OT Car batteries going flat.

[T i m]

What he said. Use one rope to obtain the tension and then a second to lock that (tension, or most of it) in place.

Rinse repeat.

It's a two rope ratchet tension system. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

With battery and regulator removed, a car alternator can be used to produce 110v. It is possible to add a second alternator to some engines, to be used as very portable welder.

[T i m]

Whilst I get that you shouldn't not have 'nice things' just because others want to take them from you, if you do you might have to put a bit more effort into keeping them, no matter where you love (stories of garages in the middle on nowhere in nice villages being broken into, a car moved and an expensive, alarmed and chain-locked motorbike stolen).

Seems like you are asking for it (with keyless). ;-(

They are very good (Disklok, Sold Secure Gold,

and we have a few of them of different sizes. ;-)

That's ok, till they break in *anyway* to nick your keys.

I still think 'security by obscurity can still work with cars. I hidden switch somewhere that is required to start the car (easy to fit in the starter motor solenoid feed, well on non stop-start cars if they use the std starter motor) and can't be 'learned' by any thief. That or use a relay with hidden interlock switch to power the fuel pump (from the existing feed) or diesel cut-off etc.

I converted my Sierra tailgate to remote unlocking only and operated by what was marked as a foglight (but momentary) switch on the dashboard. Someone did attempt to get in though the tailgate, by 1st cutting the windows rubber out (no good, bonded window), twisting the lock round (no good, wasn't attached to anything) and so ended up going in though the drivers door, opening the rear door and getting stuff over the rear seats. Might have slowed them up a bit and reduced what they could access easily (Company / service kit).

Cheers, T i m

[charles]

My first one came from Woolworths and lasted, I suspect, at least 25 years. My present one, its replacement from Halfords, must be about the same age.

[T i m]

Well, it might charge one a bit that's down to 10.5V <g> but you are right, such a PSU (if really is 12V and not say a bench PSU with adjustable voltage and current / voltage limiting) wouldn't be recommended at all.

Considering the likes of Aldi/Lidl do the C-Tech lookalike chargers pretty cheap, it isn't worth risking anything that isn't designed for the job, especially if it's going to be left unattended.

Cheers, T i m

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You posted a link for a Meanwell car battery charger?

[spuorgelgoog]

We ate a lot less then, and a lot of food was more locally sourced. Even meat and meat products would often come from a fairly local farm, through the local mart, local abbatoir and local butcher.

Fewer people had cars, and there was still a feeling that it was a waste to use the car for a short journey. "Short" probably being a couple of miles. Now people use the car for 3 mins to the local shop round the corner.

OWain

[mm0fmf]

A figure that I heard (sorry can't find link at moment) is a modern car should be able to produce at least 20-25% of the rated alternator output at idle. Or about 34-42A in the case of the 170A alternator on my car.

[Robin]

Despite the best efforts of the NUM their action in 1974 was not contagious. So that was a mere bump in the road compared with current, possibly tectonic, events in much of the Western world.

[Spike]

The Radio Amateurs Handbook from 50 years ago, published by the RSGB, contained a schematic diagram of a simple system to do something very similar. It shouldn't be beyond the wit of a Radio Amateur to knock something up to do this.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yehbut these Lidl ones are small enough to fit in your pocket. Pulse charge a low battery. Charge at a constant 4 amps or so until the battery is full. Then change to a maintenance charge that can be left on indefinitely. And far cheaper than a transformer type.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Quite. The whole point I was making. ;-)

[Brian Reay]

They are rather good, aren't they. Remarkable value. Aldi do similar ones. Mine is an Aldi but I picked up a Lidl one for Son in Law. There are some interesting videos on YouTube, if you've not seen them.

Not, of course if you don't have mains and are trying to charge from an alternator, including a 2nd battery in a motorhome, although there are 'battery to battery chargers' which do a similar job for vehicles where the smart alternator doesn't charge the 2nd (and 3rd in the larger vehicles) fully.

Of course, there are those who are still living in the 1950s and probably killing their modern batteries by using a simple charger and wondering why.

[Brian Reay]

You are taking this faking being a former Civil Servant too far. No need to try and specify something when you obviously don't understand the issues.

[T i m]

<snip>

I can't remember the last time we used the car for our main grocery shop. Whilst we have the use of a private car park right outside the shopping centre, we can take our shopping trolley right inside the store which means we don't have to *carry* anything anywhere when we leave.

I can also pack the contents of one of the smaller (of the two) supermarket trolleys into ours (maybe a light / separate bag for crushables).

We used to be able wheel the store trolley to the car (and push it back empty) but now they have automatic locks on one wheel that activates as soon as you try to leave the centre.

We actually do most of all our shopping on foot and up to about a mile away (it's the journey home with potentially heavy stuff that is the limitation). We used to combine such tasks with exercise and a dog walk and looking forward to a time when we can do so again (not only Covid-19 but being able to walk properly). ;-(

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Against a non designated mains powered maintenance / charger when mains power is available. Agreed.

When it isn't, a solar panel can work. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Spike]

I didn't think a Class B would understand the answer, which I offered more in hope than expectation.

[Max Demian]

To come back to the subject line, if you use the car for little else using it for grocery shopping is a useful way to keep the battery charged. I did this when I only lived half a mile from the nearest supermarket.

[Brian Reay]

Depends on the Solar Panel.

I bought a couple of the cheap 'dash board' ones to see how good they were- the type you can (supposedly) pop on the dashboard and they keep the battery topped up.

Even in 'full sun' - ie a cloundless sky, in summer, panel toward sun etc, the output was pretty grim, plus they lack a decent regulator.

I believe the VW group use some decent ones when shipping cars which are worth having- if you can get hold of them- I assume they are made to a better spec and probably have some kind of regulator to optimise the charging.

A decent 100W or more panel is another matter, even in winter people report getting a worthwhile charge on most days. Having said that, the recommend W to Ah ratio for a motorhome is 1:1 (leisure battery only) so, for a large one like mine, you'd need 200W worth of panels. I've not ruled it out but our usuage profile hasn't made it worthwhile, especially as I have a generator.

[spuorgelgoog]

Yebbut can you still get the valves?

Owain