Disco 3 (LR3) Battery charging, stupid question.

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M

Maurand

Active Member
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Location
Wiltshire
Just to be safe may I please ask is it okay to charge the battery in car with a Lidl smart charger or does the battery have to be disconnected or even removed ?
If so I presume positive lead on battery and negative onto an earth pole somewhere or both on battery ?
Again sorry but that works on my D2 perfectly but not sure yet about this 3.
Thank you.
 
The general rule is to always disconnect battery from vehicle when charging and to leave battery connected when jump starting.
 
If its the little 3.8A smart charger? then Yes straight to the battery, does no harm at all, and i have been doing this to mine for over 5yrs now.
Also small enough to fit under the bonnet closed, takes several hours to do its business.

To make life easier I fitted an anderson socket in the grill, so no need to open the bonnet or even unlock the car.
 
Plus 1 , have used a ctek on mine , charge it via the 12s socket and always left the battery connected

the ctek 5 is 5amp

jump staring is a different story as in the neg must be put onto an earth post and not the battery post, but I wouldn’t ever use mine to jump start as I have heard a few issues ref the smart system has been upset a few times causing issues
 
Real life experience is always above theory but IMO it's about not being unlucky like a friend of mine was as the charger(good brand smart type) went wrong(internal short) and destroyed the whole charging system including the alternator beside that the infotainment system was completely mixed up(above 1000 quid bill).... If you feel you are lucky enough and the worst can't happen then i have no other comment but for somebody scrupulous the recommendation from the owner's handbook should not be in vain... maybe the advice to remove it from the vehicle is a bit exagerated though :cool:

D3 Owner's handbook Publication Part No. LRL 10 02 53 701 page 228
D3 battery charging.jpg
 
sierrafery said:
Real life experience is always above theory but IMO it's about not being unlucky like a friend of mine was as the charger(good brand smart type) went wrong(internal short) and destroyed the whole charging system including the alternator beside that the infotainment system was completely mixed up(above 1000 quid bill).... If you feel you are lucky enough and the worst can't happen then i have no other comment but for somebody scrupulous the recommendation from the owner's handbook should not be in vain... maybe the advice to remove it from the vehicle is a bit exagerated though :cool:

D3 Owner's handbook Publication Part No. LRL 10 02 53 701 page 228
View attachment 200555
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I always ask the alternator if it wouldn't mind taking the battery out and running along behind us as we travel because charging a 12V battery with over 14V while in the vehicle is just wrong. ;)
 
Thanks for all your replies. Looking at the terminals and the state they're in I've pulled the battery this time and I've a couple of jobs to do with, in my view, better the battery disconnected. It's charging from an Absaar one now and there's no,way that'll go near the car.
Yes I've got the little lidl one, kept my D2 charged okay by a flying lead with an XLR socket on it coming out of the grill. I've seen a few posts of charging with battery in car. Try that another time maybe.
Thanks to you all.
 
The advice about connecting the earth of a set of jump leads to a part of the engine rather than a battery terminal has been around since Noah drove his first car off the Ark. Think this is because there is a risk of the spark igniting hydrogen from the battery gases. Or maybe just to ensure a good earth gets to the starter motor via the engine. But nowadays it isn't always that easy to find an easy place on the engine to clip it to. Maybe an engine lifting eye if you can see one, often the clamps won't grip well on a bolt head. Not designed for it.
 
DanClarke said:
Totally agree. I always ask the alternator if it wouldn't mind taking the battery out and running along behind us as we travel because charging a 12V battery with over 14V while in the vehicle is just wrong. ;)
Click to expand...

D3 often runs at 15.1 volts, highest I have ever seen is 15.3 volts.

Edit, I lied, 15.4 volts this morning, reckon the battery needs a little trickle charge.
 
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I'd just connect the charger, and charge it.

When my D3 battery was failing, I had to charge it every night, if I was to avoid the warning chimes and special problems errors in the morning. I didn't disconnect the battery when charging, there's no reason I can see why it's necessary to disconnect it. There's more than enough damping capacity in the battery to absorb the slight AC ripple from the charger outputs. Most modern chargers use switching power supplies anyway, which output smoother DC than old technology transformer based chargers. I can't see the relevance of the vehicle having smart charging, as when the engine isn't running, and the vehicle has shut down, the battery is as good as disconnected anyway.
 
