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Right
Whats best ? 20 years ago i had a tiny charger with little crocodile clips that did the job . Now needing a charger again i see fancy looking trickle chargers that look smaller and are cheaper .
Is there any difference to how they work ? Are trickle ones just meant to maintain so would a proper charger be best ?
Got a car that will not start and its flattening the battery .
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Hi, The older style chargers with transformers in will charge a battery from flat (with a couple of proviso's). The modern solid state smart chargers won't, there needs to be some in it to start with. See if you can get an older one they are more useful and can be picked up cheaper from boot sales or ebay or just ask around friends and relations.
Colin
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cactus
Part of things
Posts: 372
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Old ones are still fine.. The only reason I bought a new one is my 60 year old one got run over....Don't ask... I've just also bought a Gamages Charger from a jumble sale for £1... Receipt in the box dated 1953!!!!!! Works fine after I put a moderen plug on it...
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Battery chargers slater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Depends what you want. Trickle chargers do just that, trickle. Only good for long charges and maintenance.
I'd get a small start/charge. It will do everything then from normal charging at low amps right up to getting you out the curse word when the car won't start in the morning. I just bought a Chinese one. There's not much too them so little chance they will break.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,185
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Battery chargers ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Not quite true about the modern chargers. Quite a few don't yes. The Halfords Automatic charger and Ultimate Speed don't charge batteries from flat; I've tricked the former in the past via various means including tapping the charger and putting 12V on via another battery onto the battery. But you do get what you pay for. I've seen CTEKs do this and mine has done this just last week, where my old man's battery was dead flat; the car's started leaving its lights on by itself :/ . They can also go into a 'supply' mode, and supply voltage to 'anything', including a shot battery; I've done this a few times, and it's handy for reprogramming ECUs. The issue with the 'old fashioned' chargers is that there is an increase risk of boiling the battery unless you keep checking, which is why automatic/smart chargers came along. Even Clarke's guide for an 'old charger' on Machine Mart states that. I've checked my CTEK against a Halfords Automatic charger I have. On the same battery the CTEK brought it back closer to full capacity; that was measured using a capacitance tester, where the CCA and battery state of health is measured; I've had Voltage readings give misleading figures previously. With the CTEK you can get accessories which make connecting the charger a quick and easy operation. While this isnt' a massive issue on the W124 (but it helps), having a flying lead on my M3 helps massively; that cover is awkward to remove, and lately I don't use it as much. It's also on the original battery surprisingly! But the fact is this. If the battery has sat flat for some time, 7/10 times the battery will be too permanently sulphated to be usable again, now matter how long you leave it on charge for, with some batteries being worse than others (Bosch S5 as one example is useless once flattened IME). Like rust, prevention is better than cure, but batteries do die eventually anyway, and unlike rust, much easier to rectify . That's my 2p anyway. I was skeptical for a long time too on the matter.
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Last Edit: Aug 7, 2018 11:30:11 GMT by ChasR
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Thanks people, Will get a old one from somewhere I think. That's where Facebook us good for asking. Someone will have one they don't want. Found out what's wrong anyway - fuel pressure regulator solenoid.
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autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 221
Club RR Member Number: 106
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Battery chargers autojumbled
@autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member 106
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I use a CTEK MXS 5.0. Used the recondition function once on the battery as it was low and didn't give a good start (the manual recommends the recond program is re-run every 12 months). Its now plugged in permanently on the normal charging program and just does its thing.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,185
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Battery chargers ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Likewise, I used my MXS-10. For what I use it for the MXS-10 is great but for most people the 5 or 3.6 is fine. The 10 does however recharge batteries quicker without damaging/overcharging them, which is something some charge/start chargers can do without protection circuitry. Of course, it does cost more, with the MXS-25 costing even more;work use the latter alot!
The Comfort connectors and accessories buy me quite a bit of time. Handy when the car is not next to me. Considering the M3 uses Hydro Electrics for the 'box I can't afford for that to go flat in the unit either; it will affect others if I can't get it into Neutral, as well as alarms etc.
Also, leaving the car on charge for a while also works with me; I came from a lockup with zero electric, so dragging batteries (well, a 900CCA item to be exact) wasn't pleasant and in the case of the RST did damage the interior from ferrying the battery about from when the battery eventually ran low; it punched a hole in the bulkhead when a curse word decided to pull out without warning; not great in a car with no carpets. On the Halfords auto charger at home it went flat much less; it never recharged fully off the alternator despite the voltage being fine; it's not the first time I have seen this however.
Start/Charge chargers are OK, except when inevitably you breakdown away from home; When your wife/sister/mate/"insert character here" refuses to bring along your super heavy battery and accidentally grabs the wrong jump leads if they do (i.e the ones made of bellwire) you're a bit screwed! I've bought one of those powerbanks for this very reason; they're far more versatile. I robbed my mate's one for years as I was tight, but it did bail me out of a few tricky situations!
I bought the RST with a Motorcraft Calcium Battery, but with a drain. After I sold it, the next owner commented that despite not charging the battery for a year and him not using it the car started on the first turn without struggling. Without the trickle charging it never did that; I almost bought a battery for it too, except the battery tested fine.
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Last Edit: Aug 7, 2018 22:58:18 GMT by ChasR
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alecf
Part of things
Posts: 424
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another vote for a ctek, had mine a few years now and its been great. my race car has one of hose tiny odyssey batteries about the size of a mobile phone. the ctek has been brilliant for when its parked up to keep it topped up and also when forgetting to do that it will charge them from flat quite quickly enough to start the car.
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Roach
Part of things
Posts: 717
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I've got a maypole 4A smart charger.. Good for the money, couldn't afford a Ctek.
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vertex
Part of things
Posts: 916
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Oct 10, 2020 13:17:21 GMT
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,762
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Oct 10, 2020 18:56:48 GMT
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Another +1 for CTEK, got mine from LIDL last month, spot on.
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Oct 10, 2020 19:27:24 GMT
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Yep, also recommend CTEK.
However, if the battery is really flat I put it on my old transformer-based charger for a couple of hours first in order to get it up off the floor before putting it on the CTEKs 'recondition' programme.
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Oct 12, 2020 21:08:43 GMT
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Yeah look no further than CTEK. Not the cheapest but certainly the best!
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