Battery Charging

[MrT]

As I am always doing things to my Galaxy, I have the doors open, radio on etc, the battery is constantly getting drained. What I would like to be able to do is to connect the car to the mains when I am in the garage so that it is not draining the battery power, or if it is, it is replenished overnight.

 

Battery chargers can only be used whith the battery disconnected as there is the risk of damaging the car electrics through over voltage, so I am looking for some other form of regulated supply. They must exist as mobile homes can be connected to the mains on camping sites and keep their batteries charged.

 

Has anyone any knowledge of any such product?

[kalel]

Hello.

 

I made a very good investment some 20 years back. Mounted a topupcharger in the missus ol' Volvo 343. Always having a fully charged battery saved many cold wintermornings.

The charger extends battery life too, from the normal 2 - 4 years in our climate up to 8 - 10 years.

When the 343 went to the happy hunting grounds I mounted the charger in da missus current Golf and it's been doing a good job there too, battery's on it's 5th year now.

 

http://www.defa.com/heating4.php3?aid=8&lang=3&ndid=

 

:unsure: :blink: :D

[johnb80]

Most standard chargers are fine with the battery connected, I use a 4 amp one to do just what you propose and have never had a problem on any car that I've had including the Gal. In my Gal I conveniently plug it into the power socket in the boot. If you're unhappy or unsure if you get a stabilised PSU from Maplin/Farnells/RS and set the voltage to 13.80 you won't go wrong. Me personally I would go to halfords or Machine Mart and buy a 4 amp charger. If you want to be doubly safe get a power conditioner plug from a computer shop (about

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Do what Kalel did - buy a top-up charger, usually a "normal" charger with a switch that changes it into top-up mode. I have one that I bought from Argos some years ago. It is quite safe to charge a battery whilst still connected to the vehicle's electrical system so long as you observe a few simple precautions, one of which is don't charge the battery too rapidly, and a top-up charger of course does not charge rapidly!

Good luck.

[rwtomkins]

Just a note of caution - the silver calcium battery which I believe is now fitted as standard on the Gal can't easily be charged by a charger designed for conventional lead acid batteries. There was a thread on this a while ago:

 

http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/Forum/index.p...wtopic=1504&hl=

[_dg]

I think Maplin ( www.maplin.co.uk ) have some solar chargers on special offer at the moment - and not those little poxy ones!

 

There is a 15w one at