Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega Electrical and Audio Help => Topic started by: r1 on 14 August 2011, 18:31:28
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just been given a spare battery as my mates passat was written off [got hit by a car while parked outside his house] so whats the best way of looking after it.i know i could buy one of those automatic top up battery charges but at about 40 pounds it seams a bit of a overkill.dont want to keep swapping it on to my car as i dont know the radio code.so any ideas?
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Depends on how long you intend to store it, I'd say anything more than 2-3 months and your only real option is a conditioner/charger when weighing up the costs.
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...i know i could buy one of those automatic top up battery charges but at about 40 pounds it seams a bit of a overkill.dont want to keep swapping it on to my car as i dont know the radio code.so any ideas?
I know it doesn't help you now, but keep an eye out for Lidl &/or Aldi have their offers on. They often sell a cheap Optimate/Ctek type charger at around £13, not as clever as the real thing but for the money they're great value. :y
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I bought one from Lidl a couple of years ago.Im glad you reminded me that I have it Andy, as I now have a spare battery that I can use it with. :y ;D
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I bought one from Lidl a couple of years ago.Im glad you reminded me that I have it Andy, as I now have a spare battery that I can use it with. :y ;D
:y :y :y :y
I just leave mine permanently connected to my caravan's battery, it came in handy last year when I had problems with the caravan's basic charger, and being a bit smarter it means I can leave it charging when hooked up on my drive without worrying about boiling the battery.
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I bought one from Lidl a couple of years ago.Im glad you reminded me that I have it Andy, as I now have a spare battery that I can use it with. :y ;D
:y :y :y :y
I just leave mine permanently connected to my caravan's battery, it came in handy last year when I had problems with the caravan's basic charger, and being a bit smarter it means I can leave it charging when hooked up on my drive without worrying about boiling the battery.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that a caravan charger doesn't 'properly' charge a 12v battery. as it's restricted to 12v+ output to protect the caravans 12v circuits, where as to charge the battery properly you need to put 13v+ into it.
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i got a solar charger its 1wat, been keeping my spare's of for a wile. think they about £7 on bay... just change the plug and put crocodile clips on the end of it, have one on caravan as well battery never gone flat yet.. :y
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I bought one from Lidl a couple of years ago.Im glad you reminded me that I have it Andy, as I now have a spare battery that I can use it with. :y ;D
:y :y :y :y
I just leave mine permanently connected to my caravan's battery, it came in handy last year when I had problems with the caravan's basic charger, and being a bit smarter it means I can leave it charging when hooked up on my drive without worrying about boiling the battery.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that a caravan charger doesn't 'properly' charge a 12v battery. as it's restricted to 12v+ output to protect the caravans 12v circuits, where as to charge the battery properly you need to put 13v+ into it.
You need 13.8 Volts to fully charge a 12V lead acid battery. 12 Volts output from the charger would result in the caravan electrics still draining the battery, as its' terminal voltage won't drop to 12 Volts until it's almost flat..
I would have thought a caravan charger would put out 13.8 volts or have some intelligent charging function, otherwise it'd be no use.
In addition, most 12V electrical items are happy with up to 14.4 Volts as that's what you have in a car electrical system when the engine's running.
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I bought one from Lidl a couple of years ago.Im glad you reminded me that I have it Andy, as I now have a spare battery that I can use it with. :y ;D
:y :y :y :y
I just leave mine permanently connected to my caravan's battery, it came in handy last year when I had problems with the caravan's basic charger, and being a bit smarter it means I can leave it charging when hooked up on my drive without worrying about boiling the battery.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that a caravan charger doesn't 'properly' charge a 12v battery. as it's restricted to 12v+ output to protect the caravans 12v circuits, where as to charge the battery properly you need to put 13v+ into it.
An old style onboard charger isn't clever enough to float charge the caravan battery so they restrict the voltage to protect the battery rather than the caravan's 12 volt system.