Gentlemen,

Have any of you charged your battery, without disconnecting the -ve lead? I want to top up the battery, using an intelligent charger (C-teck type, but Lidl's cheap version), but would rather not have to disconnect the battery. However, damaging the ECU is not the plan.....

Cheers.

My ctek came with a jump cable you leave attached, so I use that with out issue Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Thank's for that, I had hoped it would be OK.

I've been promising to make up a charging lead to plug into the towing socket, for many moons now. But was unsure about how sensitive the ECU was. Obviously the Freelander has a 13 pin socket, and the other car as 2x7 pins, so there'd be two leads needed....

I use a smart charger its fine using it while the battery is on the car yours may be the same.

I have used the C-Tek with no problems

si. wrote:

I've been promising to make up a charging lead to plug into the towing socket, for many moons now. But was unsure about how sensitive the ECU was. Obviously the Freelander has a 13 pin socket, and the other car as 2x7 pins, so there'd be two leads needed....

I think the Picasso's socket in the boot is switched with the ignition. TBH, the Pic's not a problem, as a mains lead can be brought up from underneath, into the engine compartment. There's a positive terminal in there for charging, (the battery is actually under the front passenger seat), and there's enough room for the charger.

I didn't really fancy closing the Freelander's doors on the lead, hence my thought about making a lead the plug into the towing socket. I think it'll be a case of feeding a lead under the bonnet, and only using the charger during the day, until I get some type of lead made up. I'll have to wire an accessory plug anyway, as the Lidl charger didn't come with one. But for about £15, I can't complain. I've been charging the caravan battery, and the Picasso, with it for a few years..

I know what you mean, I was apprehensive about closing the rear on the lead at first but no markings or depressions as yet.

I use the Ctek 10 amp charger on both the car and caravan battery so it doesn't take too long for a top up

My charger is a 4 amp model. It's in use on the caravan battery at the moment, so I haven't had a chance to try in on the car. We bought a new 100ah battery yesterday, and after 24 hours, it's only up to 14.2v. So it looks like tomorrow will be the earliest opportunity. It was 12.6v yesterday, so we are going in the right direction.

Now the caravan battery is finally charged..... I've moved onto the Freelander's battery. I've taken the plunge, and manufactured a lead to charger through the accessory socket. Initially the battery voltage was sitting at 12.6v, and is now improving by 0.07v an hour. So it looks like it'll be a long job.

I was concerned about the voltage being so low, so I checked the alternator's output, which is 13.9 - 14.0v, which seemed a little high to me. I was expecting about 13.8v. My theory for such a low battery voltage is, the old caravan battery was only achieving 9.6v, as it had two u/s cells. I suspect the caravan has pulled the car battery voltage down, and it has been slowly recovering over the last 200 miles. Mrs Si only does short trips, so the engine rarely runs for more than 15 minutes. We've had no sluggish starts etc., so I think the battery isn't u/s. it was only serviced 6 weeks ago, so I'm hoping they checked the battery was OK then...

Does my theory sound plausible, or am I living in a small Derbyshire town....?