due to my car only coming out every couple of weeks the battery is dead every time i go to it , it only takes a couple of mins on the charger to start it ..

but the problem is the way i have to park it in the garage ..
it has to be driven in close to the wall on the passenger side and the front which makes it near by impossable to get to the battery , is there any way i could run two cables to the boot and charge from there ???

cheers phil

 

yes, you can do that. I use a pre-made connector for my optimate on my bike, as my battery is hidden in the fairing.

 

if i was you fella i would get yourself a trickel charger from argos for 20 quid .
it will solve your problem

 

problem is not sure which one is good ...

can i leave on all the time ???
is it safe dont want the garage to go up in flames ??
and do i have to unscrew the breather things on the battery??

 

just use the trickle charger ....leave it on with no probs

 

YOU CAN LEAVE ON ALL THE TIME JUST UN SCREW ALL THE CAPS AND TAKE OFF. THE CHARGER WILL ONLY KICK IN WHEN YOUR BATTERY DROPS BELOW A CERTIN VOLTAGE. I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS YOU. BUT NO MORE

 

which charger did you buy ??

 

LOOK IN THE CAR CARE SECTION BUDDY IN THE ARGOS BOOK THE ONE THAT I GOT IS 19.99 BUT YOU CAN BUY ANYONE DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO SPEND BUT THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING

 

If you buy the Optimate car charger, it comes with a lead with two eye hole connectors that you can screw onto the battery and leave permenantly connected ( the other end has a socket with a rubber cap over it to protect it from water ). You can then either just lift the bonnet and leave the lead hanging out the front when you want to charge it, or run the lead down the side of the engine bay with cable ties so you can plug the charger in from underneatth the front bumper.

 

You wont get much of a charge from a trickle charger in a garage would you

 

 

have had a quick look on fleabay and all i can find is Optimate chargers for bikes ...

is it the same thing ???

ebay item 370024897916

 

check that you havnt got a drain being taken from the battery, a battery should last a couple of months without being used,
if your drains are below 0.25 amps then the car is fine and suspect you would need a new battery,
replace the battery and you shouldnt need to charge it again for a few years,
be carefull of cheap batteries though,
hope that helps

oh!
if your drains are above 0.25 amps, then there is a problem with the car itself (something on when it shouldnt be)

 

ok as am totally stupid

how do i check the battery for drainage

 

Ok! lol,
In that case, get your local garage to do it for you, I'm sure they would only charge you a tenner as it only take 15 mins,
rather than fix the effect, fix the cause, it will be a tenner well spent,

you will need to ask them to perform a current draw test, if they give you a funny look, walk away and go to the next garage, lol

 

I'd strongly recommend a CTEK 3600 charger.
Find the right battery charger - MULTI XS 3600

I have one of these for my WRX - it's absolutely excellent.
It's an intelligent charger which can be left connected for extended periods without damaging your battery.

I've had one of these for three years - it's excellent - and it comes with leads and a connector so you don't need to pop the bonnet to connect it!

 

Another vote for Optimate:

Fully automatic

Helps to desulphate severly drained battreies (which yours will be - deep discharging wrecks lead-acid batteries).

Peak charges without damaging the battery (will charge to maximum capacity, but doesn't allow the voltage to rise above the gassing voltage- where if too high it causes it to boil off hydrogen - again not good as it reduces maximum capacity...many cheap chargers cause this to happen as they do not fully regulate voltage, and if left on will ruin the battery's maximum capacity over time). Also non-regulated voltage chargers aren't too clever if the battery remains connected to the vehicle's electrics (some can peak up to 20volts! ).

Due to above, it can be left on semi-permanently and still connected to the vehicle.

Comes with Tamiya style connectors, so can be wired in for quick connection.

Suitable for most types of 12 volt battery: Cars, Bikes, Golf trolleys etc. Lead-acid, sealed, vented, Gel, Calcium .

 

Think I ordered mine directly from their website at www.optimate.co.uk

 

Alanbell has a charger for sale in the "for sale" section

 

so if i buy the optimate 3 then do i still need to remove the breather things on top of the battery...

cos liking the fact that you dont have to pop the bonnet

 

no, battery conditioners like the C-TEK (that I have) and the Optimate have (apparently) smart circuits to obviate the need to remove the breathers.

 

As put by midlife - the CTEK is completely automatic - you don't have to do anything as it's intelligent and is designed to minimise 'gassing' - so you don't need to remove the caps - or do anything else for that matter...

Take a look at the CTEK site - I can highly recommend the 3600.