Manky Monkey Motors

Mike's car battery often needs charging - it may just be that it's getting past its time (prolly about 2½ years) but anyway the car is used very little and mostly for short runs.  It's an old Jag with a 3.4 engine.

He's thinking about buying a trickle charger, the smart kind that knows when to trickle and when to full charge, he's thinking about a Halfords one but I'm always doubtful about Halfords stuff!

Has antone any experience of these, and if so what's a good buy?

There's an Accumate on Amazon, which is at least a brand I've heard of.

I've got a halfords charger. Seems ok. Does trickle charge and also you can switch between different battery types and also charge bike batteries with it.

Get a solar one from Maplins, and chuck it on the dash! I've got one mounted on the garage wall (outside, obviously!😄) and it keeps the bike charged nicely!!

Yeah ok for a bike - but would it tackle the massive battery in the Jag?  It would be better as you guessed right, she stands outside - well garages are for bikes and trikes, aren't they?  And freezers and pianos and.......

I have a solar one on the dash of my motorhome, it just about copes. That is a huge battery, I find that if I run the motor up every 2 weeks it just manages to kick in. I then take it for a drive just to get everything warm and turning, then park it up again for 2 weeks. Battery is now ten years old so all in all I suppose the charger is doing its job.

They're rated for car batteries Bobbi. Mine delivers about 18v I think!?!

Think I might need more than a trickle charger.
Started the Jag yesterday, first time since before Christmas. Bit sluggish on the starter but fired up ok. Today the battery is so flat, even the interior light wont come on.  And no I didn't leave the lights on. :(
It did this once before and I have no idea why. Alternator diodes perhaps.

Exactly the same as Mike's!   It's fine now though after being on the charger for about 12 hours.  Think we'll definitely go for a smart charger that puts full charge in when needed and reduces to trickle charging when it's charged.

Is the boot or engine bay lights on.  ???

Nope.  Think the battery may need replacing. 24 hours on a charger (off the car) and it's only up to 11.4 V.

Mike said there's a known fault with Jags which is something to do with the wiring inside the front passenger door fouling on the window winder, or shorting on the window winder - might be worth getting the trim off and having a dekko?

I'm talking old Jags, no idea what yours is.

Also check the glovebox light,I have seen this a lot.

My good buddy Dslam found a make called BC (Battery Controller) and a bought a unit for motorcycle batteries (they do car units, as well as car/bike units too).

Its a little bit more than a 'run of the mill' charger/maintainer due to it's monitoring/charging/de-sulphating cycling capabilities.
I was so impressed I bought one too, and its brought an old battery back to life where other units had failed.

These aren't cheap (ball park £60-£70 on flea bay), but have the potential to pay for themselves in salvaging a battery (from as low as 1.5V) that would have been replaced with a new one.

They also give a continuous digital readout of the voltage/charge cycle status, some models can also be used to check the vehicles charging system.

The website comes up with a lot of info, but there's a section where you can put your vehicle details in and it'll come up with 3 options of chargers. Hope this helps.

http://www.batterycontroller.co.uk/car_charger_selection.html