Question on charging the battery

[Kremmen]

No I don't have S/S, I was just saying that it's not necessary to disconnect the battery for charging.

My battery is still the 2013 original and is going strong (as are the tyres and brake pads, but that's another thread.

With regard to the charging sensor, I thought the whole point was to leave it in the equation when trickle charging so the S/S system knows the battery is topped up so it doesn't turn off and give the low battery warning ?

Dug this out of my archive:



Honda Stop / Start PDF's :

[Happyarry]

My main concern was that the Honda Jazz user manual states "disconnect both battery terminals to avoid damaging the car's electrical system".

I imagine that as my CTEK charger is a 'Smart' charger  it should be safe to use?

But I think when I get the chance I'll have a word with Honda to see what they advise. If I get anywhere I'll report back.

Harry

[tom65]

I use a ctek hard wire kit on a ctek stop/start charger. I connected to the positive post and to the bodywork with a small nut and bolt where there happened to be a convenient hole.
I do very little miles and charge the battery every week and the stop/start has always worked so far
I’ve been trying to include a photo but have been unable to do so. Tom

[embee]

Hi all, new member here.
I've recently got a 2018 SE CVT (2 yrs old, one lady owner, 1500mls on it!). I've worked in the motor industry for 40 odd years in powertrain, so I'm reasonably familiar with a lot of tech type stuff used in cars.
I guess because my car has spent a lot of time standing around, the battery charge monitor system has probably got out of step and when I got the car it would not usually go into stop/start, showing the battery symbol.
I charged it but it was still hit and miss as to whether it would work.

Having read as much as I could find on the forum about this, I concluded the system needed convincing that it had charged the battery fully, so I rigged up a spare lamp (old bike headlamp 45W) and connected it directly to the battery terminals (battery side of the charge monitor box) and left it a couple of hours to discharge it by around 8Ah.
Then I connected my new CTEK MXS5.0 charger in "RECOND" mode (not AGM mode since the battery is EFB) to charge through the monitor. This seems to have done the trick, it seems convinced that it is fully charged and so far has operated the S/S as soon as it is reasonably warm every trip with no "battery" flags.

Incidentally, when searching for a CTEK MXS5.0 charger, I found this place to be the best price by quite a long way, had very good service from them (no connection, just a customer), might be of use to someone. Hope it's OK to post a link for stuff like this.
https://www.smarterchargers.co.uk/

[cornishpasty]

Hi and welcome. I bought the same charger from the same company as you. Yes, the customer service was spot on, and delivered next day. Wondering if the seller of your car charged the battery using both terminals, and not with the negative lead to chassis ground ?

[embee]

Hi, thanks.
I got it from a well respected Honda main dealer so they ought to have known how to charge it (if they did actually charge it), but you can never be sure I suppose. It's behaving properly now, which is all I want.

Probably not the ideal place to post this, but on the supplier topic I was also searching round for a first aid kit and extra warning triangle, in preparation for a hopeful Europe trip next year, and came across perhaps one of the less likely places I would immediately think of to get good quality DIN standard stuff as used by most German car manufacturers at excellent prices here
https://shop.ford.co.uk/collections/roadside-assistance
Ignore the pop-up request for model etc if you don't have a Ford, just click the X. I was amazed at the prices, ordered a Kombitasche Trio and also an extra First Aid Kit Nano. These really are top quality items, and delivery is included, a couple of days to receive them. Thoroughly recommended.

[guest9236]

We use solar panels and https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/battery-accessories/ring-obd-power-cable-for-solar-battery-maintainers-983932.html to connect on our Honda Jazz,s the panels are 10watt and just sit on dash under windscreen to catch the light etc, they work very well, no problems starting as sometimes they are not used for quite a while but have noticed in the past before the Solar Panels were used the Stop Start would not work at all, however now when cars  started and used the Stop Start is fully functional so it would appear the set up is working well.
Personally I find StopAndStart a pain in the  whatsit
Just to mention we  were advised to unplug Panel before starting cars.
Hope this is of some use.

[Westy36]

Probably not the ideal place to post this, but on the supplier topic I was also searching round for a first aid kit and extra warning triangle, in preparation for a hopeful Europe trip next year, and came across perhaps one of the less likely places I would immediately think of to get good quality DIN standard stuff as used by most German car manufacturers at excellent prices here
https://shop.ford.co.uk/collections/roadside-assistance
Ignore the pop-up request for model etc if you don't have a Ford, just click the X. I was amazed at the prices, ordered a Kombitasche Trio and also an extra First Aid Kit Nano. These really are top quality items, and delivery is included, a couple of days to receive them. Thoroughly recommended.

