ADVICE on BUYING a CAR BATTERY CHARGER, please?

Mercenary

I don't do the amount of driving necessary to keep my car battery fully charged so I want to buy an intelligent charger (automatic shut off when charged) to keep it topped up .
My car engine size is 1995cc and the battery is a 'Maintenance-Free' type.

So far, in looking around automotive shopsites on the internet, I have mainly found these makes:

SIP
Sealey
Draper

I have emailed a couple of the sites and they say that I should be ok with a 6amp charger for my engine size.

Now being a girlie :rolleyes: I don't know these things, but someone out there might be able to tell me if any one of these makes is better than the others? Or is there a better one yet at around the £30 mark? :idea:
Thanks for any help.... and any make/model suggestions.

Mercenary

Anyone?? (Should this be in the Shopping section, I wonder?)

OK how about the RAC battery charger...like in the Argos catalogue?

Quinny_2

When you say you don't do a large amount of driving to keep your battery charged,could you elaborate a bit?

Ken.

northern_munky

One of these might be useful for you, you'd need to read the FAQ underneath to make sure its for you though.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=47902&FAQS=Y&doy=6m8

espresso

This one sold by Argos fits your requirements.

HTH

mclaren_2

run your engine and that will keep the battery charged - if your battery if flat, and charging it up isnt working alot then the batteyr needs replaced

espresso

mclaren wrote:

run your engine and that will keep the battery charged - if your battery if flat, and charging it up isnt working alot then the batteyr needs replaced

Did you actually read the first post?

:rolleyes:

Mercenary

Quinny wrote:

When you say you don't do a large amount of driving to keep your battery charged,could you elaborate a bit?

Ken.

As I'm fairly centrally located where I live, I mainly do short local journeys (ie school run,Tesco, Sainsburys or whatever) with a very occasional longer run out of the area. I know that after ignition I need, ideally, to run the car for at least 20 mins to recharge the amount of battery power that ignition took out, but most of my driving distances are equal to or less than that and it's not always appropriate to walk/ cycle/hope there's a bus route.

espresso wrote:

This one sold by Argos fits your requirements.

HTH

Yes, thanks, that's one I am considering. Nobody knows anything about the other makes: SIP, Sealey, Draper ?

mclaren_2

espresso wrote:

Did you actually read the first post?

:rolleyes:

yes....... why the sarky post?

espresso

mclaren wrote:

yes....... why the sarky post?

Because your answer is not the answer to the question. The OP is looking to buy a battery charger, not patronising advice.

:rolleyes:

Mercenary

I wouldn't worry particularly about brands if it fits your needs, as most of the ones that you will find will be re-branded anyway.

HTH

Lob_Rockster

Optimate III - and then connect the dropleads supplied with the charger/conditioner to your battery so you can easily "clip on".

I have this for my bikes so the battery does not go south....