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Recharging car battery


Sky_vinz
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I've gotten a car battery charger recently, and was wondering. Besides bringing the battery home and recharging it, is there any carparks in Singapore which can allow me to use their electric socket (beside the lot) legally? Any ideas?

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Turbocharged

The alternator charges your car battery when you start your engine.

 

Why would you need a battery charger? Is yours an electric car?

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I've gotten a car battery charger recently, and was wondering. Besides bringing the battery home and recharging it, is there any carparks in Singapore which can allow me to use their electric socket (beside the lot) legally? Any ideas?

 

I have the exact same question. So glad you asked.

I think it is very unlikely. Also, battery charging can take some time, it is a risk leaving it unattended.

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Vinceng: Hi. It's for conditioning of battery, esp for older batteries or cars running lesser mileage.

 

Kklee: I assume it should be safe.. considering that we can actually lock the car and shut the bonnet. :)

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Kklee: I assume it should be safe.. considering that we can actually lock the car and shut the bonnet. :)

 

Batteries should be charged in a well ventilated space.

IIRC, hydrogen is release in the process.

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I've gotten a car battery charger recently, and was wondering. Besides bringing the battery home and recharging it, is there any carparks in Singapore which can allow me to use their electric socket (beside the lot) legally? Any ideas?

 

i believe HDB / town council does not provide such facility. if you have a good friend staying in a landed property, that would be easy. else it is going to be very challenging.

 

assuming your car battery is in relatively good condition and the charger output is 5A, it would typically take about four hours or so to charge it up fully.

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Very interesting topic :) Am also wondering if those battery charger devices like Ctek will help in pro-longing the life of a battery.

 

My driving characteristics..... < 10K per year + short 10-20mins drive (usually) + 95% city drive.

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What is the risk of leaving the car unattended when charging the car battery?

 

 

If a situation would arise, there is no one to attend to it - think workplace safety.

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Supersonic

How to know when you need to recond your battery?

If your battery has opening and caps on top, you can remove them.

 

Use a hydrometer to check the electrolyte.

 

If it's not in the good range, you need to recond your battery.

 

Recond is using voltage of around 15.8v to charge the battery.

You charge until the electrolyte is in the good range, then you stop.

 

ctek has a recond function at 15.8v, However, it may stop short when the electrolyte is still not good enough, since it operates based on timer algorithm.

 

How long to recond depends on what state your battery is in,

It may range from a few hours to a couple of days.

 

If your charger don't even put out 15.5V, don't bother. It can't recond battery.

It can only keep it fully-charged.

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(edited)

I use CTEK on my Porsche, Mercedes, Mazda and Harley Davidson.

 

Thumbs up.

 

 

Plug and play in my front porch.

Leave overnite, batt power maxxed.

Steady.....

Edited by Throttle2
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Using Ctek also. I just carry up my HDB and charge at home. Done it many times liao. Sometime in office, just carry into isolated room and charge


How to know when you need to recond your battery?

If your battery has opening and caps on top, you can remove them.

 

Use a hydrometer to check the electrolyte.

 

If it's not in the good range, you need to recond your battery.

 

Recond is using voltage of around 15.8v to charge the battery.

You charge until the electrolyte is in the good range, then you stop.

 

ctek has a recond function at 15.8v, However, it may stop short when the electrolyte is still not good enough, since it operates based on timer algorithm.

 

How long to recond depends on what state your battery is in,

It may range from a few hours to a couple of days.

 

If your charger don't even put out 15.5V, don't bother. It can't recond battery.

It can only keep it fully-charged.

Recond is just to mix the electrolyte i supposed.

If the lead matrix is not good. I doubt it will do much.

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Very interesting topic :) Am also wondering if those battery charger devices like Ctek will help in pro-longing the life of a battery.

 

My driving characteristics..... < 10K per year + short 10-20mins drive (usually) + 95% city drive.

 

i got my car charger from sim lim tower. brand is Vanson.

 

daily drive 5km x 2.

 

so far battery have good, charge once in a month or whenever i feel like it.

 

best thing i like is that, it will trickle charge when full.

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Turbocharged

I used to drive my car only on weekends (Sat & Sun). Mon to Fri is parked in car park without starting. Car fires to life at first crank after 5 days of not driving. No recharging of battery.

 

Used Amaron Hi Life Pro, which lasted me 30 months.

 

I don't understand why the battery needs to be charged, unless perhaps you have battery sapping ICE in the car.

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Supersonic

recond = recondition? If yes, these days they sell us a replacement battery. Its cheaper than for the shop to rebuild the battery.

recond = recharge? If yes, 14.4V is adequate to recharge a 12V battery (in theory above 12V adequate to recharge 12V battery).

However, if battery is below 12V, we may need to check if there is any faulty cell(s). Can measure the voltage os each cell. Below 2V means have to budget to buy replacement battery.

 

Recond as in recondition. The same word is used by ctek.

 

Charging between 13.8v~14.4v is a regular thing that you need to do. It's done by the alternator every time the engine is running.

However, if the battery electrolyte is bad, 14.4v charging will not fix it, no matter how long you charge.

 

I've seen some batteries with bad electrolyte. It will appear "good", but if you don't start the engine for a couple of days, it feels weak and sometimes unable to start the engine. They are often replaced early, in error.

 

Another word is sulphation/desulphation. Desulphation is achieved by "recond" or 15.8v charging.

It's also called equalization charge.

This reverse the sulphation process and in many cases is able to bring the electrolyte back into the good range.

 

However, doing this requires using a hydrometer and ~15.8v charge.

Equalizing charge is recommended every 6 months or so.

 

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/equalizing_charge

 

Without checking the battery electrolyte, you really do not know how "good" the battery state is.

CCA need to check as well.

Not merely the open circuit voltage of a battery.

 

Some charger claimed desulphation mode or pulse charging.

The only effective desulphation I've found (by checking specific gravity of electrolyte) is an equalizing charge.

Edited by Kb27
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