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Battery conditioner use

cambjones said:
Why wouldn't you leave the bonnet slightly open if that is an option?

Why risk forgetting to close the latch when I can just shut the bonnet which has a thick, hollow rubber seal bridging a 6+mm panel gap and the charger cable is maybe 3mm thick?
 
:?
If it's the 230V cable, as long is there is no chaffing, compression on the cable or pinch points then it's fine. I always feel nervous about that one so never do it. I do have an RCCD behind the circuit though which is good protection coupled with the cable having the outer layer and inner core insulation. Horses for courses?

If it's the battery cable, again as long as there is no interference it's fine. If it does go wrong you have the full weight of the battery behind it which is not good, think welded cables, smoke and a potential fire. The CTEK battery cables are single insulated with the Battery as the fuse :nooo:

I think the bridge circuit by citori on a temporary basis (Car on SORN) looks really good. Just need to figure where the connections go :?:
 
If your happy to wait a week or two I can post some details on where to connect the link, it's just that my car is in for a bit of paint at the moment so I don't have access to it. If your car is manual it's a doddle as you can use the live from the unused tip relay.

edit: forgot to say, the other big bonus of doing it this way is there is less chance of reversing out of the garage with the ctek still plugged in at the front! :roll:
 
CTEK now attached but I am struggling to find how to turn off the internal light by fiddling with the latch. Can anybody help by providing an idiots guide for an idiot to use.
 
Hey Tycho,

You just need to push down the mechanism which the bonnet normally clips into...

From memory you just push that down till it clicks.. then you push the bonnet into it... make sense :eek:
 
Yes,
A medium flat bladed screwdriver emulating what the bonnet catch does. Push the blade where the bonnet catch goes until you hear a click and the light goes out. :)
 
GT4 said:
If you want to be extra safe, just connect the clamps (or snap plug to permanent leads) prior to turning on mains (that way there can't be a spark as you have already made the connection).

Too right!
Am sure nobody here is dumb enough to turn the charger on and then toy around with crocodile clips? (I would hope so). Nobody needs a fortnight with no eyebrows.
:grin:

I hate crocodile clips, They are not a sound connection or a plug, if you are worried about shorting, loose connections, sparks or fire, then start with these: the least secure electrical connections on your entire car!

On a daily basis I manually squeeze the croc leads of my test equipment at work to try to get a stable reading, they are inherently sh1te as a longer term connection.
:(

So...
I cut the croc leads of all my chargers and fit a hard wired lead to the battery with a socket on the end, likewise my charger has no clips, just a plug.

DSC05772.jpg


Pop the bonnet, plug in, 100% solid connection, turn on, shut bonnet.

DSC05774.jpg


Sure the battery lead is running through the bonnets rubber seal, but that makes it the same as every wire in your car that runs through a rubber grommet, the only difference here it it's a wire you see, handle, and plug in all the time (spend your time worrying about the hundreds of chafing and rubbing wires and plugs that you can't see on the car!).

:thumb:
 
Sure the battery lead is running through the bonnets rubber seal, but that makes it the same as every wire in your car that runs through a rubber grommet, the only difference here it it's a wire you see, handle, and plug in all the time (spend your time worrying about the hundreds of chafing and rubbing wires and plugs that you can't see on the car!).

Hi Clarky,
I was refering to if the leads chaffed and touched the bare metal
:dont know:

The CTEK would probably go into safety mode, however if the positive lead touches something like the bonnet, that would give it a path, then it's a dead short scenario. There is no protection from the lead to the battery. Horses for courses, and if your savy it will never happen. I'll do the mod that Rob1 put up and I can sleep at night.

:thumb:
 
Ocean Blue said:
There is no protection from the lead to the battery.
:thumb:

Goddam you mate!

Despite having the same setup on several cars and being happy with it for years, since you typed this, it was all I could think about, the ensuing fire!!!!

So I fitted a 'Citori' to the battery end of my lead and behold 'MKII':

DSC05775.jpg


So there we have it, no crock clips, no spring loaded pin pushed into a specially adapted fag lighter socket, no mains cables and extension leads inside the car, just a direct and solid connection to the battery, in seconds, that you can plug in and forget.
:)

DSC05787.jpg


Oh and cheers for the latch tip, having fingers like a chimp I now just press the latch down and turn off the bonnet light, so I don't have to close the bonnet, which actually removes the need for the fuse I know, but I'm a sucker for 'what if's?'.
:)
 
explosions!!!

You're actually more likely to have the battery explode than the petrol vapour... Battery acid vapour, when warm (being charged) is incredibly explosive. And in the days when you undid the battery top-up caps (which I doubt any of us have on our 993) you ran a real chance of blowing up. I only did it once (which is how I found out) when jump starting my ancient Range Rover.

I'd connected the jump leads to the charging vehicle... it was a warm day... put the other ends on the RR, and caused a spark. BBBBAAAANNNG Blew the top off the bloody battery and acid everywhere! Luckily none seemed to hit me, but I had to hose the truck down pretty quick in case anything was dissolved.

I don't think it's quite such a risk with sealed batteries, but be carefull. If in doubt, put something like 'car battery explosion' into you tube.

Oh yes... I just put my crocodile clips from my optimate charger straight onto the battery, and trap the thin cable in the bonnet rubber and close it. I don't lock/immobilise the car when charging as I find it 'confuses' the charger because of the slight drain.

Will
 
Goddam you mate!

Despite having the same setup on several cars and being happy with it for years, since you typed this, it was all I could think about, the ensuing fire!!!!
:floor:
Clarkycat I felt really bad, funny but bad. I've now composing a letter to Alroma distribution Ltd, the CTEK distributor as I feel maybes they should take this on board. I'll let them know I want to post their reply up.

Nice mod btw :thumb:
 

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