Looking for recommendations and advice re a charger for a start/stop battery charger

PhotoMan

Hi

Some months ago I had an issue where I had to call out the AA because my car would not start after a period of inactivity. The battery had died and I had it replaced. I have been advised that it might be worth my while having a battery charger in case either my or my wife's car develops a flat battery in the future. We will try and make sure that neither car is left inactive for any length of time.

Both cars are Citroen Berlingos and I beleive they both have start/stop batteries which Google tells me need a particular tyoe of charger, different from conventional chargers.

I have cut and pasted the details of both cars at the end of this post.

Hopefully this would only be something to keep in the garage for very occasional use.

Can anyone recommend a specific suitable charger that I can buy (in the UK) please? As you may be able to guess my knowledge about cars is limited.

Any comments/advice will be gratefully received.

Thank you

The details of both cars are:

Year of manufacture
2014
Cylinder capacity
1560 cc
CO₂ emissions
115 g/km
Fuel type
DIESEL
Euro status
Not available
Real Driving Emissions (RDE)
Not available
Export marker
No
Vehicle status
Taxed
Vehicle colour
BLACK
Vehicle type approval
M1
Wheelplan
2 AXLE RIGID BODY

Date of first registration
February 2021
Year of manufacture
2021
Cylinder capacity
1500 cc
CO₂ emissions
137 g/km
Fuel type
DIESEL
Euro status
EURO 6 AP
Real Driving Emissions (RDE)
2
Export marker
No
Vehicle status
Taxed
Vehicle colour
GREY
Vehicle type approval
M1
Wheelplan
2 AXLE RIGID BODY

tom192

I used this, it's only 1 amp so only suitable for maintaining if you put it on a dead battery it will take forever but keeping a charged battery correct will be fine.

You can leave it connected indefinitely. I bought the extension wires too so the charger could live in the house.

Ctek also do a similar version

https://amzn.eu/d/04wzh2q9

Lorian

Are they AGM batteries? Post a photo of the label on the battery if you can.

SimonSeys

I have a NOCO GB40. It’s small, compact and works.

tom192

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81968699#Comment_81968699

That looks like it might be a jump starter rather than a charger?

12v lead acid batteries hate being anything but fully charged and are severely damaged if left to go flat even once.

Not saying jump starters don't have a place but it is far better to stop the battery going flat in the first place, especially if you have a way of powering a charger permanently, like on your drive.

Mildly_Miffed

Unlikely a 2014 Berlingo'll have stop-start, but it's possible. The newer one certainly will.

If it's an AGM battery, then you need a smartcharger that supports the right charge voltage and profile for that.

There's a whole LOAD on the market, from dirt cheap to Really Quite Pricey. I like CTek chargers, but they're not the cheapest.

The simple solution is just to… not leave the cars unused for weeks on end. Do you even need two cars, if they're being used so infrequently?

Markdavid1962

May be worth looking at this thread on the Berlingo forum, other car owners had the same question

https://www.berlingoforum.com/thread-13431.html

Stop/ Start Battery

fatbelly

Any Smart charger should have three modes: charge, agm and pulse repair. It's worth having one as part of essential kit. Mine cost £10 from a charity shop but it looks like this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aibeau-Battery-Charger-Maintainer-Display-red/dp/B0FYPX2B9W/ref%3Dmp_s_a_1_25?adgrpid=1188572968390543&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.s49Yh-LKp0-x4VTNbw8kIxekZlGlT5n6uFsmrs5uT0Lf9sUTmzZLqEVEOl770lbBjcSNdVsNNa4mi5G1YVHAzXZcZDUZ1IC4GQAB9B9BFkL9BMYwXJLGeFq1Pe0_DFrNoWeDPybJPfXwGoAxEzGSoHqI0kePWQDpcsjM_u4Bf_MwsgXPnaZFQwtYRkQcQ5ZMPa7aTZwkGoKGUnTf3uYgLA.3NOMRuDeORszYUDHd92rFQxBGhFPU1X3zM-EngJ8Aqw&dib_tag=se&hvadid=74286089903567&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=41680&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-74285949011621%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=28148_2436121&keywords=smart+charger&mcid=270ec6907b38330795d448aef700bc40&msclkid=b01d10ccc7d81eb529ce7928de142a58&qid=1776556609&sr=8-25&xpid=osHKHyy24cbvk

Iceweasel

The Lidle or Aldi ones work well too.

GrubbyGirl_2

The Halfords web site tells you which ones are suitable for a stop/start battery

Goudy

The earlier "Airdream" e-HDi version of the Berlingo had a stop start system but didn't use the main 12v starter battery for it.

It used a stop start unit which included a capacitor, which then turned the alternator to restart the engine once the engine was warmed up.

It was quite quirky as it knocked the engine off before the car actually stopped (less then 4 mph) if it all met certain criteria, like the drivers seat belt was engaged and the drivers door closed, the air con off and the capacitor had at least 80% charge.

They also came with those useless automated manual gearboxes (EGS) that didn't creep. Backing one of these up the drive tended to result in brown trousers if you didn't hold your foot in the brake slightly.