Battery Maintenance

Hi all,

So for other cars like mine that are likely sit for months now (other than garage trips for odd jobs) what do you use to keep your battery alive during storage.

I'm under the impression the CTEk MXS charger is widely known as a good option - many people on here use it?

I saw halfords do a trick > maintenance charger for just £22 - anyone have this one?

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/g...tenance-charger

Thanks
Lee

I run mine for 30 minutes every week/10 days also try to operate the a/c for same time as well.

Touch wood - I've never had her not fire up on the button and don't seem to ever have the battery drain.

I've got a v old charger (via Halfords I think- that "maintains") but so far not needed it on TRS

I'll fire her up this weekend on the strength of this post.


Regards
MM

How about a solar panel on the dash?

Its in a garage - and apparently constant charging it what damages the battery.

Lee

Indeed. Your best bet, if possible, is to fire it up every now and then and let it run long enough to warm the engine up and recharge the battery - note that if you don't let it run you'll empty the battery since starting takes a huge chunk of charge from it.

Second best bet: a dedicated maintenance charger which will wait until the battery discharges sufficiently and then top it up.

Third - and cheapest! - is simply to disconnect the battery. Self discharge is tiny compared to the leakage via the permanently powered circuits: the central locking system, the alarm system, and (possibly, depending on head unit) the radio.

But those latter two don't get the fluids moving. Best of all is to take the car out of the garage every now and then and drive the damn thing

That's my approach...

Also better to run it a short while (if you choose to start it up occasionally) otherwise you risk flooding the engine making it difficult to start next time.

I use one of these
https://www.optimate.co.uk/products/optimate-5-voltmatic

It recovers batteries, charges them and tests them periodically. I have a local sheep farmer friend, who has a collection of batteries that are left in fields, in all weathers, to power electric fences. He has a collection of chargers to maintain them, however every now and then he brings me some that his chargers won’t touch, I plug it in and within 24hrs they’re fully charged and ready to rock and roll.

Search on amazon and fleabay for discounted ones, but they are worth every penny