Hi there. Some of you may recognise me as the chap having an issue with a batter(ies) not having enough juice to start the car after about 3-4 weeks of non-use. I think I know the cause(s). Essentially boils down to a lower than required Ah of 65 for these replacement batteries, coupled with my almost non-use of the Fabia these days (I do more mileage on my bicycle).

I have bought a Lidl charger for £12.99 & it does the business. Now although the instructions say disconnect the battery if it's to be left in the car, I've looked at quite a lot of videos & stuff on the net all of which show charging the battery in situ & connected. Now of course if the car is on trickle charge mode this should be OK but the Lidl charger deals with that automatically.

If I leave the battery connected thereby keeping my various settings etc & use the charger say once per week to keep the battery topped up, am I going to get any problems? Or should I be ultra safe & disconnect the battery?

Many thanks.

I'd advise looking at a better battery charger, with a maintainance mode, such as the CTEK XS800

Will keep the battery topped up in a safe and long-term manner via pulse charging and measuring the amps/voltage.

You can wire in the ring-connector attachment, feed the lead down under the bumper area, and just plug in the charger when home, without even opening the bonnet.

As for disconnecting a battery before charging, I only do this if the battery is very low. Never had a problem with this approach on cars, trucks and tractors.

Apart from battery charging, leaving a car for long periods of time is not good as lubricants drain away from what they are supposed to be protecting, clutch can stick, brake pads can also stick to discs, flat spots on tyres. It really is best to give the car a good run regularly.

Thanks Snow_muncher & Soot1e. I was thinking of putting the bike in the car so I can drive to different XC routes & areas so maybe that's what'd I do from now on with the odd top up on the charger (on paper the spec of the Lidl charger is almost identical to the CTEK sensing when a maintenance charge only is required).

Thanks again.

Have a read of my long post in this thread: Battery Conditioners

CTEk chargers are quite expensive, but are very good and worth the money.

I charge the battery on my octy vrs and the wifes fabia vrs every month for between 10-12 hours and never disconect the batteries and have not had any problems.

The charger I use is very old, its self regulating and has a max charge rate of 5 amps.

Many years ago I was working as a fitter at an Iveco truck dealers, another fitter there got badly burnt by acid when he attempted to reconnect a battery that had been disconnected for charging.

As he touched the last lead onto the battery a spark ignited the hydrogen gases, causing the battery to exploded.

Bill.

I have the Aldi version of the Lidl charger - both of which are CTEK clones for LOADS less money. Mine's been fine for around 2/3 years now. I emailed the manufacturers and they advised it's OK with the battery connected despite what it says in teh instructions. I've had no problems with either the Atom or the bike.