For Those Using Charger/Maintainers???

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Jazz_Azz - 10 Jan 2008 01:59 GMT

Hooked up the charger/maintainer that I got from J.C. Whitney today, a
Vector VEC080 "Smart Battery Charger". And since a poster in this grp.
alerted me that the cigarette lighter connector would not work, cause
of the ignition key needing to be in and on accessory, I used the
"Battery Terminal Ring" cable, that has a connector that meets the
connector attached to this conveniently long enough cable, coming from
the unit.

Now my question. When not in use, during actual driving, is it OK to
unplug the unit from A.C. (Of course) and just store the unit in the
trunk. OR should the unit be disconnected from the cable (Unplugged),
going to the cable attached to the battery. I have a friend who seems
to think that if you leave it to the cable attached to the battery,
that the units circuitry will draw from the battery/electrical
system?? The manual does not say either way. So I think that it is
designed to stay connected to the cable attached to the battery, and
just store the little unit AC cord and all right there in the trunk.

TIA for any info, PLEASE.

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miker - 10 Jan 2008 14:21 GMT

Easy enough to stick an ammeter in-line and see if it draws any current
while unplugged. Could be either way, IMO.

miker

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Jazz_Azz - 11 Jan 2008 05:34 GMT

> Hooked up the charger/maintainer that I got from J.C. Whitney today, a
> Vector VEC080 "Smart Battery Charger". And since a poster in this grp.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> TIA for any info, PLEASE.

I guess that not too many of us Miata users are using those, HUH???

I think that I am going to like mine. Started up, like the car is used
daily :-).

I used the car today, but just unplugged the unit from the A.C. and
laid the entire thing into the trunk connected up to the battery. I
can not imagine that it would draw anymore than any other accessory, a
phone charging, a High Powered audio system, a burglar alarm system,
etc. When I got back home making five stops and restarts, I hooked it
back up, and the unit was in the green (Battery fully charged).

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Invisible Man - 11 Jan 2008 08:45 GMT

>> Hooked up the charger/maintainer that I got from J.C. Whitney today, a
>> Vector VEC080 "Smart Battery Charger". And since a poster in this grp.
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> etc. When I got back home making five stops and restarts, I hooked it
> back up, and the unit was in the green (Battery fully charged).

The output is of course DC so there would be nothing preventing some
sort of device being present acting as a diode in the output circuit.
Could try putting a sensitive ammeter in series when the AC is
disconnected to see whether there is any current drain. (Hope this makes
sense in US English)

Both our old 2002 MX5 and our Mazda 3 Sport struggle if not used for
long runs in the winter so we do have a battery conditioner. It is not
used often so I disconnect it after use.

No battery problems so far with our 2007 MX5 coupé.

There is a lot of vehicle theft in the UK and the alarms fitted drain
the battery. The remote central locking controls have facilities to
disable parts of the alarm system and I guess this is to lessen battery
drain.

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Jazz_Azz - 11 Jan 2008 16:50 GMT

On Jan 11, 12:45 am, Invisible Man <Invisi...@invisible.co.uk.invalid>
wrote:

> >> Hooked up the charger/maintainer that I got from J.C. Whitney today, a
> >> Vector VEC080 "Smart Battery Charger". And since a poster in this grp.
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
> disable parts of the alarm system and I guess this is to lessen battery
> drain.

Since my Wife and I have three vehicles, her a Chevy Monte Carlo (97,
with only about 43K miles), my 97 Chevy S10 Pick Up, with only 48,500
miles, it is difficult trying to run the Miata the once per week that
the dealer Service dept. told me that that battery requires. So I will
keep the charger maintainer attached all winter. Summers here are so
HOT/Warm that it never appears to have a problem then. But with the
very short cable the charger provides with that quick connect/
disconnect connector, and the pain to move anything, beach chairs, the
trunk cover, battery area fiber board (Fibre ?? for you brits>>>LOL)
etc., I plan to just leave it attached, just unplugging it from the
A.C. I do not have an ammeter, just a very basic Radio Shack Volt
Meter. And even if there were a diode, which there very well could be
(No Schematic was provided in the manual) in the output side drawing
something, while driving, I can not imagine that it would be a whole
lot compared to the draw of any other accessories PPL tend to use. I'm
fairly certain that the alternator will have no problem keeping
up :-). Only my good retired Telco Buddy, (we are both A.T,&T.
retirees) brought that concern up. But he nit picks about
anything>>LOL.

As they say down under>>>"No Worries, Mate.">>LOL LOL :-).

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miker - 12 Jan 2008 18:01 GMT

<<I do not have an ammeter, just a very basic Radio Shack Volt Meter.>>

Then you have an ammeter. Use it on the current (amps) setting, start with
the highest setting and work your way down looking for a reading. For amps
you hook it in series, not in parallel like for voltage readings.

<< And even if there were a diode, which there very well could be
(No Schematic was provided in the manual) in the output side drawing
something, while driving, I can not imagine that it would be a whole
lot compared to the draw of any other accessories PPL tend to use. I'm
fairly certain that the alternator will have no problem keeping
up :-). >>

No, no problem keeping up. The issue would be if you leave the car sit for
days (airport, etc) without being plugged in.

miker

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Jazz_Azz - 12 Jan 2008 21:17 GMT

> <<I do not have an ammeter, just a very basic Radio Shack Volt Meter.>>
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> miker

If I were going to let the car sit for days, say at the airport, I
would for sure disconnect it from the quick connector :-). As a mater
of fact since I'd have no A.C. there, I'd leave the charger/maintainer
home :-).

Now that I have it connected up in the garage, I notice, with the help
of my stereo, cause when it kicks in, it slightly interferes with my
FM reception, since I have my FM antenna sitting on top of the roof
trusses of the garage, that it kicks in, On Charge, for about maybe 5
seconds, every so many minutes. Haven't timed the OFF (Fully Charged
time), but guessing it is maybe 4 to 5 minutes of off time, 5 secs of
charge time. Does that sound about right?? I had exchanged that
battery once before under its' 3 yrs free exchange warranty. It's a
"Duralast" sold at Auto Zone. And I'd hate to bug them again>>LOL.

I Went out there with my voltmeter, and with the charger/maintainer
off, NO LOAD, the battery sits stable at around 13.5 volts. Put a load
on it by turning the lights/high beams on for a short while, and
watched the battery quickly drop to its' 12 VDC. Turned the lights off
and let the charger take it back up, and appeared to be holding at
that 13.4>13.5, then came back in the house.

So basically wondering if that sounds about right, the maintainer
cutting in for about 5 secs every few minutes to keep it topped off???

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miker - 14 Jan 2008 16:38 GMT

> So basically wondering if that sounds about right, the maintainer
> cutting in for about 5 secs every few minutes to keep it topped off???

There's probably lots of ways to approach it, but that sounds as good as
any.

miker

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