Charging battery

Morning all.. it's me again.. this time its a quick basic question.. I'm very much of a noob when it comes to vehicles, (I'm learning slowly, thanks to the help given by everyone in this forum. I have done a quick search but can't find the exact information I require.

basically I went to my vehicle this evening to go to work only to find I left the bleedin side lights on all day (as the warning buzzer for said lights does not function- shall get this looked at) :doh:

I had to borrow a vehicle to get to work (was running late).. question is:

Is it ok to charge the battery on slow whilst the terminals are still connected (As I have been told this is perfectly fine) or should I disconnect the terminals from the battery - if the latter, will that upset the key coding/alarm?

Cheers.

With all the electronics on 'modern' cars I prefer a slow charge if you've got the time but what you want to avoid is any spike in the voltage. So, no sparks when you're connecting/disconnecting. Leave the battery connected, connect your charger then switch it on. Then turn the charger off before you disconnect. If it's going to become a regular thing consider fitting permanent leads on the battery leading to a socket (Anderson connector) and fit a plug to the charger.

get an optimate 4 and connect charging leads to the battery with a plug. I have done this on our discovery, and its very easy to keep the battery fully topped up ready for any cold weather.

Yes you can charge with it connected, buy a smart charger, this is the best option, you can get cheap ones of eBay for about £20...

I use a CTEK 80 (I think) comes with a loom to connect to the battery and a rubber socketed/shielded plug, with croc clips or plugs on the CTEK unit .. I can put it on the Disco or charge batteries on a shelf or wherever.

Awesome bit of kit ..

Thanks, shall look into those, I have a new battery charger but i'm hoping this is not going to be a common problem, - as I said it was my own fault not the Landy's, I left the side lights on .. Thanks for the info

Even if it's not essential it does a battery good to be fully charged from time to time. An alternator only charges to about 80%/

Thanks for the info, I have given it a good charge and all seems well.. (must remember to turn the dam lights off next time!)

The battery charger I am currently using (not long had it) is the "Ring Automotive RCB212 12V 12 Amp Car BATTERY Charger"

Specification Summary:
Voltage AC 220-240v
Charging current (amps) 8 (fast) / 3.7 (slow)
Standby current (amps) 0.15
IP rating IP20
Weight (Kgs) 2.8
European part number RECB208
Max battery size 120Ah
Max suitable vehicle size 2.5L

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Are the other charges mentioned above better? - The "socketed/shielded plug" method sounds better but I'm not sure how I would connect the negative up as the negative battery terminal connection does not have a place to connect leads upto (unlike the possitive connection which has a threaded hole on top).. I did try once with some ring connectors but the design of the battery connector is like a dome underneath so you have to put the ring terminal in and tighten it down hard, thus stretching the connector and making it weak (hard to explain, hope someone knows what the heck I'm on about)

That's a sort-of basic charger, good enough if it's only for occasional use. If you wanted to leave it on charge whenever you're not using it you'd be better off with a battery conditioner.

As for connecting a plug/socket I can see one nut on top of the negative connector and another at the other end of that lead - in fact is that an earthing point down there? Any of these would do for a connection, it doesn't have to go directly on to the battery and it's not going to carry any great current.

dogsbody said:

That's a sort-of basic charger, good enough if it's only for occasional use. If you wanted to leave it on charge whenever you're not using it you'd be better off with a battery conditioner.

As for connecting a plug/socket I can see one nut on top of the negative connector and another at the other end of that lead - in fact is that an earthing point down there? Any of these would do for a connection, it doesn't have to go directly on to the battery and it's not going to carry any great current.

Click to expand...

Ah I didn't realise there were different types of chargers, making a bit more sense now.. The nut on top of the negative terminal is a one piece design which is dome-shaped inside, not ideal for ring piece terminals, but your correct regarding the earthing point nut which sits further up near the ecu. - I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to connect anything to that or not.

Whats a good battery conditioner device thats simple to use, on quick inspection the 'optimate 4' looks rather complicated..?
Thanks for the advice! - Much appreciated.

This is the same as mine ..

CTEK MXS 5.0 Car Battery Charger - the smartest battery chargers in the world!

It's way cheaper than it was when I bought it, but it's an awesome bit of kit. It keeps the Landie and the caravan batteries at top condition, it's revived a couple of car batteries and a couple of Fire Alarm (very small 12v) units ...

Paul D said:

This is the same as mine ..

CTEK MXS 5.0 Car Battery Charger - the smartest battery chargers in the world!

It's way cheaper than it was when I bought it, but it's an awesome bit of kit. It keeps the Landie and the caravan batteries at top condition, it's revived a couple of car batteries and a couple of Fire Alarm (very small 12v) units ...

Click to expand...

We use a CTEK charger in the garage, best chargers going personally. The recon function is blinding, very good at bring batteries back to life. The best thing about smart chargers is it wont just keep piling more charge into the battery, it will soft-start and trickle charge.

This is the one I use:
CTEK Multi XS25000 Extended Car Battery Charger - the smartest battery chargers in the world!

I refer back to my comment about how often you're going to use one. If this is your daily drive then what you've got will do for the odd emergency. If you're going to park it up for extended periods then you might want to spend some money. All of these battery conditioners seem complex but they've always got a "connect, switch on & walk away" function.

dogsbody said:

I refer back to my comment about how often you're going to use one. If this is your daily drive then what you've got will do for the odd emergency. If you're going to park it up for extended periods then you might want to spend some money. All of these battery conditioners seem complex but they've always got a "connect, switch on & walk away" function.

Click to expand...

For me I sometimes don't drive the Disco for weeks at a time, the caravan is mostly used every fortnight, but sometimes it's laid up for a couple of months. I also used to use the charger to maintain two extra leisure batteries for when we were model car racing (I was UK Head ref for 1/10th offroad electric buggies for a while) and for sundry other stuff ... When you have one you can find so many uses to justify their cost!!

Frankly they are so simple to use as well, it's unreal .. compared to many years ago when we used hygrometers and stuff and mixed our own acid dilutions ....