Car batteries and charging

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timmmay

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#110488 10-Oct-2012 10:17

This morning my car started fine, idled fine for a couple of minutes so it was warm, but I stalled it out of the driveway. The car wasn't so keen to start up again, I turned off lights, radio, and fan, and it started ok. It didn't start quite as well as usual though. I've never had a problem with it before, so it could be a one off glitch.

The battery's less than a year old, and the car's driven to and from work each day, 10 minutes each way. It's an 8 year old Toyota Corolla, in excellent condition.

Should I get a charger and give it a charge occasionally, or should the alternator charge the battery fine? The only downside I can see for charging is having to reset the time and unlock the stereo, but I have the code for that.

I talked to an AA guy about my friends car once when it stopped, a people mover. He said something about needing a fancy charger than garages have rather than a simple home one.

wellygary

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#698928 10-Oct-2012 10:31

I wouldn't bother with the hassle of a charger, from time to time just take it for a decent long distance day light drive in the weekend, an hour or so down a motorway and back will give the battery a good charge,

KevinL

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#698930 10-Oct-2012 10:32

timmmay: This morning my car started fine, idled fine for a couple of minutes so it was warm, but I stalled it out of the driveway. The car wasn't so keen to start up again, I turned off lights, radio, and fan, and it started ok. It didn't start quite as well as usual though. I've never had a problem with it before, so it could be a one off glitch.

The battery's less than a year old, and the car's driven to and from work each day, 10 minutes each way. It's an 8 year old Toyota Corolla, in excellent condition.

Should I get a charger and give it a charge occasionally, or should the alternator charge the battery fine? The only downside I can see for charging is having to reset the time and unlock the stereo, but I have the code for that.

I talked to an AA guy about my friends car once when it stopped, a people mover. He said something about needing a fancy charger than garages have rather than a simple home one.

Assuming you didn't leave a light on (e.g. a door ajar) I'd get the battery and alternator checked - you shouldn't really be having battery issues if you're driving it every day. There's a possibility that your alternator isn't quite delivering enough juice to charge the battery on your short commute (or there's a short in the system causing a current leak of some sort)

Ideally you need to fully charge your battery using a battery charger, but that's still just a stop-gap measure if you have an underlying issue with your alternator.

You can get a charger from Repco/Supercheap Auto (I think I paid ~$75 or so) - you don't necessarily have to disconnect the battery in order to charge it (although most people would recommend it). Alternatively you can install a trickle charger which can be left attached to the car. You shouldn't really need a charger though (I have one for my classic car which I use very infrequently).

timmmay

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#698932 10-Oct-2012 10:36

We do regularly drive an hour or so on the weekend, we hike up hills and have to walk to the hills first. The car started fine when I first did it this morning, it's only after I stalled it had a problem, so hopefully it was just a one off.

I guess I'll see if it does it again, if so I'll take it to an auto electrician. A charger seems unnecessary, other than maybe a quick blast if I leave a door open.

Thanks guys.

oxnsox

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#698947 10-Oct-2012 10:52

KevinL:
timmmay:
I talked to an AA guy about my friends car once when it stopped, a people mover. He said something about needing a fancy charger than garages have rather than a simple home one.

You can get a charger from Repco/Supercheap Auto (I think I paid ~$75 or so) - you don't necessarily have to disconnect the battery in order to charge it (although most people would recommend it). Alternatively you can install a trickle charger which can be left attached to the car. You shouldn't really need a charger though (I have one for my classic car which I use very infrequently).

Modern vehicles tend to have lead-calcium batteries that charge to much higher voltages ( ~16volts). The lower cost chargers Kevin has referred to won't fully charge these battery types and this is why the AA guy recommended a special one from a garage.

If your battery has been flat it is worth getting it topped off by the correct charger. It may also be worth check the battery terminals as these can come loose which makes for a poor connection.

timmmay

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#698951 10-Oct-2012 10:56

Thanks Ox. If it is flat I'll get it charged up, and I'll check the connections.

Rickles

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#699144 10-Oct-2012 15:22

I've had to have a few new batteries over the 15 years of owning the same car ... the AA guy said that 90% of their battery replacements are with city cars driven for only a few kilometers/minutes each day, and that is simply not enough to allow even modern alternaters the opportunity to re-charge the battery.

For the first 10 years of owning the car I had no battery problems at all, probably from running it up to the mountain for skiing every fortnight and school holidays ... then I required two new ones as the car sat at home whilst we walked to work, no kids to run around, and not a lot of weekend driving about.

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timmmay

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#699148 10-Oct-2012 15:28

Interesting about the batteries. I drive about 15 minutes in each direction, 70% of that on the motorway at 80-100kph (motorways mostly work here in Wellington, outside peak times). That's either 20km or 40km per day, I forget which.

We're going away this weekend so it'll get a good run. If I have problems I'll get a charger and give it a whirl, or just take it to a garage for the day for them to charge it.