Jeffds1360 Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 I bought a spare 12v battery as varta had a great deal on 3 months ago. It has been sat in the garage since. I thought it was time to check/recharge as necessary so put it on the bench and connected my charger...... It took 30 seconds for the charger to show a green light. Ahaa I said..... best give it something to do.... so , looked for some 12v accessories to run off it..... found my new windscreen washer set up with an electric pump (unfitted due to loss of dexterity in my fingers etc etc) It ran fine but after a minute I thought, hang on, I'll burn this out!! So..... found a spare 21w bulb and wired this up to do a bit discharge of the spare battery..... boy, did it get HOT just after a few seconds!! ? ... is this normal?. Anyway, decided it was too risky to leave it like that. Have you gurus any suggestions as to how I can keep this spare battery in tip top condition please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 17 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said: boy, did it get HOT just after a few seconds!! ? ... is this normal? If I recall elec eng 1 correctly filament bulbs are VERY inefficient at being light bulbs. They turn 97% of energy into heat and only 3% into light. When I all too regularly pick up a new battery from Euro Car Parts they pull one of a shelf, God knows how long they've been there, but they're always fully charged. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 Because my race truck, the TRansit, isn't used that often, and the battery it came with passed out, I got a 'smart' charger (CTEK MX5) for it. It now lives in the TRuck and keeps the new battery at peak power, off the camp site type hook-up cable that provides mains power. There are, of course other chargers available! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffds1360 Posted October 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 So, hot bulb normal ! Surprised they do not melt the plastic fittings nearby! Not got a 'smart' charger so should I give the battery some work to do and then recharge, or just let it sit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 If you want to give it some work to do fit it to the car and go for a nice long drive, good for the battery, good for the car & good for you. Over winter I just plug the charger into the battery ( still in the car) from time to time in between the few winter days when I take the car out for a run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 even a 2,2 panel bulb will burn your fingers yes they all get soooo Hot 21w will fry eggs and headlamp bulb cook steak ...........just dont touch them a Aldi or Lild charger when they have them work well at less than £14 my££££££s Cetek gave up and ive used an aldi one now for 7 years batteries are best worked not left static modern batteries are somewhat better at being a bit dormant but use is the best to keep their life Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekS Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 Pete, a quick question... I have a ctek, had it for years and still going strong. It is connected via a hard-wired socket straight to the battery and with the battery still connected to the car. The aldi ones, can they be connected the same way or do you have to disconnect the battery to protect the alternator? Derek. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 had both lidl and aldi on cars and seem as good as the Ctek which failed totally dead can be used direct on car i jusy clip plug and sleep easy some wont recharge fully flat they are to charge /discharge and condition the battery not refill volts to a dead battery that needs full charger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagger Posted October 26, 2022 Report Share Posted October 26, 2022 7 hours ago, Jeffds1360 said: So, hot bulb normal ! Surprised they do not melt the plastic fittings nearby! Not got a 'smart' charger so should I give the battery some work to do and then recharge, or just let it sit? Us motorcyclists used to swap our rear lights from 5w to 21w by reversing the wiring if a filament blew during a journey. It would melt the lens after about ten minutes. t is surprising just how hot 21w is in a smallish space. Use an 'Intelligent' or smart charger, or just use it as a bench lamp occasionally. I remember being told to leave a door ajar on my classic overnight years ago to run a 5w interior lamp. Very difficult to remember. Maybe use a camping style solar kit that would charge only during daylight hours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 Back in the day we used to totally discharge large batteries with a bulb and yes it did get hot, but essential to prevent the battery forming a 'memory' and losing full charge capacity. Keep any spare batteries up off the cold concrete floor, that will kill them extra quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 Keep any spare batteries up off the cold concrete floor, that will kill them extra quickly. What`s the science behind that Colin?.......or is it `an old wives tale`. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 1 hour ago, Firefly said: Keep any spare batteries up off the cold concrete floor, that will kill them extra quickly. What`s the science behind that Colin?.......or is it `an old wives tale`. Are you saying colin is an old wife? 😜 He's far more likely to be an Irish joke(r). But yes what is the reason, I would like to know as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 Found a reference online that says store batteries on a wooden block rather than direct on concrete but it didnt say why. They are temperature sensitive as the hotter they are the quicker they discharge however stability at around 15º seems to be the ideal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 we had a large building for charging truck batteries and all the shelving was off floor and warning on wall posters DO NOT charge batteries on the floor , again no clues as to why that was Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qu1ckn1ck Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 I always keep spare car batteries off the concrete floor. However Google says no longer necessary http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2017/02/storing-car-battery-concrete-floor-drain/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 Interesting reading. So Colin is an `old wife` after all, as well as an Irish joker.😄 We love you really Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 8 minutes ago, Firefly said: Interesting reading. So Colin is an `old wife` after all, as well as an Irish joker.😄 We love you really Colin. Yes, interesting reading. Maybe 'Colin is an `old wife` after all, as well as an Irish joker' OR still uses very old batteries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 Aldi where Knocking out 15w solar panels a few years ago, I got 2 of them. I`ve had one linked to the Battery that came with the 13/60, it`s just enough to keep the battery up to charge, around 12.7V standing, It boosted the "modern" recently I leave it permanently connected. Another is permanently connected to an old 12V camping lantern, handy when we get "outages". I have both C-Tek and an Aldi Chargers, both do a good job, the Aldi one was 1/4 the price!. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 1 hour ago, Chris A said: Yes, interesting reading. Maybe 'Colin is an `old wife` after all, as well as an Irish joker' OR still uses very old batteries One of the other posts on that site asks the question: is 'New Car Smell' toxic? Probably only if you eat the air freshener. Anyway if I want to be a wife, there's nothing you lot can do about it. Having said that I banged my head earlier, does that mean I'm really a hammer? (Ball pein? No, just slight itching.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said: does that mean I'm really a hammer? As the song goes 'I'd rather be a hammer than a nail' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 4 hours ago, Qu1ckn1ck said: I always keep spare car batteries off the concrete floor. However Google says no longer necessary http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2017/02/storing-car-battery-concrete-floor-drain/ So Did you also get the "popup advert" For "Beautifull Ukrainan Girls want to meet older Men". or was that just me.? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffds1360 Posted October 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 No, not just you! I noticed it too. My problem is that I'm keener on keeping my battery alive than the girls must be an age thing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 suddenly i need a battery !!!! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted October 27, 2022 Report Share Posted October 27, 2022 1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said: suddenly i need a battery !!!! Pete I understand the NHS do them free of charge (For pace makers?).👍😁 Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 28, 2022 Report Share Posted October 28, 2022 dont need a pacemaker but a inflator might have a calling Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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