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Car Forum / Honda Cars / July 2006Recharging Battery?
If I recharge a battery in my Honda with a trickle charger of 2 amps, is it possible to charge it while it is on the car, or will this harm the computer? Secondly, if I remove it, can I insert one of those battery operated memory savers that plug in the lighter? Finally, where can I purchase a memory saving device? Thanks, Nino I am not sure what you mean when you say you want to trickle charge it... on the car. The alternator is not designed to re-charge dead batteries, period. Using it do so reduces the alternator life. Skim the following for more information: http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id13.html Why did the battery run down in the first place? If you have no idea, there may be more than the battery to check here. > If I recharge a battery in my Honda with a trickle charger > of 2 amps, is it possible to charge it while it is on the > car, or will this harm the computer? What I mean is, I plug in my amp trickle charger into the wall outlet, then I connect it to the battery while it is still on the vehicle. Usually, I disconnect the battery from the car, and then I connect the trickle charger to it. When I do this, I lose all my radio presets and computer codes, etc. Nino >I am not sure what you mean when you say you want to trickle charge it... >on the car. The alternator is not designed to re-charge dead batteries, [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> it possible to charge it while it is on the car, or will this harm the >> computer? My battery is not at its optimum rate. It's three years old. I can usually make my batteries last up to 10 years, by cleaning the posts, the case and finally by recharging it once a year using a 2 amp battery trickle charger. I did this with my last vehicle and got TEN years out of the battery. I intend to do the same with my Honda CR-V. However, I'm not sure if it's safe to recharge it while it's still on the car. Especially wit all the computer equipment aboard. > What I mean is, I plug in my amp trickle charger into the wall outlet, > then I connect it to the battery while it is still on the vehicle. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >>> it possible to charge it while it is on the car, or will this harm the >>> computer? There may be other reasons, but I personally can't advocate this because of the following: "If left unattended, [] cheap, unregulated trickle battery chargers can overcharge your battery because they can "boil off" the electrolyte." http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_Car_Battery.html Also, it's hard to control the charging parameters. Lastly, this site also talks about how the parasitic loads on a car with the engine off can amount to as high as 20 amps. I don't have confidence right now that the charging setup you're proposing would work. I do see advocated at this site getting a second battery, connecting it via a cigarette lighter hookup, then removing the battery you want to charge. This retains the computer memory, radio settings, etc. OTOH, I do see you have other experience with this. Getting ten years out of a battery is nothing to sneeze at. In short, in your shoes and with the experience you claim, I'd get a second battery, hook it up via the cigarette lighter, then charge the other battery off the car as you describe you've done for years. Sorry, that's probably not much help. > What I mean is, I plug in my amp trickle charger into the > wall outlet, then I connect it to the battery while it is [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >>> charger of 2 amps, is it possible to charge it while it >>> is on the car, or will this harm the computer? I do this all the time, but you raise an interesting point. If you have a cheap, unregulated battery charger that overcharges your battery and boils off the electrolyte, the proper place for it is the trash bin. I got eleven years out of the original battery in my Jeep, including several times draining it to nothing by leaving the lights on. (I didn't do that on purpose.) You can charge a battery that is still connected to the vehicle, but it is not a good idea to do so without monitoring the amps gauge on the charger and what is happening with the battery. Lots of bubbling and excessive heat are bad. A high charge rate for a long time is also bad. Earle > There may be other reasons, but I personally can't advocate > this because of the following: "If left unattended, [] [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > >>> charger of 2 amps, is it possible to charge it while it > >>> is on the car, or will this harm the computer?  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com Ever obnoxiously curious, I groups.googled (using keywords like {charge battery disconnect car} on this point, and it seems many people do re-charge with the battery still connected, but with some trepidation, particularly on newer cars where the electronics can be fried by sufficiently irregular voltage or too many amps. Others (with expertise and what seemed to be reasonable explanations) said they wouldn't risk it on newer cars, period. Like you say, there was a lot of chatter about using cheap-o trickle chargers vs. more sophisticated chargers that taper off the charging as the battery gets closer to full charge. People seemed to feel much safer (as far as damaging anything on the car) with the more sophisticated chargers. Yet time and again, I'd see posts saying the cheap-o trickle charger worked fine with the battery still connected. You better believe I am impressed with you and the