car battery advice

[Richie London]

cars off the rd but i have been starting it every few days to keep battery from going flat, havent done it for a week so now flat. should i charge and keep it charged in the car or take it off and put it in house till ready to use car again. should be back on rd by end of jan hopefully

[Andy B]

cars off the rd but i have been starting it every few days to keep battery from going flat, havent done it for a week so now flat. should i charge and keep it charged in the car or take it off and put it in house till ready to use car again. should be back on rd by end of jan hopefully

Letting your car idle for a few minutes after you've started it doesn't even start to put back in your battery what  you've just taken out of it by starting it. You need to drive your car for something like 10 miles or so to even come close. That's apart from  the condensation & acids etc you're letting build up inside your engine by keep starting it. Either connect an Optimate/CTek type smart charger to your car & leave it till you next need your car, or if you can't leave mains connected to the car, remove the battery & charge in the house/garage/etc 

[MickAP]

cars off the rd but i have been starting it every few days to keep battery from going flat, havent done it for a week so now flat. should i charge and keep it charged in the car or take it off and put it in house till ready to use car again. should be back on rd by end of jan hopefully

Letting your car idle for a few minutes after you've started it doesn't even start to put back in your battery what  you've just taken out of it by starting it. You need to drive your car for something like 10 miles or so to even come close. That's apart from  the condensation & acids etc you're letting build up inside your engine by keep starting it. Either connect an Optimate/CTek type smart charger to your car & leave it till you next need your car, or if you can't leave mains connected to the car, remove the battery & charge in the house/garage/etc 

What he said...........and I'd remove it, but make sure you have all the codes for radio etc for when you reconnect. I have a car laid up for winter in the garage, but took it out two weeks ago for a 35 mile blast. That should have topped the battery up a bit. I plan getting one of those Ctek chargers or similar, to keep it ticking over.

Mick

[freecall666]

get your self a trickle charger, and it will keep battery toped up wile not in use. dont get a cheep one of the bay get a proper one.

[Andy B]

get your self a trickle charger, and it will keep battery toped up wile not in use. ....

That's what  CTek/Optimate is 

[Ian_D]

If the car is off the road, disconnect the battery leads and put it on charge.

Once fully charged, disconnect the charger and just leave it as is.

Then when you want to use the car again, connect the leads back up.

[Richie London]

i bought a trickle charger last year from halfords. ive taken it off so will charge it up when i come back here in the week as the charger is at my flat in heathrow.

[shane1000]

for a charge to be put in you have to keep the engine on at least 1500 steady revs - the more  revs- the more charge goes in.  a good 5mins of this would be enough to keep the battery on form every 3-4days

[TheBoy]

for a charge to be put in you have to keep the engine on at least 1500 steady revs - the more  revs- the more charge goes in.  a good 5mins of this would be enough to keep the battery on form every 3-4days

I'd have to disagree. Plus it will knacker the exhaust, block up the breathers, and turn the oil acidic.