Battery charging

[JamesR27]

Hi,

I don't use my car daily, mainly on weekends but the battery was dead on Thursday when I came to use it and did not have enough power to start the car. A call to breakdown and it jumped straight away but obviously it's not getting enough running to charge the battery.

So just wondering if anyone has an recommendations for getting a battery charger for keeping it topped up so I can make sure I don't run it out again.

[clubsport]

It sounds like you need a battery trickle charger, not a regular battery charger as such.

The trickle keeps the battery topped up by adding when charge is needed and shuts off when charged. If you leave a conventional battery charger on all the time you could effectively boil the battery!

The trickle is a more steady way of going about things.

Probably the best trickle charger on the market is the Ctek mxs 5.0.

Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari supply these CTEK with their own badge on, for much more £££!

I have cars I rarely use that sit on these trickle's, never a problem with the battery.

Lidl do a Ctek style copy which many people use and seem happy with for £13.99, it was a deal a few weeks ago, so may still be in stores?

[vidman2]

I only used my GTI once a week (over 2 years) and now my R and never had a problem with the battery.

Do you have a tracker fitted or leave anything connected to the Ciggy power sockets as they will drain the battery.

Ring do a small charger designed to be left connected tot he battery, there are also other similar small chargers available, but you need to be able to leave them plugged in, secure drive or garage.  It might also be worth investing in one of the new small lithium type battery jump starters to keep in the car - search Amazon for a good selection.

Other option is that the battery is shot, there have been a few issues with battery's dying earlier than expected, could be worth getting checked at a battery seller, normally free.

[kalimon]

I can highly recommend the ctek 5.0. It's a bargain for what it is and is very compact.
It also comes with an attachment that fits direct to the battery terminals that makes charging a doddle.

[Bungleaio]

I can recommend the ctek too. I had one maintaining the battery in a range rover. You can get a connector that hard wires to the battery which you connect to. It saves having to faff about with crocodile clips. 

Just remember to disconnect it before driving away.

[Fabio Bignose]

Hi James,

What sort of usage does the car get once started?

Does it get a good run of steady revs for a good duration before you switch it off again? The alternator should have no problem recharging if it's given the chance to.

[GeoBog]

I recommend an inteligent/smart charger which is capable of trickle charge and also normal charge. Ctek like chargers are good. I have an Aldi one (£17.99) and it is brilliant. It has a small handy display which shows the battery voltage and charging information. You just attach the croc clips to the battery, plug it in and select the car charging mode and away you go. Once it charges the battery it switches automatically to trickle mode to avoid boiling the battery and also keeps it topped up so it uses a low current (something like 0.3 mA).

For summer time I recommend a solar charger. I have one which connects to the OBD port on the car and keeps the battery charged. I usually use it when I park the car at the airport for a week or so while abroad on hols.

[kalimon]

The Aldi charger is a cracker if you can get hold of one. I borrowed one before I bought the Ctek

[clubsport]

As I said they could well have them at Lidl, they are the same as the aldi ones, it's just they seem to promote them at different times.

[GeoBog]

The Aldi charger is a cracker if you can get hold of one. I borrowed one before I bought the Ctek

It is a bargain, hence I bought 2, got 1 for my dad as well.

As I said they could well have them at Lidl, they are the same as the aldi ones, it's just they seem to promote them at different times.

Not really, the Lidl one doesn't come with display, just a bunch of LEDs which show different states of the charging process. I know they had a model with display a while ago but it wasn't that great as people were returning them back faulty so the revision model only has LEDs.