and the like - or
slightly longer trips to our daughter's house.
In winter, with heated seats, heated screen etc. there is more load on the
electrical system.
So I don't think the car is having time to recharge the battery.

There may be some slow leak to earth (how do you check this with a cheap
mulit-meter) or a loss of efficiency in the alternator (will have it checked
on the next service) but quite probably it is just intermittent short trips
which are to blame.

As we can't get the car close to the house to charge the battery in situ (it
stays out on the road) then a second battery seems easier than removing the
battery overnight every few weeks to top it up.


Part of the problem I had, car used similarly, could have been
attributed to grease in the battery terminals and a corroded earthing
wire to chassis. I cleaned up the terminals with a bit of cloth but
have on other vehicles used a toothbrush and hot water. The chassis
grounding lead was cut back and the new crimp connection was made with
the wire scraped bright. Those crimp rings are quite tough and I used
a blunt cold chisel and a fat hammer in the end to get the crimp
secure. As there has been no doubt about the reliability of the
system I've judged it too cold to bother with checking for volt drop
over every joint and wire to ensure an optimal system. There was also
part of the wiring loom which had been stretched around the engine,
it's unlikely this was part of the cause of the failure to maintain
battery charge but the rerouting to prevent the wire coming under
tension was performed, the problem may have contributed to difficulty
in starting with a marginal battery if say the temp sensor wire was
shorted on the engine block (quite possible).

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:38:17 -0800, thirty-six wrote:
Part of the problem I had, car used similarly, could have been
attributed to grease in the battery terminals and a corroded earthing
wire to chassis. I cleaned up the terminals with a bit of cloth but
have on other vehicles used a toothbrush and hot water.

Our elderly Toyota's terrible for battery terminal corrosion - it seems
that they have something of a reputation for it. I've got a wire brush
widget for cleaning things up; one fits inside the clamps and the other
fits over the terminals.

We finally retired the original factory-supplied battery at the end of
last year - it had done an impressive 14 years, so no complaints there!

cheers

Jules

In article ,
Jules Richardson wrote:
Our elderly Toyota's terrible for battery terminal corrosion - it seems
that they have something of a reputation for it. I've got a wire brush
widget for cleaning things up; one fits inside the clamps and the other
fits over the terminals.

We finally retired the original factory-supplied battery at the end of
last year - it had done an impressive 14 years, so no complaints there!

Most modern low maintenance types these days have a small vent for the
gasses to which a plastic tube can be attached, to route them somewhere
where they can't do any damage. (I'm assuming it contains a small amount
of acid)

I'm assuming that caused your corrosion problem? You did apply some
Vaseline after cleaning them up?

--
*Modulation in all things *

Dave Plowman London SW
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