Battery maintenance

Hi all, hope someone might point me in the right direction.
i work away from home for 4 weeks at a time and i have noticed that when i get back my car is getting harder to start.
sounds like my battery doesn't like me been away for so long (either do i for that matter..lol )

so i am in need of a battery charger/maintenance to keep my battery alive.
so i have been looking around but not sure what way to go.
solar is no go as the panel would be knocked off by some one to easily.

so i need a plug in type..
and can i leave the battery connected to the car during this process?

any ideas would be greatfull


thanx in advance

Some of the machinery I work on is used for an hour or so every couple of days. This means that they are started, run for a bit then shut down for two or three days. The batteries tend to ramp down so they go flat over a few weeks. I install a "battery minder" which is a regulated charger, about the size of a ciggi packet which is connected permanently to the battery. When you are not using the motor you plug it in to an extension cord and it trickle charges at about 1.5 amps max. They are used on boats as well and are available on line or from boat or battery shops. Cost from $50 to $150 depending on make.

Sorry forgot - yes they are left connected to the car all the time, just unplug the extension cord.

you may also have a small short ,
check how many volts are in your battery next time before you start it.
OR dis-connect the battery while you are away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malgreen

snip...

so i need a plug in type..
and can i leave the battery connected to the car during this process?

any ideas would be greatfull


thanx in advance

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I use these... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CTEK-XS0-...item43bfce09dd

Work great for your needs, won't screw the battery etc.
I replace the 36 and 55 AH standby batteries out in the field every 5 years even tho they still test better than 90% capacity.
They are spec'd to 100 AH capacity but I've had no issues with 110 AH.

If you want the extra capacity then these will be your best choice http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CTEK-12V-...item5d436fef6e

CTEK are pretty awesome quality wise.

Hi Evil..
yep i think Ctek is the way to go..
might even get the bigger one up .. this is the link , what do you think?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CTEK-MXS5...item1c39756dde

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malgreen

Hi all, hope someone might point me in the right direction.
i work away from home for 4 weeks at a time and i have noticed that when i get back my car is getting harder to start.
sounds like my battery doesn't like me been away for so long (either do i for that matter..lol )

so i am in need of a battery charger/maintenance to keep my battery alive.
so i have been looking around but not sure what way to go.
solar is no go as the panel would be knocked off by some one to easily.

so i need a plug in type..
and can i leave the battery connected to the car during this process?

any ideas would be greatfull


thanx in advance

---

I use these ones.
The first one is a pulse charger. Second one is a three stage smart charger.
They both have been doing a good job for nearly two years now.
I can say the pulse charger is a really good one for trickle charging as well
. It goes to trickle mode once the battery is fully charged.
Or if it's already charged, it goes to trickle mode.
The smart charger also goes to trickle mode once the battery is fully charged.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12-Volt-S...item1a02b7c8fc

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-240V-...item1c4670d91e

The above are budget ones, but they are pretty good for the price. They do the job for me.

Above.20 amp one charges a battery fairly quickly.

There's also a 40 amp one on fleabay for around $80 or so.
I haven't tried it, so I can't recommend it, yet.

Multi stage batteries that employ more than three stages are better.
They are usually lot more expensive, but may worth the money depend on how much you spend on your batteries. CTek ones are usually good stuff, but a 20 amp one can be pretty pricey. Ctek ones are worth the money for expensive deep cycle batteries. Those batteries can go for 5-10 years with a good charger.

I've been pulse charging(with the above budget pulse charger) one of my 4WD cranking batteries that I bought second hand for $70 over two years ago. The battery still cranks like hell. I pulse charge is once a month or so with the above pulse charger.

So, it's obvious that maintaining with a good charger makes a hell lot of a difference for the longevity of a battery, both cranking and deep cycle.

ctek all the way check out the range for one that's suits all your applications required

To check for a small back leak ( battery drain ) get a el cheapo multi meter with the " 10amp function " turn everything off, close doors etc
Remove Negative ( Black lead ) from you vehicle, Now on your multimeter move the RED lead to the socket that says 10A, then turn the meter dial to the 10A setting
Put the multimeter red lead to the vehicle Negative and the multimeter black lead to your battery ( or vice versa, one way will read something like 0.05A other way around will read -0.05a)
You are putting the meter in series with the battery so don't try and start or turn anything on as the meter is rated to 10amp.
Screen will tell you how many Amps your vehicle is drawing with everything turned off, There will always be a little draw, this is your ECU, Clock, Radio memorys etc and some cars stay "awake" for a few seconds after you put the meter in series, so Amps may jump up a little then settle down.

Hope that makes sense in text format, if you get stuck flick me a PM and i will give you my number, or if you ever come down to Perth myself of one of the boys in the workshop can check it for you

Also the Ctek maintenance charger's are the ducks nuts for keeping your batteries going.

Macka

Very well written parasitic draw test.
A good example of how good a job a clear writing can do.

Anything above 0.05A(50mA) is generally considered an electrical leak/short circuit somewhere.
I think some modern cars can be exceptions.
One good way to cook the meter during this test is to turn headlights on. :D
Hopefully the safety fuse in the meter kicks in before the cooking. :1087:

BTW, Macka, I reckon it's worth considering your post above in "RB30 facts, figures & helpful figures" thread with a heading like
"how to find and electrical leak" etc. I know it's not exclusive to RB30, but will help generally anybody, I reckon.
There are good youtube videos on this subject, but generally not many clearly, compactly written guides.
I like EricTheCarGuy videos. He's a no bull and entertaining automotive educational video maker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0
I learnt to do the parasitic draw test for the first time from the above video.

Malgreen

I have start and house batteries in the boat and of course good start batteries in the GQ and our other vehicles.
I have been using 5 and 6 amp chargers in the boat for years (Batteries are approx 8 yrs old now) but both on timers so they only run for a hour or so each day when the boat is just sitting.

You could try something similar OR

I also have a Ctek M300 25 amp charger which by the way comes with one of the .8 amp trickle chargers. The M300 is the way to go if your serious as they have a 5 year warranty whereas the others are a fair bit shorter. The guy I dealt with also will make up short extra cables with anderson plug connections with clips for normal battery charging for a reasonable extra cost. He did what he said and posted all the gear that was delivered to the door in a couple of days. The bigger Ctek will give tired batteries a good little tickle up too. http://store.rvtek.com.au/battery-ch...s-accessories/ Talk to Mike and tell him what I got and ask him if he has had his PSA checked ? 07 31170757


Cheers
Chimo

PS What I forgot to say was if your battery was mine I would give it a run on the M300 while your there and then plug the maintenance .8 one in, which is a four step charger by the way; while your away, but perhaps the best advice would be to ask Mike if you talk to him.

ok guys thanks for the info..
lots of good info here.
Chimo.
i will Mike a buzz and have a chat with him,, thanks for that