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Post by Peter on Dec 1, 2014 23:15:21 GMT 10
The wife's car had a flat battery yesterday morning. Although the battery is only a couple of months old, she normally only makes trips of up to about 5km.
Which got me thinking:
1) Does anyone have tips on a decent car battery charger? This could be worthwhile as a prep.
2) Assuming we face a grid-down scenario, we won't be able to plug in a charger. Will a simple solar system generate enough power to run one? How else would we be able to charge a car battery?
I'm assuming we have fuel on which to run the vehicle...
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Post by SA Hunter on Dec 2, 2014 0:22:32 GMT 10
NEVER buy a cheap battery charger - the last one I had ( an Arlec ) burst into flames, and only the fire alarm saved us from having the house burnt down.
Is the battery one where you need to add water into the cells? or a non maintenance battery. The later are the best - more expensive, but more reliable. This is just my experience, and others' may differ.
Point 2 - no idea. I have a small 1200w solar kit that plugs into our caravan through the battery pack - it will run the lights and fridge/freezer - nothing else I am told. I'm sure there are others here with better knowledge than my posts!
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Post by Paul on Dec 2, 2014 11:49:54 GMT 10
hey Pete, this happens with the car my wife drives as well due to the fact she is only doing 5 min trips to work as well, I have had to put the batery on charge a couple of times now, the resone this happens is you alternator is not getting enought time you charge the battery all the way back up, An easy fix is to take the car for a longer drive then 5 min to allow it the charge for longer. So what I do is every second week I will take her car as I do a longer trip to work and this give it a half decent charge.
I do have a decent charger its a projector 7 stage charger it was a couple of hundred dollars when I got it, but I have had it for many years now and it still works fine. You could get a solar pannel for it and just put in on when parked in your back yard this will at least give it some charge when she is not driving it mainly on weekends I guess. When we do a big trip I have had to put the charger on a genny to top up the batteries. But this is when out for a few weeks running everything of the batteries.( 2 fridges chargers and the camper as well.)
hope this all makes sence.
Paul
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Post by Peter on Dec 2, 2014 11:57:39 GMT 10
Cheers Paul. We'd already discussed swapping cars once every couple of weeks (I work 40km+ from home), so that'll keep it charging.
Great info on the solar panels - this is a topic I'm just starting to learn about.
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overlord
Senior Member
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Post by overlord on Dec 2, 2014 12:55:20 GMT 10
You can actually get one of those dashboard solar panels that you plug into your lighter socket that provide a trickle charge the whole day. So even if your wife is just parked (assuming that there is decent sunlight), the battery would be charging. These are low cost items but efficient: www.ebay.com/bhp/solar-car-battery-charger |
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Dec 2, 2014 15:41:24 GMT 10
actually, check out online.
If you can, download the reality TV series, The Colony. They daisy chained 20 Car batteries recharged by 8 solar panels.
I know American reality TV can be quite rubbish, but it has a lot of learning points.
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stubbs
Full Member
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Post by stubbs on Dec 2, 2014 16:23:56 GMT 10
The wife's car had a flat battery yesterday morning. Although the battery is only a couple of months old, she normally only makes trips of up to about 5km. Which got me thinking: 1) Does anyone have tips on a decent car battery charger? This could be worthwhile as a prep. 2) Assuming we face a grid-down scenario, we won't be able to plug in a charger. Will a simple solar system generate enough power to run one? How else would we be able to charge a car battery? I'm assuming we have fuel on which to run the vehicle... I watched an online video last night of a bloke who uses his cordless drill battery connected to jumper leads to start his car...lol. |
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Post by Peter on Dec 2, 2014 18:01:02 GMT 10
The wife's car had a flat battery yesterday morning. Although the battery is only a couple of months old, she normally only makes trips of up to about 5km. Which got me thinking: 1) Does anyone have tips on a decent car battery charger? This could be worthwhile as a prep. 2) Assuming we face a grid-down scenario, we won't be able to plug in a charger. Will a simple solar system generate enough power to run one? How else would we be able to charge a car battery? I'm assuming we have fuel on which to run the vehicle... I watched an online video last night of a bloke who uses his cordless drill battery connected to jumper leads to start his car...lol. Great idea - until the drill needs recharging. I'm reminded of this:  |
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Post by graynomad on Dec 2, 2014 19:43:53 GMT 10
2) Assuming we face a grid-down scenario, we won't be able to plug in a charger. Will a simple solar system generate enough power to run one? How else would we be able to charge a car battery? Sure it will, you could do anything from a small system to trickle charge a single battery to a large system able to really belt some current in while running two fridges and a MIG welder at the same time. They are all relatively simple, but if course the cost is hugely different. It's really just a matter of how serious you want to get about isolating yourself from a grid-down situation. |
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Dec 2, 2014 19:59:52 GMT 10
as long as no EMP.
EMP might damage the electronics.
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Post by Peter on Dec 2, 2014 21:06:12 GMT 10
2) Assuming we face a grid-down scenario, we won't be able to plug in a charger. Will a simple solar system generate enough power to run one? How else would we be able to charge a car battery? Sure it will, you could do anything from a small system to trickle charge a single battery to a large system able to really belt some current in while running two fridges and a MIG welder at the same time. They are all relatively simple, but if course the cost is hugely different. It's really just a matter of how serious you want to get about isolating yourself from a grid-down situation. That's the prepper's dilemma - in a perfect world I'd have enough solar power to run a small country. It's going to be a matter of starting small & simple, with the system eventually becoming bigger and bigger. |
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Post by Joey on Dec 2, 2014 21:23:15 GMT 10
Ctek brand chargers are of good quality and have fast charge and trickle charge on most units and some models have selection for car or bike batteries as well as the usual spike protection
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on Dec 2, 2014 21:31:52 GMT 10
The solar trickle charges are great for battery maintenance, one caveat though. You get what you pay for, a decent system will work, an el cheapo one will let you down, check the watts and make sure it has the capacity to support your needs. Also on the solar battery maintenance via the cigar lighter, on some cars when the ignition is off, the cigar lighter is isolated, if this is the case it will not work.
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overlord
Senior Member
Posts: 614
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Post by overlord on Dec 3, 2014 11:43:25 GMT 10
Locally, the regular Toyotas, Mitsubishis, Hondas, and Nissans have live links in the cigarette lighter socket.
If they don't, maybe have a friendly neighborhood automotive electrician put a special lighter socket for this purpose.
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on Dec 4, 2014 4:52:11 GMT 10
The battery in my ute got drained the other day as the radio was left on overnight  now it is refusing to hold a charge overnight so I am trying this epsom salt trick. Hopefully it will save me needing a new battery for a little while. Car did start this morning so that's day one. |
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Post by Peter on Dec 4, 2014 10:01:06 GMT 10
...now it is refusing to hold a charge overnight so I am trying this epsom salt trick... Please let us know details and how it goes... |
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on Dec 4, 2014 11:53:24 GMT 10
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on Jan 26, 2015 14:04:52 GMT 10
Still going strong.
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arkane
Senior Member
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Post by arkane on Jan 26, 2015 20:03:20 GMT 10
Many modern chargers will not charge a flat battery!
If the open circuit battery voltage is less than about 9 volts modern smart chargers will not recognise the battery and will not charge it!
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Post by You Must Enter A Name on Jan 27, 2015 6:36:29 GMT 10
Many modern chargers will not charge a flat battery! If the open circuit battery voltage is less than about 9 volts modern smart chargers will not recognise the battery and will not charge it! Like cheap $15 chargers from K-mart? |
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