at the moment i have two car batteries in my cellar (a spare and one from the camper). i only have one charger and keep switching it between the two every few days. Is this right or can i leave one without the charger for longer? they are on a wooden shelf with some insulation round them
You can leave them much longer, but it's nice to hear you have them wrapped up against the cold poor things!
If I leave my bus for a month or 2 it still starts up without doing any charging. Same with the car and the batteries aren't tucked up in a blanket either, bless them. Are you still having starting issues?
If you have to keep charging up batteries, even in cold weather, it's time to face up to the fact that you need a new battery!
yep thirded, my beetle battery was rubbish in the frost, needed a jump or charge often, replace and all good, same with the van, new battery is less than a tank of fuel but lasts 5? years. ebay is cheap enough cost me £54 delivered for a 096 varta for the van
hmm, i'm sure the bug and camper batteries are less than a year old. maybe i had the older spare in the bug? tbh, neither vehicle gets a very good run (camper less so) but the bug battery gave up after doing the yorkshire run. have changed it now, just wish i could remember which was the older one . should've labelled 'em, 2 are bosch silver, 1 isn't. :-
Depending how old your charger is, it may not switch off once a full charge is reached. Found this: When charging always do so in a well ventilated area as batteries give off poisonous hydrogen gas. Most NON maintenance free battery manufacturers recommend that you remove the plugs whilst charging. Maintenance free batteries should generally not be charged or jumped if they are showing a yellow fault light. You should also avoid charging the battery in very cold weather if there is a danger of freezing. You should also avoid charging the battery if the electrolyte temperature raises above 44oc. Slow charges usually give better results and do not deteriorate the condition of your battery as much as some fast chargers. The battery should not be overcharged and most good chargers will switch off when it is fully charged. If a battery is over charged, perhaps due to a faulty voltage regulator the electrolyte will bubble and spit. This will cause harmful battery acids to leak out of the battery into the engine bay. The first victim is usually the battery tray so this should be regularly inspected for signs of corrosion.
Parallel charging is fine just so long as both batteries are of the same capacity. If the capacities differ widely then there will be a tendency to overcharge the lower. And before anyone says it yes I know that it is current practice to parallel up the MB with the LB just using a basic relay. )
turned the charger off now. worried i've been buggering up all my batteries. thought it was good for them maaan, it's cold in that cellar!
