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How to keep battery charged
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Author:  swanny [ Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:35 am ]
Post subject:  How to keep battery charged

Hello all,

i've recently had a flat battery due to a lack of use on my spyder over winter. I'm therefore investigating a good place to connect an accumate charger to keep it topped up.

i have heard of some people charging through the lighter socket which i'm told isnt idea but is better than nothing. The accumate can also be remotely connected which would be handy as it would save me having to open the bonnet, remove the spare wheel and the battery cover every time i wanted to connect/disconnect

has anyone made one of the front air vents removeable and replaceable from outside (i thought i remembered seeing that someone had done this to allow topping up of the washer bottle without bonnet removal but cant find the details) or should i just run it through into the glove box and charge from there?

regards

paul

Author:  mitch2b [ Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to keep battery charged

Hi Paul

I have a halfords trickle charger /conditioner, i havnt fitted it yet, but come with a lead and plug you can perm attach to battery , when i get around to pulling dash out ( got some fab savage switchs to fit to replace the metro onesand a fag lighter to fit for satnav/phone charge) im going to run it into the glove box, its only an inch or so long long and has a cover on so wont look bad when not it use,

you can as you say get ciggy lighter ones but i would not like to leave it plugged in for long periods unattended ,

Mitch

Author:  sidewinder [ Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to keep battery charged

I've used a charger plugged into my cig lighter for years, sometimes leaving for days at a time - no problems.

SAS

Author:  swanny [ Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to keep battery charged

I've found the permanently wired accessory that came with the accumate.i think I'd feel happier having that connected than my cig lighter. It will mean having to remove bonnet etc to disconnect as it isn't long enough but will be better than a flat battery

Cheers

Paul

Author:  ibrooks [ Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to keep battery charged

There's a difference between charging a battery and maintaining it - and even charging can be done at different rates by different methods.

Charging quickly (hours rather than days) means doing it at relatively high currents and no the cig lighter isn't up to that. You can charge through the cig lighter very slowly since that involves much lower current but I'd still like to be in and around whilst it's happening.

Maintaining the battery just means keeping at it's existing level. In an ideal world a battery sat disconnected won't lose any charge. What's flattening the battery is things drawing a small current over a long period where the lost charge is never being replaced by the alternator (ECU, stereo, alarm etc.). To counteract this you only need to supply as much power back into the system as these things are drawing - and that's miniscule. So the cig lighter socket is a perfectly viable way of doing it (assuming it's permanently live). In the real world a battery will also suffer some internal loss so you are also looking to replace that as well but again it's a minimal amount so you should be well within the limits of a cig lighter.

Of course that's all assuming that the lighter socket really is a lighter socket and has been wired accordingly. A lighter is a heating element and pulls a fair amount of power but it's not uncommon for people to wire sockets with lower rated wire because all they ever intend to plug into it is a phone or satnav charger which again pull next to nothing.

Iain

Author:  gtmdriver [ Fri Mar 01, 2013 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to keep battery charged

There are many excellent battery tenders from Optimate, Oxford, CTEK etc.

Have a look at motorbike accessory shops. They usually have a good selection.

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