Juju Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 As helpfully suggested by other members I have just put the Aldi special battery charger on to the seven battery and left it to fully charge. According to the instructions it reverts to a trickle charge once the battery is full so the intention is to leave it on over winter. Any idea how much electricity it will use? Seems like a skinflint question I know but SWMBO and the kids leave all lights and devices on all the time so I am getting paranoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadsport06 Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Trickle charge or clever conditioner?If trickle then not good to leave it on as you'll evaporate the fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 What sort of battery? I had an Rally Design/Yuasa/Ultramax type battery, a CTEK charger and a British Gas energy monitor thing. It used negligible electricity whenever I used the charger. I hardly ever needed to charge the battery to be honest, even though I left the car for months on end without any use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted November 19, 2014 Member Share Posted November 19, 2014 CTEK chargers typically have a nominal maximum mains current of about 1A (that's about 240W). So most of the time on maintenance charging they'll be a lot less than that, but I can't find a typical value. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 My guess is that it'll use something in the region of 3W on average. If I'm right, then that's about 2KWh (30p) per month, or about £3 a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 How much?!!!! Gonna switch it off.seriously though, thanks for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Mind you with all the savings you are making by going "sans" clothes you can cover the cost of a charging your battery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnockoff Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Having had a battery dry out on me, I no longer leave my battery on a charger for extended periods. Just trickle charge until fully charged then disconnect. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Was that with a trickle charger or a conditioner? In theory a conditioner (like an Optimate or CTEK) shouldn't ever cause a battery to dry out. I don't know if that's true in practice, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted November 21, 2014 Member Share Posted November 21, 2014 Same view as Roger.I also think there's probably a difference between big batteries designed for storage and intermittent use and the minimal things which were designed with low mass as a high priority, often for racing, that many of us put in our 7s.My 7 and Vespa both live on conditioning chargers in the garage.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnockoff Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 My charger trickle charged then automatically went onto a maintainance setting, anyhow I don't do it like that any more.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Piers300 Posted November 21, 2014 Area Representative Share Posted November 21, 2014 My company sells Industrial battery chargers from 2 to 20 Amps for both 12 and 24 V applications, for mainly large diesel and gas engined generator sets and we also supply the generator control systems.There are generally two or more sorts of chargers being used. (A) The Boost and Trickle charger variety - to be avoided at all costs, as even when left in trickle mode over a period of time, will cause the battery to dry/boil out and it is then U/S. (B) The Constant Potential type - The type to B/C to use and similar to a battery conditioner. When charging, the constant potential battery charger will provide high current and voltage to bring the float level of the battery up to nearly fully charged state. Once it gets near there, the current automatically reduces to a very small level. Once the voltage of the battery reach full charge of say 13.4 volts, the two voltages are equal and current does not flow. So although connected, it is not charging. If the battery voltage drops due to internal losses, then the charger brings it back to full charge slowly and stops charging.On large generators when you have very expensive starting batteries for 1500 - 2000 Bhp engines in a Hospital or Data Centre, we double up on everything, as the engine has to start. These chargers are left on 24/7 - year in and year out.I have a Banner charger for the 7 and it does a good job and is switched on all year round and I am still on the same battery - so far after three years. The CTEK is also good. Both of these are battery conditioners but work on the C/P principle. I would avoid using a standard battery or trickle charger for any length of time.Piers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teembo Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 I had an Optimate dry out my bike battery a few years ago. It was a VERY hot summer, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted November 22, 2014 Member Share Posted November 22, 2014 Good point. I had to top up the Vespa battery this year.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Piers300 Posted November 22, 2014 Area Representative Share Posted November 22, 2014 Sorry - I should have added that you need to check the electrolyte level in each cell every six months or so to check it is correct- especially when it is a hot summer.Piers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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