Trickle charger - who has one?

It's become apparent (and through the good old process of elimination) that the 6 mile round trip to work every day is doing my battery no favours.

I'm looking at trickle chargers and wondered if there are any recommendations?  :dontknow:

Ta, Amanda

i bought one of ebay which is just a plug that goes into wall and then a positive and negative clamp that comes off it.

i use it once or twice a week through winter when car is sorn just to keep battery topped up

think it seems to work, but not sure if really you are meant to leave it on constantly

:-)

Rich

I don't know about cars but on my bikes I use an optimate to keep battery healthy when parked up for ages, it is for 12v batteries so maybe worth a try ????

i have an optimate car on mine

keeps it tip top

i do 1 mine round trip in a diesel and same battery for 5 years,its all about battery quality  :wink:
Optimates are good,i had one on my citi for years
Bert

Could buy a battery isolator switch for the battery. I got one on eBay and works a treat.

Thanks for your replies!

Shughy said

Could buy a battery isolator switch for the battery. I got one on eBay and works a treat.

Never thought of that, that'd be ideal really.

Worked out about £5 with shipping extra.

I use it on mine all the time when it's tucked up inside!

i have one and its briliant, made by CTEK the same make as the ones supplied with new astons,(but without the aston branding and price tag!) its been permently plugged in for 3 years and every time i come to the car its ready, its a proper battery conditioner will charge the battery slowly and then discharge a small amount to keep battery in perfect condition, its probably better for cars in long term storage rather than cars used often
if your not using the car enough that the battery is gradually going flat i would be more worried about the damage to the rest of the car by the short journeys, is the car getting up to temp during the journey?

I can vouch for the CTEK. Different sizes dependent on battery and can do a charge and trickle maintainance charge.

I also had a different solar powered unit when my car was not within range of a plug point - connected the cigarette light to a permament live and sent a trickle though that…it will never charge a battery though, and will only slow the drain of the battery, not prevent it.

The battery isolation is the best way to do it if you are is secure, as your alarm may also go!

racer said

if your not using the car enough that the battery is gradually going flat i would be more worried about the damage to the rest of the car by the short journeys, is the car getting up to temp during the journey?

Yeah, it gets up to temp fine. The fan kicks in every now and then too. It's only left for 1.5 hours and then I'm off again.

Looking into it further there might be a dodgy earth too but I'll still be buying a trickle charger anyway.

Ta!

I bought one from argos for a tenner. just a plug with a charging light on, going to + and - terminal clamps.

I dont drive my car often, so I leave it on all the time and the battery always has plenty of cranking power

Solar effort from Maplin - £20 (often 1/2 price, so look out for one for a tenner!) .. Leave it on the dash. Plug in to lighter socket.

My Dad leaves one on his '72 daimler which lives in the garage and barely moves. Battery's always fully charged.

That way it'll be charging while you're at work.