Charging car batteries

thezappa · 28 Jan 2022 at 16:02

I had an issue with my car this morning - wouldn’t start, didn’t turn over, nothing. I could get in and the side lights came on but wouldn’t start.
Got the RAC out and he ran a test, it came back with several ECM errors. He suggested charging it as it was 47% charged. It has start stop which he explained is the reason for it not fully charging, it only does it on and off.
I do have a charger but don’t know if it will charge my battery correctly without frying it as I understand some chargers will just stick a load of power in the battery and keep going until turned off which I don’t need/want to do.

Pic of battery label in case that helps:

Charger I have:
MOTOPOWER MP00206A-UK 12V 1.5Amp Automatic Battery Charger/Maintainer-UK Plug
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B9CFV7V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_B5V76HF1K297DFPT11N1

Can anyone confirm please if I’m ok to use this without trashing the battery?

thanks a lot

Semple · 28 Jan 2022 at 16:06

The description says that it intelligently charges - so will no longer charge once it's full.

When was the car last used.

thezappa · 28 Jan 2022 at 16:21

Yes I read that as well. The guy said it was some particular type of battery therefore needed a particular type of charger.
I drove to and from work yesterday (about 30minutes both ways, 95% A roads).
Had the heating on, music on, used the hands free it was absolutely fine.

ShiWarrior · 28 Jan 2022 at 17:26

im not sure if that battery charger is suitable for an EFB Battery

assuming your leaving the battery inside the car to charge it ?

look on halfords
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/b...argers/?prefn1=startstopcompatible&prefv1=Yes

you can select "suitable for start/stop batteries"

CTEK is a good one, so are halfords own

IAmATeaf · 28 Jan 2022 at 21:09

The charger you have also does wet batteries so should be ok to charge your battery, might have to leave it connected for a few days.

jpaul · 28 Jan 2022 at 21:10

AA man didn't offer a jump start, for you to run around a bit (with start stop disabled) to get some charge back in it. ?

I think I'd check whether for your car it's OK to attach a charger(or do a jump start) directly at the battery, and then use your charger for a few hours,
but as shi said, not sure the charger is as appropriate for extended/maintenance charging in the car, as charging modes look less comprehensive than 8 step ctek
https://www.motorcycle.com/products...ttachment/022514-ctek-battery-charger-3-chart

cuke2u · 29 Jan 2022 at 09:54

Stop start won't be activated if the battery level is too low, amongst other things and I, from my own experience, don't believe what the AA man was saying is true either
Look at something else causing the battery issue because I only use my vehicle for very short journeys, around 5 miles, never once had any battery issues but if the the car is laid up for any length of time, say when we were in lockdown, I kept a smart charger permanently connected as stop start batteries do not like being laid up and not given a discharge charge routine.

CaptainRAVE · 29 Jan 2022 at 10:12

I have the AA car battery maintainer and it is worth the world. My wife does short journeys (literally 5 minutes) and in the winter with all the electronics on it often needs a top up.

Temujin · 29 Jan 2022 at 10:37

How old is the battery? Start/stop can reduce the life of batteries so if it's old it might be that it requires replacement!

thezappa · 29 Jan 2022 at 12:01

Car was dead apart from being able to get in and the side lights. Folding mirrors didn’t ‘unfold’ when I unlocked it.
Part of the rest he ran indicated the health of the battery, the result was that it was in excellent condition and only a very small loss in charge capacity.
The report he sent me states the ECM errors that came up.
The car itself is 68 plate, presumably the battery is original.
I drove it today, the infotainment was pretty sluggish so I turned that off. Turned the start stop off but otherwise it was fine, started first time after each stop.

I bought it from Rylan (Cinch), in November, and it has a 90 day warranty with it, is it likely they will cover the cost of the software update through the warranty?
Ford won’t give any indication of how long the update will take, could be half an hour, could be three hours.

Nasher · 29 Jan 2022 at 16:36

Fords go mental and throw up all sorts of random errors when the battery is dying (from experience). Except for a battery light :/

4-5 years from a battery in a car with start/stop is pretty normal.