Nodge68 said:
.....when the engine isn't running, and the vehicle has shut down, the battery is as good as disconnected anyway.
Click to expand...
Maybe on a Series 3 not on a D3 :rolleyes:... those who wrote the D3's owner's handbook and the charger's instructions are all stupid i think... cos i'm sure that in the charger's instructions is also stated to not connect it while the battery is connected to the vehicle, it's about being 100% on the safe side though which is personal choice off course... i've seen so many happenings myself that i'd not risk it.
 
sierrafery said:
Maybe on a Series 3 not on a D3 :rolleyes:... those who wrote the D3's owner's handbook and the charger's instructions are all stupid i think...
Click to expand...
I asked this very question on the D3/4 forum a few years ago, when I first bought my D3. General consensus from the D3/4 forum was that there's no need to disconnect the battery from the vehicle when charging.

Actually connecting the battery back up after disconnection is actually more risky, due to current surges through the system, unchecked by a large battery.

I never disconnected my D3, and don't with any other vehicle of mine. I just connect the charger to the battery, the switch on the charger, job done.

It's far more risky to use jump leads on a modern vehicle, as the potential current spikes are enormous, but jump leads aren't any use if the battery isn't left connected. ;)

I'm sorry, but having little charger connected, while the battery is connected to the vehicle, ain't going to do any damage at all.
 
Nodge68 said:
I'm sorry, but having little charger connected, while the battery is connected to the vehicle, ain't going to do any damage at all.
Click to expand...
as long as you are not unlucky,
from my second reply:
sierrafery said:
IMO it's about not being unlucky like a friend of mine was as the charger(good brand smart type) went wrong(internal short) and destroyed the whole charging system including the alternator beside that the infotainment system was completely mixed up(above 1000 quid bill)
Click to expand...
 
Nodge68 said:
It's far more risky to use jump leads on a modern vehicle, as the potential current spikes are enormous, but jump leads aren't any use if the battery isn't left connected.
Click to expand...

The requirement to keep the weak battery connected when jump starting is for a completely different reason and cannot be compared to charging a battery with an external charger. We do jump starts to start the motor and as soon as this happens, the alternator starts producing energy. Alternators do not like an open load and without a proper current sink to absorb that energy, it can easily burn out. Modern vehicle electronics will suffer the same fate from spikes and transients currents that are normally absorbed by the battery, acting as a huge capacitor.

Charging a battery with an external charger is the complete opposite as the motor is not expected to run until the battery is fully charged and reconnected.
 
We jump vehicles all the time at work, mainly from other running vehicles, sometimes from batteries and other times jump packs.
We also charge a few in the shop as well, from a pretty big charger.
Others are welded with the batteries still connected.
In all cases, none are disconnected and not one has ever caused any issues.

The op has asked if the Lidl charger (which is 3.8a) will cause any issues, and the short answer is no.
 
lynall said:
We jump vehicles all the time at work, mainly from other running vehicles, sometimes from batteries and other times jump packs.
We also charge a few in the shop as well, from a pretty big charger.
Others are welded with the batteries still connected.
In all cases, none are disconnected and not one has ever caused any issues.

The op has asked if the Lidl charger (which is 3.8a) will cause any issues, and the short answer is no.
Click to expand...
I shafted the battery on my td5 defender welding with it still connected.
 
sierrafery said:
Just be aware that: "The only sure thing about luck is that it will change" I've seen myself 2 cases of ruined BCUs after welding was done with battery connected and one D3 which got above 90V AC through a shot charger
Click to expand...

I am actually quite careful, but the other guys certainly are not, slap bang thank you mam!
Our batteries get a hard life from the tailifts, lights left on for days until they are totally flat, jump and off they go, fascinates me how we do not get more issues, but in reality I think people just worry to much.

We have blokes who think a 12 volt battery, is fine if the meter reads 12 volts

Other guys who will spend hours changing a light because it has gone dull, then check the votage to see it has 3 volts, then replace the whole loom, without even checking what the volatge was at the other rend of the wire, mountain out of a molehill.

Basically mechanical animals, and if they cant fcuk it then most diyers certainly wont.
 
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