Clio battery removal

You will need an 8mm socket to get the rod unscrewed; it might be7mm as I can't remember exactly from three months back when I replaced mine and don't want to check now as it's raining! Please don't use pliers/molegrips etc you'll more than likely just chew up the end of the rod.

Can't you just disconnect the battery cables (yes I do mean both!) and then take the charger out to the car with an extension lead to charge it for a few hours during the day? I did this earlier this year and just shut the bonnet gently after balancing the charger and extension socket ontop of the gearbox.

Chris

Chris Dugan ("Chris Dugan" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Wouldn't it be easiest to just jump-start the damn thing?

On 26-Nov-07 21:18:42, Chris Dugan said

Many thanks. I've not come across a rod thingy like this before and was confused. Low light and poor vison didn't help much (he said, fumbling inadequately for excuses). I got the battery out now, and will give it a charge in the morning. Thanks again.

BTW, I couldn't really get to grips with the terminals. I assume you're meant to be able to undo those plastic "tap handles" by hand. I had to wiggle the whole thing about till they came off. Nothing snapped. :)

Its a bit complicated as its parked in a friendly neighbours space, a bit down the road. :)

All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)

I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players

Why disconnect the battery at all? And why both?

Thus spake Angus Manwaring (angus@angusm_antispem_.demon.co.uk) unto the assembled multitudes:

Academic now I'm sure, but why leave it till the morning? The battery would take hours to recharge, so you might as well have hooked it up to the charger immediately so it could recharge while you're tucked up in bed for the night.

If you are going to have to leave the car again for a period, consider getting one of the little solar chargers which you can hook up while the car is standing. This will keep the battery topped up better. Maplin sell them amongst other places.

I wonder what the output of one of those things is on a day like today.

As for disconnecting the terminals (or one), if you don't then the charger can get confused by having to power the alarm etc.

Why would a simple power source get confused by this? The quiescent load on the battery is but a few milliamps from things like alarms. The output of a charger several amps - to be of any use. Disconnecting the battery means on most cars at least some things will need resetting - even if only the radio station memory. And there's absolutely no reason to do so to charge the battery from an external source such as a domestic battery charger.

Depends on the type, but overall it will be better than not having one.

I had one and it was completely useless even in the summer facing south

It rather depends. To be of any use it has to be connected to the battery

All I know is that if I charge the battery while connected, it doesn't charge. If I disconnect and charge it then it does.

Never ever come across this with any charger. What make are you using? Even those tiny wall wart battery 'conditioners' are designed to cope with the quiescent drain plus a small charge.

However some of the don't switch on if there's no voltage on the output, aso a small quiescent current will prevent them starting the charge.

Yes. Usually part of the reverse connection protection.

Which ones?

All of them, the battery voltage drops to almost zero with a slight load, give it half an hour disconnected & it recovers enough for the charger to start charging it.

if it that flat, then the battery is likely to be scrap anyway

On 27-Nov-07 09:09:19, A.Clews said

I was just happier having somebody about to monitor it every couple of hours rather than leaving it.

All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)

I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players

I was about to say that.