Charging 2005 Corsa Battery

Strider590

RealGem wrote: »

I'm sure I remember the AA man's battery booster made a noise! (Yes I know they have much better ones than this!)

This confirms to me that your just nursing a battery that's no good any more.
For the cost of the jump starter you could have bought another battery and had no more trouble with it for at least the next 3 years.

I don't know what it is, I don't understand this aversion people have to buying a new battery, but they do get to a point where replacing them is the most cost effective option, especially when you consider the risk of getting stranded in 1ft of snow with a dead battery.

Case in point, my Mondeo battery was struggling a bit, I could tell it was by the slow starting, it would probably have been fine for another month or so, maybe longer, but last week I bought a new one anyway. I don't see it as having cost me anything, because I would have had to replace it sooner or later, better for £65, than £120 at the roadside from the RAC.

RealGem

facade wrote: »

It is a jumpstarter battery, it won't charge up the car battery, you are supposed to start the engine, the pack provides an extra "boost" current to get the engine started.

The 4 in 1 bit, I don't know, it has a lamp, a 12V socket and a USB socket, maybe they are 3 and the jumpstarter is 4, from the 4 in 1.

You then run the engine for an hour or so to charge the car's battery, or you will need to jumpstart it again.
If the car battery won't charge, and the alternator is working, time for a new battery.

thanks

Sorry yes I meant boost not charge.

It seems there is no indicator on whether it is boosting the car or not, which I think is a bit rubbish.

The instructions say charge (in the house) until the green light comes on. That happened in my case after 4 hours. I have been looking at online reviews all day and you're supposed to charge them for at least 12-24 hours!!

So I will see if it works tomorrow.

I also found this video that demonstrates that the batteries inside these booster packs don't have nearly the same power that they claim to have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCWt0IBIggY ...which is a bit depressing!

thanks

Richard53

For charging, it is better to connect the charger directly to the battery terminals, as this reduces any losses in the car's wiring.


For jump-starting, it is better to connect the negative to the engine block. As stated above, this reduces the chances of a stray spark igniting the hydrogen gas emitted by the battery. A second reason is that it connects the helper battery directly to the starter, bypassing the battery earth strap. If the battery earth is corroded, this will make starting difficult. If you bypass it in this way, at least you get the car started and can fix the earth strap later.


The usual advice is to disconnect the battery from the car before charging. I can see the reason for this, but I have never done it and have suffered no ill effects.


Or so I was told, many moons ago ...

facade

RealGem wrote: »

thanks


It seems there is no indicator on whether it is boosting the car or not, which I think is a bit rubbish.

It doesn't don't need one. Without the boost the engine won't turn over, with the boost it starts (you hope!)

The instructions say charge (in the house) until the green light comes on. That happened in my case after 4 hours. I have been looking at online reviews all day and you're supposed to charge them for at least 12-24 hours!!

It may have been fairly new stock, and the internal battery was already fully charged, so it only needed topping up.
Most people just leave them on charge overnight, and hope that the house doesn't burn down :eek:

Norman_Castle

This shows where to connect the leads on the car

http://www.opeltech.org/cman-478.html

Lead connection order: 1. Connect the red lead to the positive terminal of the booster battery.
2. Connect the other end of the red lead to the positive terminal of the discharged battery. The positive terminal has a cover cap on it.
Undo the cap to access the positive terminal.
3. Connect the black lead to the negative terminal of the booster battery.


4. Connect the other end of the black lead to a vehicle grounding point, such as the engine block or an engine mounting bolt. Connect as far away from the discharged battery as possible.

Norman_Castle

[QUOTE=RealGem;72156078

Anyone know if the Phaze unit is supposed to light up when charging the car battery?

And shouldn't it make a quiet noise? I believe there is a compressor inside it. I'm sure I remember the AA man's battery booster made a noise! (Yes I know they have much better ones than this!)

[/QUOTE]
It doesn't charge the cars battery. It provides power to start the car.

No. It should not make a noise. They do not have a compressor in them.

RealGem

facade wrote: »

It doesn't don't need one. Without the boost the engine won't turn over, with the boost it starts (you hope!)




It may have been fairly new stock, and the internal battery was already fully charged, so it only needed topping up.
Most people just leave them on charge overnight, and hope that the house doesn't burn down :eek:

Sorry no I meant I personally need it to show me if it is boosting the car battery or not, because if it is not - how do I know it is working properly?

The ones with a dial have the needle bobbing about so it is obvious. And even this one has an LED light with no obvious function, but it doesn't light up when boosting the car, as I expected it to.

With this one, you can boost for up to 10 minutes. I don't fancy sitting in my car waiting 10 minutes, when it AINT DOIN JACK!

It did not boost the car after I charged it for 4 hours, nor after 14 hours. So it's going back to Halfords.

AdrianC

RealGem wrote: »

Sorry no I meant I personally need it to show me if it is boosting the car battery or not, because if it is not - how do I know it is working properly?

Plug one of these into the ciggy socket, and turn the ignition onto the first notch.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271523172388

But I think you're misunderstanding how you're meant to use the jump packs.

If I read you right, what you're doing is...
Connect jump pack, wait for car battery to be charged, look surprised when nothing much has happened.

What you're meant to do...
Connect the jump pack, start the car so the alternator can charge the battery, disconnect the jump pack and put it away, drive the car.

Norman_Castle

RealGem wrote: »

Sorry no I meant I personally need it to show me if it is boosting the car battery or not, because if it is not - how do I know it is working properly? If its working, and connected, properly there will be an improvement in how the starter motor turns the engine

The ones with a dial have the needle bobbing about so it is obvious. The ones with bobbing dials are battery chargers. Not what you have bought. And even this one has an LED light with no obvious function, but it doesn't light up when boosting the car, as I expected it to.

With this one, you can boost for up to 10 minutes. I don't fancy sitting in my car waiting 10 minutes, when it AINT DOIN JACK!

It did not boost the car after I charged it for 4 hours, nor after 14 hours. So it's going back to Halfords.

You've bought a box with a battery and a charger in it. When plugged in to the mains the charger charges the battery in the box. When unplugged and connected to the car properly it uses the charge stored in the battery in the box to start the car.

Charge the booster pack. Take it outside and connect to the car as shown above. Turn the key.

RealGem

Norman_Castle wrote: »

You've bought a box with a battery and a charger in it. When plugged in to the mains the charger charges the battery in the box. When unplugged and connected to the car properly it uses the charge stored in the battery in the box to start the car.

Charge the booster pack. Take it outside and connect to the car as shown above. Turn the key.

I did do that, and it didn't start the car.

Not even after 14 hours of charging.

So I have no way of knowing if my battery is capput (it's old) or if the Booster is faulty.

thanks