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[mel]

I SORNed my Omega (2003 2.6cdx auto) nearly a year ago but have charged battery every now and again to start and move it - I've got an old trickle charger which seems to do the trick.
Today put it on charge and noticed charger needle goes to red for 30sec or so then flicks back to blue for same then back to red etc.
Does this mean battery is US or is this normal? (Never noticed before).
It seems to be putting a bit of charge back as instruments light up but havn't managed to start yet.

[Andy H]

What make/model of trickle charger?

It reads as though you might have an early design of intelligent charger that periodically switches between periods of charging and resting. When resting it senses whether the voltage drops (more charge required) or stays the same (fully charged).

[mel]

Thanks Andy -seems I spoke too soon - when I checked again it had steadied on yellow and had enough charge to start the car.
It's a Selmar Star charger which belonged to my Dad so must be at least 25 years old but still appears to be in good order.
My worry was had I left battery flat too long as I'd never noticed the flicking back and forth before.
Anyway I've learnt a bit more today about chargers which I'd always taken for granted.

Many thanks for your help.

[Andy B]

Thanks Andy -seems I spoke too soon - when I checked again it had steadied on yellow and had enough charge to start the car.
It's a Selmar Star charger which belonged to my Dad so must be at least 25 years old but still appears to be in good order.
My worry was had I left battery flat too long as I'd never noticed the flicking back and forth before.
Anyway I've learnt a bit more today about chargers which I'd always taken for granted.

Many thanks for your help.

Keep an eye out for Aldi & Lidl for their offers. From time to time they do a cheap version of a Ctek/smart type charger for about £13. I have a couple of them & for the price are very good value for money, you can connect them to your battery & forget about them, leaving electrickery to keep an eye of voltages. As with any 'smart charger' though, they need to see a resonable voltage before they'll start to charge the battery.