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I have asked questions on this topic before but I wonder if anyone out there can help me further..?

Our base vehicle(2008 Renault Master)battery was flat this afternoon,due to an interior cab light being left on.

Prior to putting the battery on charge,I just checked the handbook(..in case I fried something expensive!)and it said that I needed to contact the dealer!?!

I just managed to catch 'em before they knocked off for the evening and the chap  just reckoned that I needed to  completely disconnect the battery(..and reset radio code after)..no problems there then,I thought...

However,this being the case,how can you go about setting up a "semi-permanent" connection for a trickle charger,if the battery needs to be fully disconnected prior to charging...?

I had previously wired a fused12v socket from the battery,for this purpose,however now I'm not to sure??

Can any auto-sparky out there please enlighten me... ?

Thanks

Chris

Firstly why you have to completely disconnect the battery is beyond me.

If you take the positive terminal off the battery the battery is then only connected to earth so nothing will be damaged. just connect up and charge it.

Why they are saying this they are concerned about damaging the alternator diodes if you wack a big charge in when its flat. it can happen and alternators are expensive.

I have been charging my battery for years while still connected but i use a small charger basically for winter charging of motorcycles it works well on the Motorhome as when the battery is full it floats the voltage keeping it  fully charged.

I too have a fused direct feed to the battery and i just plug it in the socket. from a mains socket in the HM they are cheap.

I never use the fitted charger in the Motorhome they have in the past boiled my batteries this system never does it actually extends the battery life.

I use the same method to keep the liesure batteries fully charged when not being used.

Aldi and Lidl have them on offer from time to time they are a good buy.

Pete

Hi pepe63.

We had the same trouble we got a trickle charger from roadpro which is very compact size, ours is wired to the battery and the charger is screwed to the bulkhead their is also a breaker between the charger and the battery.                       then the cable goes through the bulkhead and pluged into a 240 socket.so when you are on site or at home as long as you are on ehu your starter battery is being charged, we have used this method for 4 years and had no trouble.

Hope this helps

good luck

regards bald eagle

Thanks Pete..

So are we saying that the battery doesn't really need to be disconnected then?

..and that my initial plan to use a "low-umph" charger,plugged in from the MH(whilst on ehu)and connected to the battery via the fused socket,is okay them?... 

Like you,in the past I have always(rightly or wrongly)trickle charged batteries whilst they were still connected to the vehicle/bike...but with this chap telling me to completely disconnect it,I just wasn't sure if there was any electronic gubbins nowadays that I was likely to fry!

Thanks for your feedback

Chris

Oops! sorry (...I'm slow at posting )..Thanks for that bald eagle...yeah,that sounds like what I'm looking at..

He is probably concerned in relation to ecu`s they do not like power surges but these chargers are very low amp output and will not do any damage same with the alternator diodes.

But if you are going to charge with a car charger you will have to disconnect the positive lead to be on the safe side as they have a large output initially and taper down as the battery gets charged.

I can only advise on what i do and have not had a problem ever.

The fused socket is the simplest way to do it plus you have a live when on site.

Pete

Thanks again Pete...

(..I just wish I could remember who borrowed my Optimate a few years back...)

Chris

(..I just wish I could remember who borrowed my Optimate a few years back...)

glad you mentioned this as you've just reminded me my  mate still has my optimate  

  ..

..I've made the mistake of checking out the CTEK website!!

.."..this one's only £35...and for a only tenner more we could get this one..and while we're at it,we may as well get this one.."..

Sooo..before you realise it,you're telling yourself you NEED a £100+ charger !?!

(...Must..delete..CTEK..site..from..Favourites..!  )