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Wanted Car Battery Charger
cfc999 - 16/2/12 at 05:40 PM

Anyone got a spare battery charger. My Escort's not seen daylight for 6 months and I'm planning on a trip to a rolling road so I need a top up.
Cheers
Chris
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chrisxr2 - 16/2/12 at 06:38 PM

can you not jump start it?? Failing that you can pick up a charger for about a tenner.

cfc999 - 16/2/12 at 06:58 PM

Its nearly completely flat and a needs a fully charged battery to turn it over due to having a high compression ratio.
So I'm looking for a 12v battery charger I can plug in and leave overnight.
Anyone go one thats surpless to their requirements.
Cheers
Chris

designer - 16/2/12 at 07:22 PM

Just go and buy a cheap charger.

cfc999 - 16/2/12 at 07:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by designer
Just go and buy a cheap charger.

Thanks for the advice.

britishtrident - 16/2/12 at 08:12 PM

The larger B&Q stores are a good place to buy a charger

whitestu - 16/2/12 at 08:14 PM

If it is totally flat some of the 'intelligent' chargers like the Lidl ones won't work.

Peteff - 16/2/12 at 08:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
If it is totally flat some of the 'intelligent' chargers like the Lidl ones won't work.


They're not that intelligent then are they Jump start it and let it run to charge it up but if it's been flat for that long it sounds like you will need a new battery, how can you have a car like that worth umpteen thousand pounds and not possess a battery charger ?

whitestu - 16/2/12 at 09:50 PM

quote:

They're not that intelligent then are they Jump start it and let it run to charge it up but if it's been flat for that long it sounds like you will need a new battery, how can you have a car like that worth umpteen thousand pounds and not possess a battery charger ?



That's why intelligent was in inverted commas.

britishtrident - 16/2/12 at 11:53 PM

If a battery has been substantial discharged it needs a long charge time at a low rate of amps.

If you try pumping in charge quickly either from a high rate boost charger or just jump starting and leaving the engine running for an hour the charge won't last long. If you boost charge a battery the voltage at the battery terminals will appear to indicate a good state of charge but the charge will not have spread properly through and across the plates.

After jump starting if the car is going back into storage the battery should be charged for at least 16 hours at a low rate.

Every time a battery gets discharged some damage is done which causes in a reduction of the ammount charge the battery will be able to store (ie Amp Hours) in future. The deeper the discharge and the longer the battery is left before recharging the more damage is done.

As a rule of thumb if a battery is discharged by less than 1/3 then little damage is done to the charge capacity more than 1/3 to the damage to the battery is more significant.