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Author Topic: Smart Car Battery Chargers.  (Read 2445 times)

tickmike

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Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« on: November 06, 2020, 02:17:38 PM »

With one of our cars having 'start/stop technology' and AGM batteries “Absorbent Glass Mat” which is the heart the car, if the battery control module detects that the battery is Not fully charged it will start shutting things down different equipment like radio, sat nav and also our electric boot lid, if you do not have the engine running .

 I am beginning to think that my 'Home made' basic charger I used during last lockdown  eg Mains transformer with different voltage outputs, bridge rectifier, smoothing capacitor is not going to be good enough to charge my car battery in a good way for these new batteries.

Because the RR Evoque has 134 computing modules I disconnect the battery each time I want to charge it as I do not want to 'fry' any of the modules, this can take up to 30 minutes just to connect the charger up.

I have been thinking about using  of using one of many I have electronic equipment regulated power supplies for a car battery charger.
Also thinking about fitting a fixed socket with fuses to the battery for charging purposes so I can plug it in and it's ready to charge..

But maybe I should buy on of these instead  at £79  :-\
 
Code: [Select]
https://www.ctek.com/uk/products/car/ct5-start-stop-uk
What do yo think.  :hmm:
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Chunkers

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2020, 04:33:18 PM »

If your battery is flattening itself then that doesn't sound right, perhaps you have a fault in your electrical system?

AS an aside, my mini has also start/stop but has a button to switch it off - have you considered disabling it? Personally I always do, because I find it annoying while driving but also because stop start is bad for the longevity of your engine.  The fuel saving is apparently 3-10% .... or less then 3% if you run air-conditioning or other heavy electrical loads - I think its mostly so the manufacturers can report better economy numbers under 'optimum' conditions.

J
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2020, 05:32:09 PM »

To convince me there is any such thing as a ‘safe’ charger for a modern car, I would need to see two parameters...

1)  The charger manufacturer would need to specify the maximum instantaneous voltage.  It is likely to be quite a bit more than the battery’s nominal 12V in order for the device to work properly, but how much more?

2)  The car manufacturer would need to specify the maximum instantaneous ‘over-voltage’ that is safe for all of the car’s electronics.

I have failed either of these parameters clearly defined for any charger or for my car (Volvo), so I have chickened out of buying a charger. :(

You can disconnect the battery during charging but that runs the risks of all sorts of gremlins on modern cars, things that might go awry, from lost radio anti-theft codes upwards. 

Even other half’s Polo, nearly 20 years old had some quirks... the electric windows no longer work properly after changing the battery.  To make them work again you have to jump through a few hoops - documented in the owner’s manual, but took a bit of finding.
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tickmike

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2020, 09:14:51 PM »

I forgot about this post  :blush:

@ 'chunkers'
I do not have a problem with the 'start/stop technology' I put that to denote that the car has a larger type of battery.
During lock down with the car not being used the battery is getting run down all the time with the tracker and alarm a a few other back ground electronics.
Being on the Land Rover forum there are lots of posts (mainly older cars) with older batteries that giving problems with there cars.
So quite a few have fitted these 'Smart Chargers'
@ sevenlayermuddle
I am going to see if I can get info 1 & 2


I had an old van once and I think I help to kill one of the computer units for some of the heating functions with using a basic battery charger connected With Out Disconnecting the battery from the van, I think the AC ripple on the DC battery charger output.
I sold the van  ;D
 
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maxheadroom

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2020, 01:02:40 PM »

Do you do a lot of short journeys i ask as a modern car battery shouldn't go flat oven if the car is parked for a few weeks if it has a decent amount of charge when parked up, if you are doing a lot of short journeys it might be worth making one of them a little longer every so often to top the battery up.
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2020, 03:39:27 PM »

I’m not sure I agree that modern batteries shouldn’t go flat or at least, when installed in a modern car.

Modern cars consume battery in all sorts of ways when parked.   Some of it’s obvious, such as the security system, radios for the remote.  But some is less obvious, cars can get up to all sorts of battery draining shenanigans when you’re back’s turned.

One example is my Volvo.  About 15 minutes after you lock it and walk away, there’s a clunk as the petrol cap locks itself - for some reason, that’s delayed.    About 45 minutes after you lock it and walk away, the interior fans spring to life for a while, apparently it’s to help freshen or dry out up the air con ducting.

The volvo even has an electric vacuum pump as back up for the normal manifold vacuum, to provide brake assistance.   The (good) idea being that the brakes should still work if the car rolls down the hill, even without a key in the lock.   That circuit is permanently active, has to be, else it couldn’t be relied upon.

