trickle charger

[soloheadbeg]

Hi

My late Dad's car (1996 Clio) sits in his garage and despite my best intentions to take it out for a run every few weeks to keep the battery charged I have resorted now to using a Silverline 634004 12 Volt Trickle Charger to help out. It claims a 12V and 500mA constant output. At the moment I have it on a timer to top up the battery for 15 mins every day. I am a little nervous about taking it off the timer and leaving it on all the time as I dont want to overcharge the battery (even though it claims to not overcharge). Has anyone any experience of using this trickle charger? Can anyone tell me if leaving it on for 15 mins/day would be adequate to keep it topped up assuming that it is healthy and fully charged to start with.

Cheers

 

[Burnerman]

Worry ye not, squire.....a 500mA charge will be easily lost through internal heat of the battery should it prove too much (which it won't).
15 mins a day is a tiny charge overall - but it may be enough to satisfy the alarm / immobiliser / central locking systems. Feel free to increase this to a couple of hours or so.
John

 

[soloheadbeg]

Hi john

Thanks for reply. There is no immobiliser, alarm or central locking on the car and it takes 2 months roughly for the battery to discharge when the car isn't used.

Cheers

 

[Burnerman]

The immobiliser is actually built into the key - without its internal chip the car won't start.
I guess its a base model (1.2 petrol maybe...Biarritz or similar spec) and a great car they were too. Not many around now without rust on the rear wheel arches!
John

 

[soloheadbeg]

Hi John

Fantastic car, 1.2 petrol , 1996 with only 70,000 miles on the clock. Garaged overnight for its entire life. No rust.

Thanks again

 

[Burnerman]

Not many of those around.....it should have had a timing belt by now, and that usually includes a water pump at the same time.
Someone will get a good 'un!
John

 

[AlanE]

At 500mA you should be able to leave this connected all the time without any problem.

When I was in Essex Fire Brigade all the appliance batteries were plugged into what was effectively an expensive trickle charger 24/7 365 days of the year.

 

[winston1]

Hi john

Thanks for reply. There is no immobiliser, alarm or central locking on the car and it takes 2 months roughly for the battery to discharge when the car isn't used.

Cheers

Lets do the maths. Assume a 35AH battery discharges in 60 days or 1440 hours. 35/1440 = .024amps or 24mA. In a day this = 24x24 = 576mA hours. To put this back assuming 100% efficiency (which it won't be) at 500mA requires 576/500 hours = 1.152 hours or 69 minutes.

So clearly 15 minutes is not enough. But as others have said leaving it on permanently won't hurt.

 

[voicey]

What you need is a battery tender - I use an optimate 4 which I leave connected to my occasional use car (maybe twice a month if I'm lucky). The tender automatically switches off once the battery is fully charged. They are totally automatic.

Another brand I have used is Accumate. I have bought from this guy in the past: http://www.walkersport.co.uk/accessories/category-title/

 

[JohnD]

I have a vehicle with a 100Ah 12v battery. Type 019. it is quite big. it is not used frequently.

Would I be safe to put a 300ma charger on it indefinitely?