Battery Life

[Rabbitoh]

Dumb question time:
As we get near winter (a.k.a. FE hibernation time) does a car battery stay charged longer if the earth cable is disconnected?

[FCRB26]

If theres no current draw from any source it wont matter.

I actually bought from the motorbike shop a trickle charge that i plug into the 240volt i have one on my bike and fe its just trickles at 100mah so you leave it plugged in whilst your not using your toy and it keeps the battery in tip top shape.


Pete

[collecta]

  Age of the battery plays a big part. very cold or very hot weather can finish an already deteriorating  battery, had to change plenty over the years for customers.

   As Pete said trickle chargers work well at maintaining charge,worth the money.

cheers
Scott

[jack_fc]

If theres no current draw from any source it wont matter.

Pete

True, Pete, but unfortunately most old cars I've owned did have some small current 'leak' even after my best but pitiful attempts to track them all down and kill them, so I routinely fit a 'screw down' type switched battery lead terminal to a non-daily driver, and I usually open this switch after every drive...
(and if the battery is in the boot, this also makes it just a bit harder for tea leaves to start it. If the batt is under the bonnet, completely remove the [usually green] screw down knob; this slows amateur thieves down a bit too  )

Even so, the trickle charger is the best bet if you're not likely to start and run the car for weeks/months (just ensure that electrolyte levels are up to manufacturers specs before extended trickle charging, and that the battery - especially the top and terminals, is clean. If you're talking 'months' of hibernation, remove batt from car, and sit it on wooden blocks in a well-ventilated area then connect trickle charger)

cheers, jack

[john253a]

I always remove the earth when im finished enjoying her
2 reasons
1 battery
2 thieves

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

There's a battery isolation terminal available, I have one just never got around to fitting it 
It has a little green plastic knob on the top that you unwind to disconnect the earth, a lot easier than fiddling with a spanner.

[weddo]

You could also try a normal battery charger on a plug in timer - on - off a couple of times a day for an hour or so


regards


Weddo

[heavyduty1340]

C-Tek - These things really are the go. Especially the ones with battery refresh on them.

I have two that I use on a motorbike, and several cars, and I'd be stuffed without them.

The are small for their size and damn powerful.

[FCRB26]

just looked mines a C tek it lives on my old KLR 650  and the others on the FE.

My car has an bakerlite very old looking battery isolator switch allthough im too scared to use it that it might break.

[Rabbitoh]

Great information amongst that lot - (maybe not such a dumb question after all?)
Thanks for sharing, one and all.