Car battery charger

Daniel1991!

My car is refusing to start once again this morning presumably the cold weather causing a flat battery. This is the second time it's happened, happened 2 weeks ago when it last snowed. Last time I called out the AA to recharge the battery, but don't want to call them out again. Can anyone recommend a car battery charger which doesn't have to be plugged in anywhere, as my car is parked some distance from my front door. I also don't want to take the battery out and take it indoors as I don't feel safe doing so.

Reply 1

StriderHort

Original post by Daniel1991!

I don't think we have such technology?

I could be wrong, but these chargey powerbank things are just glorified phone batteries, they can jump a battery, maybe. I don't think they have much hope of charging it (even plug in car battery chargers seem to take 24 hours+)

Other ones you get are basically capacitor banks, you attach it to the 'dead' battery and over time it kind of converts the batteries large but weak charge into a small but powerful one that might start it.

Is your battery just gubbed? Replacing that or whatever connector/alternator/elec problem is prob the better option. Did the AA not health check the battery when they came out? They're meant to (how else can they sell you a new battery? :tongue:

)

(Oh yeah, see that big wheeled industrial battery pack the AA people use? Tbh that should give you an idea what chance a USB powerbank has...)

Reply 2

Daniel1991!

The battery itself is only 10 months old. I might just wait until the show clears and call out the AA again. Don't want to electrocute myself lol.

Reply 3

ReadingMum

you can get ones with solar panels that trickle charge the battery to keep it alive.

Reply 4

Daniel1991!

Original post by ReadingMum

you can get ones with solar panels that trickle charge the battery to keep it alive.

Ive heard of them. Would they restart a dead battery?

Reply 5

ReadingMum

Original post by Daniel1991!

Ive heard of them. Would they restart a dead battery?

no - but they should stop one going dead in the first place.
The booster packs will allow you to start with a dead battery and then you can go for a nice long drive (around your local area) to charge the battery up. If it has died so quickly it sounds like the battery is not well even if it isn't that old. Was it a decent brand and is it the right size for the vehicle?

Reply 6

StriderHort

Original post by Daniel1991!

The battery itself is only 10 months old. I might just wait until the show clears and call out the AA again. Don't want to electrocute myself lol.

Original post by Daniel1991!

Ive heard of them. Would they restart a dead battery?

You'd be there forever. Since you park away from home on the street...the only effective way you could use one is inside your car plugged into the 12v. I'm assuming you don't want to leave you car in public with windows open for cables/panel exposed/wired to battery. Have a look at things like the Autowit capacitor starter Demo'd here but they pretty much cost the same as a brand new battery...

Unless your car has been sat idle the whole time since the AA were out 2 weeks ago, it REALLY shouldn't be going flat that quick, cold or no cold. Since you're within the battery's warranty i'd check the replacement terms (They prob don't cover you if you let it go flat in the 1st place though, only if it fails)

Reply 7

Daniel1991!

Original post by StriderHort

Be careful as you might need to wait, AA can be a bit mumpy and demand money when called twice for the same issue in a short space of time (As far as they're concerned you should have bought a new battery the 1st time). As said, did they not do a battery check the 1st time when they jumped it? They're supposed to.

You'd be there forever. Since you park away from home on the street...the only effective way you could use one is inside your car plugged into the 12v. I'm assuming you don't want to leave you car in public with windows open for cables/panel exposed/wired to battery. Have a look at things like the Autowit capacitor starter Demo'd here but they pretty much cost the same as a brand new battery...

Unless your car has been sat idle the whole time since the AA were out 2 weeks ago, it REALLY shouldn't be going flat that quick, cold or no cold. Since you're within the battery's warranty i'd check the replacement terms (They prob don't cover you if you let it go flat in the 1st place though, only if it fails)

I wonder if it’s because it’s diesel and I’ve been using it’s less in the lockdown. When the AA guy came out he said it’s not suitable for it not to be used so since then I’ve been doing 40 min journeys nearly every day and it’s still happened. I might order a battery charger from Halfords and remove the battery myself and charge it up indoors.

Reply 8

666aaron

check the serpentine belt

Reply 9

StriderHort

Original post by Daniel1991!

I can't really speak to the diesel part and yeah it's not suitable for it to sit, but it shouldn't be THIS bad, an hour a day should be plenty.(I'd assume)

Is there any extra electronic things in your car that could be draining power? Like an insurance black box? some of them get wired up in halfassed ways and drain batteries. Is it possible you've left lights on? (some cars stop you, some don't)

I know i've already asked twice, but did the AA check the battery? (attaching a tablet like gizmo to it and reading the screen) They can tell you there and then if it's below spec and not holding a proper charge or not charging from the alternator correctly (I'd expect a red light on the dash for the last one), and this is exactly the info you need to make an informed choice.

Logically... if the car itself has failed to charge the battery, it could be a duff battery in some way, so you going to all the effort of taking it out, humphing it away and trying to charge it with a new £££ charger wouldn't change a thing, you'd likely find buying a new battery less time/money.

Reply 10

Daniel1991!

To be honest I’m not sure if he did a battery check. Although I have got black box and he did advise that that could be draining the battery. And with it being diesel ideally I need to be driving it about 1 hour a day.

Reply 11

Daniel1991!

Would some Bradex work?

Reply 12

Nick6501

My first car i ever owned was a 1.0 corsa with a weak battery, amount of times i came out to a clicking sound with push starts was mad but what i found was if i drove it every 2 days just for a 10 min drive it would be fine, battery charger was just as good but didn't see point when i could just drive it on same route every 2 days and it would start no matter what and during summer the battery was fine, thats how i got through winter and stuff but would of been easier to just buy a new battery but i had a blackbox on car so i didn't want to change battery, when the guy put my box in he even said battery was super weak but put box on anyway which didn't help.

You can buy like jump packs or something which doesn't require them to be plugged in but only last like 2 starts before need charging, if you keep having AA out and find yourself with a dead battery often just buy a new battery, current battery is 10 months old? as in was bought from new 10 months ago? battery shouldn't be dead unless you're literally leaving in days/weeks during cold weather..i bought a new battery on my focus and left car 4 days in snow and fired up first click, sounds like something is drawing power or you're leaving your car sat for days/weeks, would get it checked and remember during cold your battery loses so much strength and needs more to turn over.

Check alternator? if you're doing 40 min trips and its not putting any charge in battery then check that, i used to do 10 min trips and would put enough charge in my battery for 2 days sat so how you're doing 40 mins driving and its not even lasting a day or whatever idk.