Are you charging batteries on your DD?

JC1

Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
6,783
Location
Oshawa, Ontario Canada
Since many of us are at home, I'm wondering if anyone is periodically charging their batteries on their daily drivers.

I might put the charger on 2 amp setting on the Caravan once a week for a few hours. I don't have a trickle charger at the moment.
 
it can take over 24hours for a 2 amp charger to charge a battery if it was low.
 
My 09 F150 would not start, due to a dead battery. I've been home for weeks now and I neglected my battery! So I had to pry off the gearshift lockout cover (broke it) and get the thing in neutral so I could push it out of the garage to open the hood. My lithium jump starter (winplus brand) also failed to start the truck. So I let it charge for hours and then cranked it up and took a drive.

I would prefer not going to the store right now.
 
Truck, car, and bikes live on maintainers. Battery Tender, NOCO, and C-TEK.

The other thing that is going to be a problem with unused cars outside is rusty rotors.
 
I have a BMW branded C-TEK maintainer I use on my Club Sport; everything else is driven enough to keep the batteries charged.
 
Originally Posted by Rand
it can take over 24hours for a 2 amp charger to charge a battery if it was low.


That's not low; that's DEADLY low
 
Originally Posted by E150GT
Info it every once in a while but it hasn't shown to help. They still die at 3 years with me


Heat definitely kills batteries.
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Originally Posted by Rand
it can take over 24hours for a 2 amp charger to charge a battery if it was low.


That's not low; that's DEADLY low


Thanks for that reminder. My battery is ok right now. It's 5 years old. I do make sure to check the water level and clean the posts every year before winter. I may charge it up on Saturday for a few hours.

The other issue is corrosion on the rotors. I need to take it for a spin at least every 5 days or so so keep the rotors and pads in good shape.
 
I park on the street and sit a 10 watt solar panel on the dash.
After a few hours in the sun it raises the battery to ~13.6V.
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
Originally Posted by E150GT
Info it every once in a while but it hasn't shown to help. They still die at 3 years with me


Heat definitely kills batteries.


Motorcraft batteries commit suicide at tragically early age.
 
I have a ten year old battery in my Civic so I try to charge it once a month or so. It got through another winter so I am happy. I keep my booster pack charged in the trunk just incase!
 
monthly, 20 A automatic charger with desulphation mode, zing the battery to full and get them going better again, I do a load check after desulphation, it improves the Amps a bit.
 
I leave a Battery Tender on the F350 most of the time anyway since it is lucky to get driven once per month. No issues there. What was surprised me this week was when I started my Expedition after being parked for 2 weeks and it barely started. The battery is nearly 5 years old and has been stone dead at least once, so I opted to replace it.

Our other Expedition has been driven at least weekly for a grocery run, but I will put my CTEK charger on that for good measure, and start rotating which vehicle we take to the store.
 
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