Charging a car battery.?

Zanzibar

The car has been sat in the garage for over a week

If its not starting after a week then the batt may be on its way out as others say. There is some drain from modern cars - a few miliamps to support the alarm etc. Unless you have a heavy drain for some reason a couple of weeks standing should be no issue for a battery.

If you drive regularly it tops up and you may well not notice a battery degrading - leave it for a while and a couple of hesitant starts and then it will just drop off the edge - just when no AA to be found. The cold weather finds out these near to life batteries.

Get a nice new one - with as high a capacity as the tray will take and a decent make.

Do you make many short journeys? Also an issue as there is no time to charge a battery properly.

roddydogs

Or get the Battery and charging circuit checked free at National Tyres No they dont say you need one if you dont.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Don't charge a battery in these temperatures. Remove it from the car, take it inside to get to room temperature, and then charge.

/edit: just to add, make sure the room in which its charged is vented

Ranger8

RegoR wrote: »

Can I charge my car battery while it is still connected to the car,

You can if you use a Ctek type charger/conditioner (around £35-£45)
But get yourself down to Lidl on the Thurs 14th and buy theirs for £13.
Had one 2 yrs, excellent.
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_7575.htm

totalsolutions

I have the excellent CTEK MULTI XS 7000 (currently £100) Very useful tool. However it will not charge a faulty battery. You would be better off buy a new battery for ~£50 compare at https://www.Eurocarparts.com As a family we have several cars and friends I look after and a charger is a part of my tool kit. You can leave these chargers connected to the car all year round on maintenance mode. Do not disconnect the battery leads. The car will not bump start with a flat battery and do not run a car to charge it up, it won't, and you will not start the car later.

In this weather a 10 mile drive with the lights, heater , radio, electric screen demisters running, the alternator is not wanting to keep the battery topped but provide energy to the electrics.

You also need to keep an eye on the cleanliness of battery connections and the earthing bond cable.