Charging the Battery

[Pixelfill]

Hi guys,

I'm going to charge the battery, as it's gone flat over the past week. Quick question, do I need to disconnect it from the car first?

I'm a little concerned about the horror stories of ECU settings being wiped, and Alarm's being spiked by jump starts, are these also likely with a battery charger (I suspect not but just in case)

The instructions I got with halfrauds charger don't say that I should disconnect, but then they don't say that I can leave connected either.

Thanks for your responses in advance

Mike

[smarty]

I have a trickle charger that i bought for my motorbike a few years back. I plug this into my supe when i am not using it. Have never disconnected the battery from the car and all has been ok for the past year and half of using it.

[chiefvinso]

Isnt it advised that you disconnect it from the car? Maybe I have old info, but it would seem a safe option just in case of any mishaps IMO.

[JohnA]

I too use a motorbike trickle charger (Optimate II) and there's no need to disconnect anything.

[Jurgen-Jm-Imports]

u dont need to disconect but dont leave it charging for a week lol

[smarty]

I too use a motorbike trickle charger (Optimate II) and there's no need to disconnect anything.


Yep thats what i have John, couldnt think of the name. Good bit of kit

[JohnA]

Yeah, it barely affects the battery life, because it slowly-charges for half an hour, then waits for a while to see how the battery voltage settles down, then recharges depending on the feedback. So eventually you get the battery fully charged with minimum current (optimum) ;)

Quick chargers are a different kettle of fish, they may ask for the battery to be disconnected or else the ECU may get damaged. They use lots of current at once, and some of the cheap ones are 'dumb'
Worst case with them you get a boiling battery that explodes (I've seen it happen, not funny!)

[Pixelfill]

Thanks for your replies guys,

I used a halfords intelligent auto charger with maintenance mode, it seemed to work a treat and didn't need to disconnect the battery. I suspect the maintenance mode is effectively a trickle charger.

It turned out that one of my cells was down on fluid (nearly empty :(), so I topped it up - before charging, and the Soop now starts first crank again, I'm hoping the cell was the root cause of my starting difficulties, and that it hasn't been damaged by being empty. The other 5 cells had the right amount of electrolyte in them.

Mike

[Sharpie]

I used a halfords intelligent auto charger with maintenance mode,

I have one of these but, did not want to risk it so, unplugged the battery.

Thanks for testing this out, I *might* give it a go while still connected as it switches to mait mode when topped up.