Car battery - new one or recharge!?

Robertf

you can get a trickle charger from bigger tescos, £9.99 I think

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Don't you have any jump leads? That's what I'd do (although I do have a good charger).

pogofish

Yup, give it a good charge and see how long it lasts - If it starts going down again quickly, it is probably gassed. Replace it then.

Well-maintained and charged batteries can last a very long time but if they are left to discharge and sit idle for long periods, the working life will be greatly reduced. TBH, five years is reasonable for an averagely neglected battery.

IMO, better to give it a good charge every couple of months whatever.

If you do need to replace, I've not found very much difference in life between cheapo brands and expensive/oem batteries, so long as you get the right type and fitting. The only exception being very expensive gel batteries for motorbikes - The one I have in just now has lasted longer and held better charge than any vehicle battery I've ever had.

Inactive

goldspanners wrote: »

who are they?

a good battery,a really good battery can last 7 years no problem if charged and used regularly, my focus is 5 years old on its original battery,still starts even after being out of use for 2 weeks,its also got an amplifier wired up to it so its is doing a little more work than it would be expected to.
.

My Daughters Mazda 323 is almost 9 years old, ( May 2000 ) still on the original battery, and exhaust for that matter.

pogofish

thenap80 wrote: »

DO i need a good charger? Where do I get one of these from!!!

You don't need to spend a fortune on one if that is what you mean.

My favourite charger is a simple Bradex automatic device that I picked-up in a sale years ago. It adjusts perfectly to car and bike batteries and has served me very well through a number of vehicles over the years.

The much more expensive and everything-adjustable manual charger that I skip-dived from my work when we contracted the vehicle maintenance out, sits impressively in a corner of my garage and only gets very occasional use. Mainly to pre-charge new batteries and to confirm that an old battery is well and truly failing.

Personally, I'd go to a local independant car parts place - The one the boy-racers tend to use, they will almost certainly undercut the likes of Argos and Halfords for this kind of thing. They will also probably be good value for a replacement battery if you do need one. It really pays to shop around on batteries IME.

eg Here we go - A Bradex no less, £14:
http://www.fastcardirect.co.uk/cart/bradex-12-amp-rms-battery-charger-p-1273.html

Other chargers, with different outputs for smaller engines from a tenner:
http://www.fastcardirect.co.uk/cart/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=14bbca2b430ecdf1a33cfeadd2bf3a97&keyword=charger
I must say, the "Challenge Extreme" charger looks versatile and good value but this firm's delivery costs look pretty high.

Lidl and Aldi also do them occasionally and again, I don't think the last one I saw there was over £15?

pogofish

thenap80 wrote: »

I have it resting out of the car now.

Good idea to remove the battery for charging IME.

Not only is it much easier to see the electrolyte levels when topping-up, you can also inspect the case for cracks/leaks damage etc and on the offchance that a dead battery might spill acid on charging, you don't then have to deal with it rotting your vehicle. It also pays to check the battery bay for corrosion, loose fittings etc and attend to anything you find.

As for using a charger, after checking and topping-up the electrolyte (to between the marks on the battery case) with distilled/de-ionised water, you simply connect the red lead to the battery positive (+) terminal, and the black lead to the negative (-) one. select the charging range on a manual charger (autos do this with no effort) and switch it on.

When finished, switch off & disconnect the charger and leave the battery sitting for a few mins to let any gas dissapate, then wipe each terminal with a thin film of vaseline or similar to inhibit corrosion and reconnect the leads correctly and securely. Then clamp the battery back into the car securely.

If you do need a new battery, remember to give it a decent charge as soon as you can after getting it. That will also help its overall capacity and help set it on the road to a long life.

onejontwo

goldspanners wrote: »

who are they?

a good battery,a really good battery can last 7 years no problem if charged and used regularly, my focus is 5 years old on its original battery,still starts even after being out of use for 2 weeks,its also got an amplifier wired up to it so its is doing a little more work than it would be expected to.

petrol engines take very little out of a battery diesels are harder to start due to higher compression which means heavier starter motor,and also glow plugs on before battery is being charged,so a diesel will need a heavier battery,but again ive had 5 years from a heavy duty diesel engine battery aswell before it gave up.

op,charge the battery up over night,or even jump start the car with,take the car for a run and allow the battery to get a charge up via the alternator, you may find this will work just as well as waiting for an over night charge. but make sure you run it for a good few hours,make sure alternator is charging with your miltimeter then switch it off and try to restart it, if it starts then your laughing.

"They" are the battery manufacturers.
If you've got a battery of 6 8 or more years then good luck! (mines actually 7 years old) I never said throw them away but as many battery manufacturers will state that after 3 years many will start to deteriorate, at what speed depends on the life and type of battery.

goldspanners

onejontwo wrote: »

"They" are the battery manufacturers.
If you've got a battery of 6 8 or more years then good luck! (mines actually 7 years old) I never said throw them away but as many battery manufacturers will state that after 3 years many will start to deteriorate, at what speed depends on the life and type of battery.

"they" would say that.

thenap80

You are all so bloody helpful!!

The website link above shows "BATTERY RATED CAPACITY: 12V DC 8.5 Amp (40-160 Ah)". Would this be okay for mine...16v I think I read about mine! Or is it one battery charger size fits all!!?

I do have jump leads but will that not drain the other persons battery. I tried them the other day with my sister's car as a doner car. The Honda dealer said I should not have done that as it could blow up!

Honda said they sell them for 45 quid so may just buy one. Depends on how cheap I can try to charge this one up for!!



Thanks again!

goldspanners

thenap80 wrote: »

You are all so bloody helpful!!

The website link above shows "BATTERY RATED CAPACITY: 12V DC 8.5 Amp (40-160 Ah)". Would this be okay for mine...16v I think I read about mine! Or is it one battery charger size fits all!!?

you should be reading 16volts. are you sure you arent reading the 16v (16 valve engine) sticker in the back window?
the battery should around 12 volts,it should charge at around or under 14volts.