[Closed] Car batteries...

Hungry monkey

The AA are the only ones I found that covered this well.

We have a lot of company cars laid up whilst employees are on furlough and I know manyof them are on the street. I asked the fleet manager what to do for those employees and he pretty much said the below. I tested this with a diesel Qashqai before attaching the solar panel. 15 mins of idle/running with accelerator at about 1500 rpm for a lot of the time. This lifted the battery from 11.8v to 12.3v

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/laying-up

Battery maintenance – If you can, connect your car's battery to a mains-powered battery maintainer. If you can't, start the engine once a week and allow it to run for about 15 minutes. This will re-charge the battery and help keep the engine in good condition. It’s important to allow the engine to run for this long so the battery can charge properly. In the case of petrol engine cars, it also helps to prevent engines from flooding with fuel. Never leave your car unattended with the engine running

Some other good tips in the AA article including the fact that it is best to have a full tank of fuel to prevent condensation in the fuel tank

In the case of petrol engine cars, it also helps to prevent engines from flooding with fuel.

Feels a bit "auto choke carburettor", that bit of advice. An actual injection system from circa 1985 onward, should never flood anything. AFAIK.

Any views on whether you need to disconnect the battery from the car before charging it with a main charger? Up to the 1990s it wasn't a problem, but I'm not sure now - are you likely to upset the electronics more by disconnecting the battery or by connecting a smart charger?

Hmmm. I wish I’d paid the extra for the bigger one now.  Turns out my car has a 90AH battery, it’s going to take about 40rs to charge!

Where I live, everyone heads abroad for the summer for 6-8 weeks and many buy a new car battery - some every year.

My musings on a <£10 solar trickle charger go unheard - every year.

Expats....

(3 weeks you should be fine though)

boblo
Member

Damn you Mr Overshoot, damn you. PM me your address and I’ll get your ‘prize’ in the post forthwith. You’re lucky, Mrs Boblo was hoovering under the settee cushions and, errrm, ‘came across’ your prize. Lucky you 😉

Don't worry boblo I've been at work almost every bloody day since the "lockdown light" started so my battery is fine.