Looking after your battery during self isolation

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It’s easy to keep your battery going. Use it. Self isolation doesn’t mean you can’t start your engine everyday and run it up to temperature. Even a little run is acceptable. After all, you are isolated in your car.
 
kermit_rr said:
Starting your engine and letting it idle isn't exactly good for the engine, or even the environment
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Or the battery. It'll take an hour of running, just to put back what a few seconds of cranking takes out.

As you know, a trickle charge is the best thing to keep the battery topped up, once a week or so.
 
I'm using cTek battery charger, but, charging the battery is not enough, especially for our old Landies.
You should drive it for few minutes at least once/twice a week, otherwise, oil seals will be dried and you will start seeing leaks (yes, more than it is already leaks :) )
Sludge will "sit" in the transmission's & engine oil passes and it may effect the transmission behavior.
Bottom line, Cars should drive, not stand for a long time....
Saar.
 
doriz said:
Took the negative of my battery when I parked it up in November - been sat there ever since, new battery?
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That's a long time to leave a battery, but assuming it was fully charged and in good condition, it might be ok if you fully charge it again before trying to use it
 
doriz said:
Took the negative of my battery when I parked it up in November - been sat there ever since, new battery?
Click to expand...
A lead acid (Pb) battery will slowly discharge itself, even if it's not connected. To remain in top condition, it needs to go on a trickle charge overnight, about once a month. ;)
 
I used to have Trials motor that would be left for months at a time on occasion, I used to switch off the battery isolator and never had a problem with flat batteries.
Cracking up your motor and letting it tick over is a good way of flattening your battery as it takes a whole chunk of energy to start the motor and you won't replace it ticking over for a short while.
As the attached link advises, charging the battery every week or so is probably the best method of looking after your battery and/or removing the earth is probably a good second choice on older vehicles.
It is worth remembering that once a battery has been left flat for a while it will be dead i.e. beyond recovery.
 
I've been having problems with my leaisure battery and often put it on charge but the split charge set up fools the (so called) smart chargers. Last week I got a cheap e-bay solar panel, £35 inc postage and stuck it on the roof. I had low hopes at that price and was never expecting it to be the claimed 100w. In 3 days its charged both leasure and main batts fully, even at 4 pm with the sun low and the panel horizontal it can give .1/4 amp. Its doing a much better job than the c-tek for less money. OK it needs controller but that was only £9.
 
rob1miles said:
I've been having problems with my leaisure battery and often put it on charge but the split charge set up fools the (so called) smart chargers. Last week I got a cheap e-bay solar panel, £35 inc postage and stuck it on the roof. I had low hopes at that price and was never expecting it to be the claimed 100w. In 3 days its charged both leasure and main batts fully, even at 4 pm with the sun low and the panel horizontal it can give .1/4 amp. Its doing a much better job than the c-tek for less money. OK it needs controller but that was only £9.
Click to expand...
Any links to this solar panel please?
 
I have a quick disconnect installed on the negative battery cable. I give the red key a twist, remove the key, sorted.
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