I’ve heard that some modern cars even have a dealer-resettable  ‘deep sleep’ mode that needs to be set at the factory before shipping, else the battery is at risk just during shipping and storage. 

Most 1970s cars like my Mk III cortina had none off that.  Ignition ‘off’ meant ‘off’, no battery drain at all.
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maxheadroom

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2020, 04:21:57 PM »

I do get that times have moved on and ignition off doesn't mean everything off these days but modern cars have modern batteries (not one size fits all like back in the day) and if you keep them topped up by driving a decent distance occasionally   they shouldn't be dead when you come back to them after a week or twos inactivity if this was the case every airport car parks would be full of dead cars every time a plane landed.
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2020, 06:36:47 PM »

I do get that times have moved on and ignition off doesn't mean everything off these days but modern cars have modern batteries (not one size fits all like back in the day) and if you keep them topped up by driving a decent distance occasionally   they shouldn't be dead when you come back to them after a week or twos inactivity if this was the case every airport car parks would be full of dead cars every time a plane landed.

In your first post, to which I was responding, you said
for a few weeks

Subtly different, “a week or two“ vs “a few weeks“.  ???

Even so, even in the case of “a few weeks“,  i used to agree with you, until we started putting it to the test with lockdown.

Other half’s Polo 2004 starts like normal, even after resting for a month, no sign of any problem.

My 2009 Volvo, I try not to let it go more than two weeks.  It has never failed to start, but by the third week the starter motor sounds frighteningly sluggish, battery clearly distressed.

Both cars have had recent new batteries, mine a genuine item from dealership, Volvo branded.
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maxheadroom

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2020, 07:35:38 PM »

Quote
Subtly different, “a week or two“ vs “a few weeks“.  ???

Thanks for the  infantile response, i will trump it with drive the car occasionally  instead of gawping at it through your window its a moto vehicle not a garden ornament, sorted.   ::)


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« Last Edit: November 21, 2020, 07:43:05 PM by maxheadroom »
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2020, 07:52:07 PM »

Thanks for the  infantile response, i will trump it with drive the car occasionally  instead of gawping at it through your window its a moto vehicle not a garden ornament, sorted.   ::)


.

You are welcome to your opinion, as everybody is. :)
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Weaver

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #10 on: November 22, 2020, 01:39:25 AM »

My beloved’s Landrover’s new battery keeps going flat all the time - after a week of being unused. I think water ingress is the problem - it’s outside and the wind makes the rain horizontal. I presume there should be drain holes for the the horizontal plastic cover under the bonnet over the top of the radiator? There was water lying there, right next to the battery, and what is going to happen when that little pond overflows? Presumably run all over the batter itself or over the cables. I have encouraged her to douse everything in WD40 and see if we can get rid of the pond by having a neighbour look at it.
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Ronski

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #11 on: November 22, 2020, 09:06:56 AM »

Weaver, there are usually drainage holes/pipes for the panel at the bottom of the windscreen, they often get blocked so would be worth having them checked.
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Chunkers

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #12 on: November 22, 2020, 10:43:22 AM »

I dunno how 'smart' it is, but I bought one of these a while back, it gives you data on battery condition, will smart / trickle charge and the other thing it does is measures the battery demand so you can see the amount of parasitic drain on the battery and might help identify a fault.

Its called a trickle charger, but it will charge the battery at up to 8A which is as much as most cheap chargers do, so its really more than a 'trickle' and you can keep it plugged in to keep the battery 'conditioned'

I have used it a couple of times on my Mum's old w211 Mercedes E class and it has helped keep the battery alive as she doesn't use it much, the car is quite (electrically) complicated and so tends to flatten the battery as it has a fairly high passive load.

And for £22 it seems reasonable.
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Ronski

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #13 on: November 22, 2020, 11:05:57 AM »

I dunno how 'smart' it is, but I bought one of these a while back, it gives you data on battery condition, will smart / trickle charge and the other thing it does is measures the battery demand so you can see the amount of parasitic drain on the battery and might help identify a fault.

I was just wondering how it could measure parasitic drain, as to measure current draw the meter would have to be in series, but then it occurred to me that if there is a drain on the battery then the battery would draw more from the charger.
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Weaver

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Re: Smart Car Battery Chargers.
« Reply #14 on: November 22, 2020, 03:56:51 PM »

@Ronski Thanks, that’s what my wife said. But I said that didn’t seem right as the tray in question is at the front of the bonnet compartment, over the radiator. Are there drain holes for that too?

The car gets parked near pine trees by the house that constantly shed needles and fill up the house’s gutters and can even clog downpipes, so very likely to be the answer.
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