Battery charging

[Espresso vecchio]

Out of interest how often do you charge your car’s starter battery?

I don’t charge mine at all from ~April to September but do so from October till ~April on the basis that batteries are at risk of a sudden and unexpected collapse in the cold – the very time when there is much higher demand (headlights, heater fan and near-constant aircon at low speed to reduce internal misting, heated windscreen and lovely heated seats in both of our cars). With a decent make of battery, modern alternators and voltage management systems the risk is definitely small but I’d rather not take the chance.

For the last few years as my car gets older (very reliable and comfy Volvo V60 owned from new, and now nearly 10) and I too get older (not saying!) I’ve taken to charging the battery every 3-4 weeks in winter, even the new battery I put on a couple of years ago. The car is used 3-4 times a week and never for less than 25 miles a time. With that sort of usage I probably don't need to charge it but it takes only a minute to connect and disconnect.

I have confidence in my CTEK charger but know that other brands are fine (NOCO, even the cheap Lidl one I gave to son in law)

 

[sheddy]

If not used for a while yes, but absolutely no need if motoring weekly.

 

[Brandane]

Out of interest how often do you charge your car’s starter battery?

I don’t charge mine at all from ~April to September but do so from October till ~April on the basis that batteries are at risk of a sudden and unexpected collapse in the cold – the very time when there is much higher demand (headlights, heater fan and near-constant aircon at low speed to reduce internal misting, heated windscreen and lovely heated seats in both of our cars). With a decent make of battery, modern alternators and voltage management systems the risk is definitely small but I’d rather not take the chance.

For the last few years as my car gets older (very reliable and comfy Volvo V60 owned from new, and now nearly 10) and I too get older (not saying!) I’ve taken to charging the battery every 3-4 weeks in winter, even the new battery I put on a couple of years ago. The car is used 3-4 times a week and never for less than 25 miles a time. With that sort of usage I probably don't need to charge it but it takes only a minute to connect and disconnect.

I have confidence in my CTEK charger but know that other brands are fine (NOCO, even the cheap Lidl one I gave to son in law)

If (as you say) you are driving 3-4 times per week and never for less than 25 miles, why would you need to charge the battery? If the alternator is working properly, and the battery is reasonably holding its charge, there should be absolutely no need.
My car is 9 years old, 80k miles on it, and a replacement Bosch battery fitted about 3 years ago. It can sometimes sit for a week unused. At other times a commute to work (10 miles away) 3 or 4 times weekly. Never had a problem, summer or winter (kept outside in a cold damp Scottish climate).

 

[Drago]

The van has solar and the charge controller automatically keeps the starter battery topped up sweet.

 

[Alex321]

The car, never. The camper van, which can sit for a month or more even in summer, and longer in winter, has a solar panel which is connected to a dual solar controller, so 50% goes to the engine battery and 50% to the leisure battery. When we are going to be away in it for more than two days, I will switch that to 10%-90%, because the fridge (electric cooler box really) uses 40W - the solar has a max output of 120W.

 

[si_c]

Never charge the car battery. I had it replaced last year, but only because it would no longer start the car - which was 9 years old at that point.

 

[numbnuts]

100w solar and reg controller

 

[dicko]

Our 2012 Ford Ka is almost 13 years old now and it still has the original stop/start battery. I have an Optimate trickle charger which I bought for my motorcycle and twice a year, around December and February time, I remove the battery and trickle charge over the weekend. We don’t do a high mileage we are coming up to 16k now.

 

[CXRAndy]

I use Ctek all the time on my less used vehicles. I've only had one car battery fail in more than 20 years of vehicles, by using battery maintainer like Ctek. There is nothing more frustrating finding a dead battery when you want to use a vehicle, plus the expense of buying new battery more often than you really should.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I don’t drive all that often now , preferring to get around locally by bike, saving car for longer trips. I have a 5W solar charger plugged into OBD port which keeps the battery sweet.

 

[november4]

It depends on your car model, but yes I do regularly, more so in winter. The Noco charger I have is okay to just leave the battery connected in car.

I've posted similar before on the car DIY thread, but we have 2 cars, one I don't bother to charge, but the honda, well it has a wierd charging circuit logix that is time based, and to force it on you have to put headlights on, so lots of short journeys in winter with heater on can deplete the battery, as it hasnt kicked in the alternator. So annoying.
I bought a USB gadget that shows battery voltage, when its 14V its charging. Our other car alternator charges all the time.

I also disable the stop/start system. Before doing both of these things I was having to change battery every couple of years.

 

[oldwheels]

I had a Ford Transit diesel for a while which had no preheater to assist cold starts and in winter it was a nightmare to start. Eventually I had 2 batteries to get enough starting power in cold weather and charged the batteries every weekend.
Mostly used for runs of a couple of hundred miles at a time and charging circuit was ok but always made me nervous when away from home.