318Touring 40 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 My cars don't get used often enough and start complaining about low battery output. What kind of charger I can use for BMWs, trickle chargers? Any experience with the stuff from Repco? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pureboiracer 0 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 ive just got a cheapy charger. seems to do the job well enough just make sure its a lead acid battery not a calcium battery. calcium batterys require special chargers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 I bought one last year used it once and its gone back in the garage. Youre welcome to borrow it Daniel if it helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
318Touring 40 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 (edited) I bought one last year used it once and its gone back in the garage. Youre welcome to borrow it Daniel if it helps. Thanks for that mate, but it seems I will need to continually charge two cars in alternate days. The compact has had AA called to attend to it twice in 3 months. The last incident because the missus turned the radio on for about 10 mins with the engine's off. The 5 complains when I turn the radio on when the engine's not running. It seems that I need to trickle charge both. Or do I? Edited September 22, 2009 by 318Touring Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 I dont know about the trickle charging, but my charger is just sitting here doing nothing so if it helps youre welcome to have a go with it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 the five might have one of those calcium batteries?....but yeah a trickle charger is what you need,preferabley a smart one so it knows to turn itself off.I dont know if you can get a charger that do a normal and a calcium type battery Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
318Touring 40 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 Cool, I'll take up your offer. When are you gonna be around on the weekend? TIA Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
318Touring 40 Report post Posted September 22, 2009 the five might have one of those calcium batteries?....but yeah a trickle charger is what you need,preferabley a smart one so it knows to turn itself off.I dont know if you can get a charger that do a normal and a calcium type battery Hmmm, that sounds expensive, a smart charger? I really need to find out what type of battery it has, and go from there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sick Puppy 1 Report post Posted September 23, 2009 Check Jaycar- they had a Ctek charger lookalike on special a few weeks back, otherwise you can get one off of eBay for about $100NZ... just sayin' Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yuen 16 Report post Posted September 23, 2009 Repco recently had, and my still have, an offer on a Projecta 7 stage charger which should do the trickle charging and more. Looked pretty good in terms of specs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
318Touring 40 Report post Posted October 8, 2009 Check Jaycar- they had a Ctek charger lookalike on special a few weeks back, otherwise you can get one off of eBay for about $100NZ... just sayin' This would be something like this: Jaycar Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
*Glenn* 854 Report post Posted October 8, 2009 Motormail have smart chargers for motor bikes. I had one for the Ducati and the boat. They only charge when the battery voltage drops. They dont continually charge, which will damage the battery. Forget how much they cost though. They do have a website. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
318Touring 40 Report post Posted October 9, 2009 (edited) So bought a new battery at Repco (got 20% discount). While asking for prices at JeffGray they mentioned about being able to install a cable for trickle charging your car. Charger $100 Labour and cables etc. $150 Total $200-$300 for a permanent trickle charger in your car.... Has anyone heard about this? Incidentally an AA service guy also mentioned something like this a few months ago. Edited October 9, 2009 by 318Touring Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sick Puppy 1 Report post Posted October 9, 2009 So bought a new battery at Repco (got 20% discount). While asking for prices at JeffGray they mentioned about being able to install a cable for trickle charging your car. Charger $100 Labour and cables etc. $150 Total $200-$300 for a permanent trickle charger in your car.... Has anyone heard about this? Incidentally an AA service guy also mentioned something like this a few months ago. Nah- for $125 you can get a CTEK charger with cables you can sort yourself. Up to you though... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
*Glenn* 854 Report post Posted October 9, 2009 Motormail have smart chargers for motor bikes. I had one for the Ducati and the boat. They only charge when the battery voltage drops. They dont continually charge, which will damage the battery. Forget how much they cost though. They do have a website. This is what I was talking about http://www.motomail.co.nz/eStore/Style/WHBATTERYDOC.aspx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted October 9, 2009 So bought a new battery at Repco (got 20% discount). While asking for prices at JeffGray they mentioned about being able to install a cable for trickle charging your car. Charger $100 Labour and cables etc. $150 Total $200-$300 for a permanent trickle charger in your car.... Has anyone heard about this? Incidentally an AA service guy also mentioned something like this a few months ago. I am sure you could replicate what is required quite easily.The terminal could be tucked away in the boot or engine bay so a quick connection of a plug and away you go. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
*Glenn* 854 Report post Posted October 9, 2009 It is better and alot safer to have an external plug that you plug into. Especially on the E60. The car must be closed and preferably locked for the ECU's to shut down into sleep mode. Never leave a charger on the car when charging for long periods incase the charger developes a fault. If you wire up an external plug, make sure it's fused. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
318Touring 40 Report post Posted October 11, 2009 The car must be closed and preferably locked for the ECU's to shut down into sleep mode. Never leave a charger on the car when charging for long periods incase the charger developes a fault. If you wire up an external plug, make sure it's fused. Does an E60 need to be locked for it to go to sleep? Or is it enough just to close all the doors etc.? What I found was if the car wasn't locked, it would wake up from time to time. If you wire up an external plug, make sure it's fused. Would be done by Jeff Gray, I'd suspect they'd fuse it as part of the install? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C-130 Hercules 556 Report post Posted August 23, 2017 Just picking up this thread again. Looking for advice what I should look out for when buying a charger. It should be: - all round battery types, including calcium - external plug in - ideally within $100 range what Amp rating should I go for? How many stages should it have? Anything else to look out for? Also, where do I best dispose of spent car batteries? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabe79 410 Report post Posted August 24, 2017 Just now, 3pedals said: If you want to do it properly you can buy chargers that mount ( are installed) in the vehicle we have them in our "occasional use" vehicles , they are hard wired in and are the smart type that only charge when the battery drops a bit. What should your selection criteria really be: Suitable for battery type, Suitable for battery capacity, multistage with condition monitoring (how many stages is academic), Budget as the last consideration. Battery maintenance only needs to provide low charge capability so a good rule of thumb is 5% of battery capacity - so a 100 AH battery can be maintained with a 5 amp charger. If you think you might rely on it for a bit more than just maintaining the battery then go to 10%. We run a 10 amp smart charger in the X5 and a 5 amp device in the Pajero Note: it is current rating that you should be refering to, -- Amps is the unit of measure/ metric not the attribute. Could you link the one(s) you have? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C-130 Hercules 556 Report post Posted August 24, 2017 (edited) 55 minutes ago, 3pedals said: If you want to do it properly you can buy chargers that mount ( are installed) in the vehicle we have them in our "occasional use" vehicles , they are hard wired in and are the smart type that only charge when the battery drops a bit. What should your selection criteria really be: Suitable for battery type, Suitable for battery capacity, multistage with condition monitoring (how many stages is academic), Budget as the last consideration. Battery maintenance only needs to provide low charge capability so a good rule of thumb is 5% of battery capacity - so a 100 AH battery can be maintained with a 5 amp charger. If you think you might rely on it for a bit more than just maintaining the battery then go to 10%. We run a 10 amp smart charger in the X5 and a 5 amp device in the Pajero Note: it is current rating that you should be refering to, -- Amps is the unit of measure/ metric not the attribute. Thanks, I am looking at this one which seems decent enough for a 65Ah e30 battery: http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/Product/SCA-Smart-Battery-Charger-3-Stage-12-Volt-6-Amp/305595 Edited August 24, 2017 by C-130 Hercules Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
