Car battery 12.1v

so you can have the radio on ?

so thats dogging then

That?s what the ?accessory? position on your ignition switch is for.

Tim

Yeah, I guess if an engine was up to temperature and fuel injected and 'designed' to be started quickly, then I can see how it might be.

It would be interesting to know what actual time that was though.

Cheers, T i m

Most cars now allow the radio to be turned on even when the ignition is off, even with no key in it. Ours does turn the radio off if it's left on though with a message saying "economy mode".

Yup, done that myself whilst waiting for people I've delivered to hospital appointments (and can't park in the hospital car park, I know it's going to be a long time and am hungry etc).

Yup. What happened to the 'No engine idling laws?

Well, possibly, but when I've done such I might have just turned the engine on for 30 seconds to get a bit of warmth and then off again?

Yup.

Because the radio is also on and you are talking on yer phone (though the vans ICE so everyone around just hear). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On our Vauxhalls, the radio stays on if you turn off the ignition but don't take the key out.

If you do take the key out (and / or leave someone in the car without the keys), they can still turn the radio on.

Cheers, T i m

Not generally down the local back roads round here (YMMV etc).

Cheers, T i m

I know that - but do white van drivers?

Think it's a very long time since I've had a radio that would run the battery flat while stopped for half an hour or so?

Mine switches off after about 10 minutes even with the key in the ignition

- very annoying. Even with its pretty display, I doubt it uses that much current.

That's why the last connection you make when dealing with devices connected to battery, is making a ground connection to frame. Then, the spark is (hopefully) far enough away from any hydrogen to avert disaster.

You don't put the two crock clips right on the battery as it sits in your car. The red (+) can go to the battery terminal, the black (-) goes to the frame, and that's to establish some distance from the battery. When you fit the black one, that is the fitting that "sparks" - even an unpowered charger, you can be charging up some capacitor inside it, at the moment of connection. The "spark" can come from positive current flow (out of the powered charger), or from negative flow back into the (unpowered) charger, as you charge up its flat capacitor.

When you charge a battery sitting on the ground, you can always fit extension cables so you are a good distance from it when connecting. The biggest risk is from the old style batteries with screw caps and "breather holes" in the caps.

If getting a car charger, try to get one with temperature compensation. Sometimes the adverts for the cheap ones happen to mention it. Mine is missing that feature.

Paul

All the batteries I've had over the last many years are semi-sealed. And some have had a vent tube to carry any fumes away via a hose. But there is also the possibility of petrol fumes too. All pretty remote, though.

However, still safer to connect and disconnect a charger after switching it off.

I well remember the old days were garages had a central charging area, and ordinary open vented batteries were the norm. Careless connection caused many an explosion.

What key? What ignition switch? All I've got is a start/stop push button. If you want to listen to the radio without it timing out you either have to have the car fully powered up and engine not running (but I expect that times out after a while) or have the engine running. You can manually and repeatedly switch the radio on if the car is "dozing" after stopping the engine but eventually it falls asleep, turns the radio off, locks the doors etc...

Does the average van have this, though? Perhaps some do. But it makes no difference if old or new - they all seem to keep their engine running.

AC is std on most vans now ,if it is there people will use it .

Some if they are off a building site or a repairman who is attending several calls may be taking the opportunity to top up the batteries of Cordless tools ,most of the well known tool makes like Makita make chargers that work off the vehicle accessory socket.

GH

When Lockdown 1.0 made it obvious my car use was going to be virtually nil I thought about a charger and coincidentally the local Aldi had Auto XS Car Battery Charger in rummage boxes, £9.99. Used it several times for both mine and my wife's car, checked with multi-meter and readings tally.

I've got a Ryobi one.

Sorry, I simply don't believe every van running its engine when parked up like this has a good reason to do so.