Battery maintainance

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jifflemon
480 Is my middle name
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Battery maintainance

Post by jifflemon » Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:54 pm

Not so much as a post, but just some of the general rambling that's going through my mind at the moment.

So, I don't use the 480 in winter. I've got my handy little battery monitor to keep an eye on the battery and let me know when it's getting low.

BUT.... that then means I have to drag a mains lead and battery charger out, which more often than not, happens in "inclement" times.

So, the lazy side of me is looking at some sort of solar panel to trickle charge the battery. Plenty of stuff about, but I'm fairly certain most of it will be tat, so lets have look.

First of all, need to find something that will shove around 1amp in. 1 amp is about what you'd want to trickle charge, and because its solar, that's probably going to be it's peak performance too. Plus, given we get reduced amount of light in winter, it's would hurt if it could do a bit more.

A quick peruse of the bay of evil reveals that most are listed in watts - The cynic in me thinks that this is because it sounds better, because which would you prefer? A 1 amp panel or a 12W one?

There's plenty of bigger stuff on the bay too - More for those camper boys who want to charge the leisure batteries whilst parked up. However, most of that stuff is designed to work with charger controllers. Have considered getting one of these to power the shed.....

No! back to the task in hand! And by task in hand, I now mean spending an hour browsing youtube and various forums seeing if anyone has had success or has recommendations.

Eventually, I hit the point where I've actually forgotten what I was actually doing, and make a mental note to start again properly tomorrow.

:nuts:

arthuy
Advanced 480 rookie
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Re: Battery maintainance

Post by arthuy » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:03 pm

I used to leave a car on trickle charge all the time. I dont anymore, was always concerned about fire.

Reading up too the worst thing you can do is let the battery go completely flat and best to fully charge and disconnect until you need it.

Thats what I do most of the time now. But know people who swear by the trickle charges and solar panels but as the 480 ha basic electronics and alarm I am not sure it is worth the hassle.

Alan 480
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Battery maintainance

Post by Alan 480 » Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:45 am

I agree that worst possible is to let it go 'flat' as this causes no end of internal 'damage' :-(

I'd just pull the earth lead!!!

then once a month have a quick check at voltage and give it a wee ginger up with the trickle charger

thats what i try and remember to do with the SS1 which spends six months on road and six months off or a bit less off road if October looks 'nice' :wink:
Alan

480 ES 2litre 'Celebration' ? , C30 1.8ES, SS1

jifflemon
480 Is my middle name
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Re: Battery maintainance

Post by jifflemon » Mon Jan 21, 2019 8:35 am

Just a little update on this story.... What did Jiff do next?

Well, I bought a solar panel. However, turns out that even with a more powerful panel, there's not really enough sunshine to keep the battery trickling.

So, the battery is now living inside, hooked up to my trickle charger. If anyone wants a really good trickle charger, I can recommend the CTek range. Cracking charges, but also have a cool range of accessories.

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
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Location: Norfolk

Re: Battery maintainance

Post by dragonflyjewels » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:30 am

Al just disconnects the batteries on ours, they all burst into life when reconnected. We have 2 solar panels on the garage to operate the electric doors, but cant leave it running all the time as the inverter uses more power than the panels generate - how useless is that !
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

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justtank
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Re: Battery maintainance

Post by justtank » Tue Jan 22, 2019 10:08 am

Ive installed a little screw switch on the negative terminal on my 480's, so you open the bonnet and turn the screw clockwise to connect and anti for disconnect. No need to fiddle around with spanners etc. Search on amazon for "Battery Terminal Link Switch"

Work a treat!
VOLVO 480 Turbo - Limited Edition "MERLIN"
VOLVO 480 - Celebration 1/480
VOLVO S60 2013 D5 R-Design

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brinkie
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Re: Battery maintainance

Post by brinkie » Tue Jan 22, 2019 10:20 am

I found the screw switch to cause problems after a while. I threw it out and use a 13 mm spanner to remove the cable from the earth terminal when necessary.
Robert.

Present cars: 1994 Volvo 480 GT 2.0i, 1999 Volvo S70 2.5 Europa, 2010 Volvo V70 2.0F Momentum

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justtank
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Re: Battery maintainance

Post by justtank » Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:06 am

If you use them dry to dry contact it does get dirty, but using electrically conductive grease it seems to be fine! But time will tell...
VOLVO 480 Turbo - Limited Edition "MERLIN"
VOLVO 480 - Celebration 1/480
VOLVO S60 2013 D5 R-Design

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