1. Home
  2. Car Maintenance
  3. Trickle - Charging "In Situ"

Trickle - Charging "In Situ"

Having broken an ankle nearly 4 weeks ago, and with a leg in plaster, I am unable to drive my car, so I propose to start trickle-charging the battery. The plaster may or may not be removed in a couple of weeks, and I may not be able to drive right away. (Ironic really, because I drove myself 8 miles home after breaking the ankle). ;-)

I can hobble to the garage and connect up an old computer PSU, modified to supply adjustable 13-15 volts, and fitted with a "crowbar" over-current protection circuit. I can also meter the current.

I don't want to be arsed disconnecting the battery, etc in my incapacitated state, so are there any dangers in connecting the croc clips with the battery in situ, just to charge at 1 or 2 amps?

Reply to
Gordon H
Loading thread data ...
[...]

It's what I would do.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Thanks. Whilst I had a lady friend here to help out by plugging in the mains lead etc I checked the off-load PSU voltage as 14.2, and also verified that the croc clip with the + painted on it was the negative lead. :-) Needs some attention...

Then I fired up the engine and she started first time, of course...

Reply to
Gordon H
[...]

TBH, running it once a fortnight is probably the best thing to do if you can.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

I've never bothered disconnecting the batteries from my car or my bike when charging from the mains, and I've never had any trouble.

Reply to
Andy Clews

Trouble is, I can't even drive it in and out of the garage, and I don't trust anyone else to back it in to my garage again. Bit of a tight squeeze.. :)

Reply to
Gordon H

What about using a battery conditioner? Some info here:

formatting link
I've never used one but it may be the answer to your conundrum. No connection with the company. Google brings up many results. I would have thought that trickle charging is going to result in a cooked battery eventually. HTH Nick.

Reply to
Nick

In message , Nick writes

If I already had one, maybe... The PSU is a voltage stabilised one, and on the very rare occasion I have used it for battery charging, if I set it up to charge at 1 or 2 amps on a depleted battery, I notice that the charge rate gradually drops as the battery becomes charged. I very much doubt whether such an arrangement will do anything other than keeping the battery in good condition and avoid plate sulphation..

Anyway, I should be able to drive within a few weeks, so this is maybe much ado about nothing. :)

Reply to
Gordon H

Just make sure the charging current is zero before you remove the clips from the battery. Every year, a few people get hospitalised with acid burns to the face and eyes because the hydrogen from a gassing battery explodes, triggered by the spark from disconnecting.

Personally, I'd prefer the long-term charge to be less than 500 mA.

John

Reply to
John Henderson

Can you give some hard evidence to back this up (when using a trickle charger)?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.