OP for getting 10+ years out of a battery via a separate charger. >I do this all the time, but you raise an interesting point. >If you have a [quoted text clipped - 84 lines] >> >>> it >> >>> is on the car, or will this harm the computer? > Like you say, there was a lot of chatter about using cheap-o > trickle chargers vs. more sophisticated chargers that taper [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Yet time and again, I'd see posts saying the cheap-o trickle > charger worked fine with the battery still connected. The critical thing here will be not so much how cheap the charger is as how well it protects the car system from "events" on the mains power. If a possum vaporises itself in your neighborhood switching station, does the spike get through into the car electronics? The expensive chargers may be better, but I wouldn't want to rely on it. It depends on what the designer thought adequate and what the cost accountants would permit, so there is really no telling... Signature-- "My spoo has too much fleem" Adrian > I do this all the time, but you raise an interesting point. If you > have a cheap, unregulated battery charger that overcharges your [quoted text clipped - 60 lines] >> >>> charger of 2 amps, is it possible to charge it while it >> >>> is on the car, or will this harm the computer? A 2 amp charger is probably too small to do damage to your electrical system. But, beware of the word "probably". If the voltage with the charger hooked up is less than 17 volts, you are ok, the car electical system is very tough and will probably (there's that word again) withstand up to 20 volts from a 2 amp source with no problem. Easy check: turn on the headlights, if they are visible your battery will accept 2 amps with no problem. If they don't, disconnect the battery first. if your battery is almost dead, figure the charge time required time = battery amp-hours divided by charger amps times 1.25 example : 35 amp hrs/2amp charger * 1.25 =22 hours for a full charge. The amp hour rating should be written on the top of the battery In your specific case a 2 amp charger could be left on for two days without damaging a healthy battery. If you do not feel comforable doing this, just leave the battery in and unhook one cable (the negative one, preferably) and hook the charger to the battery, when done reconnect the battery- but there goes the radio and stored trouble codes for the engine . Even a properly working charging system may need a battery charge in certain conditions, namely very short trips all the time and a lot of electrical accesories on -as an example, two miles to work, ac on full both ways, lights on on the way home. If you want to use a charger often, to maintain a battery fully charged on a vehicle that doesn't get driven regularly, get a so-called "smart" charger. They can't overcharge your battery. I keep one full-time on my Jeep and one on my Honda scooter. Both are driven only once in a while. Battery Tender Plus 12V. http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?c=battery_tender http://www.batterytender.com/default.php?cPath=11_2 Dick >I do this all the time, but you raise an interesting point. If you have a >cheap, unregulated battery charger that overcharges your battery and boils [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Earle I have used a battery charger to recharge our cars (various makes including Honda) occasionally over the years. This was done with the battery connected but with a good regulated charger that reduces the charging rate as the battery becomes recharged. I have never had any problems with the car's electrical system or accessories(radio, etc.)from doing this. I believe this is because while the charger's output to the battery may vary during the charging process, the battery itself limits what reaches the electrical system. I also have charged batteries that were removed from the car. When I did that, I connected a 12 volt DC source(a 12V DC computer power supply--these have highly regulated outputs) to the battery cables in order to not lose the car's computer settings etc. Having said all that, as was suggested to you earlier, find out why you battery needed to be recharged. Ken > What I mean is, I plug in my amp trickle charger into the wall outlet, then > I connect it to the battery while it is still on the vehicle. Usually, I [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >>>it possible to charge it while it is on the car, or will this harm the >>>computer? Isn't the cigarette lighter accessory dead when the ignition is off? I wanted to use one of those solar-powered tricke chargers that plug into the lighter but was told my CR-V wouldn't accomodate a charger operating through the cigarette lighter. |If I recharge a battery in my Honda with a trickle charger of 2 amps, is it |possible to charge it while it is on the car, or will this harm the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] | |Nino It's true. Honda configures the lighter/accessory sockets to only work when the ignition is on or in the Acc position. On my 2000 TL, you could make it always hot by simply moving one wire to an adjacent unused pin in the connector at the fuse box. That connected it through an always-hot fuse of the same rating. Check the wiring diagram for yours, it might be that easy. On 7/9/06 11:54 AM, in article 44b13424.271903400@news.dallas.sbcglobal.net, > Isn't the cigarette lighter accessory dead when the ignition is off? I > wanted to use one of those solar-powered tricke chargers that plug [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > | > |Nino |
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