12V battery charging

[BrianC]

A pure 12v charger doesn't require a lithium battery. A combination one will have a battery for usb charging other devices or for a short burst boost/limited top up whilst not plugged into a power source. Most boosters have this capability but need topped via USB input or mains after use. Is there a pure charger on the market with a built in battery?

Alan

The original post was in regard to a portable device capable of starting the car away from home when you have no access to a 240v socket.

so what is the difference between this

CS FREE

40-462

www.ctek.com

and a standard booster such as NOCO boost. £280 vs £90.

 

[Kithmo]

I bought an RAC booster pack for our old Jazz. It's a lead acid but should be suitable for our MG4.

I had a lead acid one many years ago but it didn't last very long and it was heavy.

 

[Kithmo]

The original post was in regard to a portable device capable of starting the car away from home when you have no access to a 240v socket.

so what is the difference between this

CS FREE

40-462

www.ctek.com

and a standard booster such as NOCO boost. £280 vs £90.

For our needs, the price. ?

 

[Deleted member 9909]

The original post was asking for a non mains charger the way I read it. Apologies if I have read it wrong.

"Has anybody found a solution for a portable 12v charger?

I’m looking for something to keep in the boot should a 12v battery failure occur while away from home.

Standard chargers all require 240v supply and im not sure if any portable boosters can be used to trickle charge"

The nico is a pure booster whereas the CS is also a plug in charger (mains, solar or leisure battery). You can start the car with the nico and use the HV dc/dc step down converter to charge the 12v battery up. However if you want to continue to trickle charge with the car off the CS can do that dependent on power source whilst the nico cannot.

There will be a use for the CS for somone but not for me. The nico suits my needs. If however the nico doesn't do the trick the CS allows you to try charging it fully before trying again....quicker with the AA as stated

Alan

 

[johnb80]

There will be a use for the CS for somone but not for me. The nico suits my needs. If however the nico doesn't do the trick the CS allows you to try charging it fully before trying again....quicker with the AA as stated

Alan

The CS has a capacity of 66Wh, a 12v 40 ah battery has a capacity of 480 Wh, it can charge at up to 20A so it would be flat in 16 minutes and the 12v battery would be 13% charged.

Absolutely no point in the CS, standard booster is all thats needed.

 

[Deleted member 9909]

Agree, unless you have access to a power source which was the point I was making re CS charging capability.

Alan

 

[Grriff]

I had a lead acid one many years ago but it didn't last very long and it was heavy.

Mine has lasted for a long time. It's heavier than a lithium battery but cheaper - around £40.
My solution to the original post is a lead acid booster battery (rechargeable on mains or 12v) to get the car started and a separate mains powered charger, which could operate from the car via a V2L lead. A cheap solution but big.

 

[johnb80]

Mine has lasted for a long time. It's heavier than a lithium battery but cheaper - around £40.
My solution to the original post is a lead acid booster battery (rechargeable on mains or 12v) to get the car started and a separate mains powered charger, which could operate from the car via a V2L lead. A cheap solution but big.

Why would you not let the onboard charger charge the 12v? no need to carry a mains charger and V2L lead.

 

[Grriff]

Why would you not let the onboard charger charge the 12v? no need to carry a mains charger and V2L lead.

Agreed. The only time you may want to charge the battery using a separate charger would be with the car parked and off (say at a hotel) when the on board charger won't work (I think) but I'm not sure if V2L works when the car is powered down.
I only leave the booster in the car.

 

[Deleted member 9909]

Solution is a booster. If your battery won't hold a charge nothing will work except a new battery. If its because something wasn't shut or shut down properly the boost should start the car and life gets back to normal.

Charging of the 12v should occur in ready state, driving, charging or using vtl...why...because the cars systems need 12v to operate in these states hence the need to keep it topped up. So no need to plug a charger into vtl the cars already doing that. A failure of the step down dc/dc converter should be a rarity so perhaps not worth going there.

Thoughts?

Alan

 

[Rolfe]

I bought an RAC booster pack for our old Jazz. It's a lead acid but should be suitable for our MG4.

My car has been sitting in an airport car park for a fortnight with a lead acid booster pack in the rear footwell. I hope I don't need it.

I dropped the bloody thing on the garage floor when I was recharging it before the journey and cracked the plastic casing, and now I'm worried it's ruined.

 

[PeteC]

There are lots of small boosters on amazon, which you can charge via usb and designed to provide a 30 sec or so boost to start an engine. Not sure any will trickle charge for half hour or so.

Anybody used one of these to start an ev?

I just used one to start our Trophy today. The 12v battery died yesterday - I've no idea why. We've had the car for nearly 11 months with no problems with the 12V battery, including when we left the car for over 6 weeks earlier this year. Anyway, I bought the Grepro jump starter shown by @Rip Van in an earlier post. It arrived today showing 99% charge. I did my best car thief impersonation opening the car with the mechanical key, clipped the starter pack to the battery and in no time the car came to life.

The starter pack is just small enough to live in the armrest cubby. I found that when the car was dead, even though I'd opened the driver's door, I couldn't open a rear passenger door using the inside handle so I wanted to stow it somewhere it's easy to get hold of.

Hopefully I won't need it again. I know that I could have called the AA but I'm 350 miles from home at the moment and preferred to have the reassurance of the starter pack just in case the car died again before we're home.

 

[Kithmo]

I found that when the car was dead, even though I'd opened the driver's door, I couldn't open a rear passenger door using the inside handle.

That's a bummer, I've just moved my booster pack from under the boot floor to where the rear seat folds so I could reach it, I'll have to move it again into the front somewhere as I don't think I could climb over from the front to the back seats.

 

[PeteC]

That's a bummer, I've just moved my booster pack from under the boot floor to where the rear seat folds so I could reach it, I'll have to move it again into the front somewhere as I don't think I could climb over from the front to the back seats.

The boot just behind the seats was my plan initially, but luckily I needed something from the back seat which is why I found out that the rear door wouldn't open.

 

[johnb80]

I bought the Grepro jump starter shown by @Rip Van in an earlier post. It arrived today showing 99% charge. I did my best car thief impersonation opening the car with the mechanical key, clipped the starter pack to the battery and in no time the car came to life.

Be careful with that unit, I also purchased one based on a recommendation from here, I used it once, it was not successful and getting my i3 to wake up, when I recharged it after, it swelled up and I'm sure if I'd left it charging I would have had a fire on my hands.
Dont leave it unattended when charging and make sure you put it in a tin just in case it does go off.

 

[PeteC]

Be careful with that unit, I also purchased one based on a recommendation from here, I used it once, it was not successful and getting my i3 to wake up, when I recharged it after, it swelled up and I'm sure if I'd left it charging I would have had a fire on my hands.
Dont leave it unattended when charging and make sure you put it in a tin just in case it does go off.

Thanks for the warning. It did the trick waking up my MG, but I'll keep a close eye on it.

 

[Rolfe]

I had no trouble with my car after being parked at the airport for about 16 days. Just walked up to it with the key in my rucksack, pressed the door button, and everything woke up about as fast as it would have done if I'd just stopped to pop into the shop on the way home. Still at 69% charge too, as I left it.

 

[Alb]

All that worrying for nothing then!

 

[Rolfe]

Well, at least if the car had failed to wake up, I'd have had some idea what to do about it. The trouble is, we hear all about the ones that don't wake up and not so much about the ones that behave normally. And how to know if yours is one of the problem ones until you try it? But it seems my battery is good.

 

[Alb]

You'll feel much more relaxed next time.