Welcome to the Forum.  with 40yrs in the motor industry, your knowledge could be very useful.

Re the boot packs or "Kombitasche Trio", we've got one of these in each car: eBay item number: 264747050649
Parks Motor Group are currently selling the Nissan branded version for £5.79 !! Absolute bargain. The bag has velcro strips to attach to the boot carpet.

[embee]

...... eBay item number: 264747050649
Parks Motor Group are currently selling the Nissan branded version for £5.79 !! Absolute bargain. The bag has velcro strips to attach to the boot carpet.

... and I thought I'd found a bargain! That's a steal.

[SuperCNJ]

Only just seen this thread, hopefully, you have managed to find a solution but this is the way I have done it in case any one else was looking for a solution. It allows me to charge the car easily on a regular basis and seems like a neat solution that doesn't involve opening up the bonnet. It was actually quite easy to do and works really well.

[Happyarry]

That really IS neat. Could you explain it a little and maybe a 'tutorial' or similar as to how you did it. Many thanks, it looks ideal.

Harry

[culzean]

Our cars have one of these fitted  ( and my motorbike, so that i do not have to take seat off to charge battery ).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KUNCAN-Motorcycle-Extension-Disconnect-Connection/dp/B01N7CHYCF?ref_=ast_bbp_dp

that one is 600mm long if you need a longer one - the shorter lead is OK for MK1 and 2 because battery so close to grille.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/YETOR-Protection-Disconnect-Extension-Motorcycle/dp/B07ZNQY463/ref=sr_1_32_sspa?keywords=sae+battery+charging+lead&qid=1580497514&s=automotive&sr=1-32-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQjZYTU85Rjk0TktOJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTE4MzUxRkpNMDVXR0kwVTE1JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAyNDQzNTAyVFpaRlVQMVY0N0k0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYnRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

you connect the two ring tags to the 6mm bolts that clamp the battery terminal to the battery post, you can leave the plug part in the front grille with the waterproof cover in place,  pretty much every battery charger these days comes with the standard SAE plug,  which is impossible to plug in the wrong way - then you can charge the battery without needing to lift the bonnet... the positive lead is fused to protect from a short. If your car has stop / start connect the negative lead to car bodywork, not direct to battery terminal.

no need to even unlock doors to access the charging point, also comes in handy when the battery goes flat and the doors are locked, some people on here have found it impossible to unlock doors with a flat battery.   The black plugs on the lead in my link are more discreet than the red one in my photo,  just need a small cable tie to attach to grille and allow it to pull out a bit for plugging in, plugs are waterproof,  been on cars for couple of years ( for 2 years before that the same lead was under the bonnet but I thought it was an improvement to have it accessible from outside the car). 

You have to pay attention to battery though,  if the car feels sluggish turning over etc. I write the date battery is fitted on a label stuck to top of battery and rarely leave a battery on longer than 5 years,  it is living on borrowed time after that.

Been using these on cars and bikes for a couple of years now, been great as you can leave them plugged in for ever without worrying about damaging the battery.  Only 1.5 amps but that is plenty for most purposes.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DW6RHN2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


If your car not in garage you will need an extension lead like this,  available in 12 or 24 foot length.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MZZGHNK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1


see attached PDF

[guest4871]

That really IS neat. Could you explain it a little and maybe a 'tutorial' or similar as to how you did it. Many thanks, it looks ideal.

Harry

+1

[John A]

That really IS neat. Could you explain it a little and maybe a 'tutorial' or similar as to how you did it. Many thanks, it looks ideal.

Harry

+1

CTEK do similar leads if you find it difficult to find those.

[SuperCNJ]

That really IS neat. Could you explain it a little and maybe a 'tutorial' or similar as to how you did it. Many thanks, it looks ideal.

Harry

I'll try and describe what I did but I'll need to dig out the photos later (assuming I still have them!).

You will need a CTEK Battery Charger Indicator Panel (https://www.ctek.com/uk/products/car/indicator-panel-3-3m) and some cable to extend it slightly (it was about 1-2m short with the 3.3m kit iirc). The CTEK indicator panel comes in two length leads, I went for the 3.3m one although the shorter one will be fine with an extension. The little switch you see next to the panel was something I added on so as not to drain the battery as the indicator lights are always flashing. I know they don't use up much power, but I just didn't want any power being used unnecessarily particularly if we don't use our car for a long period of time.

You have two options, either route both the positive and negative cable from the panel to the battery and connect both cables directly to the battery (probably the better option). Or route a single cable from the battery in the engine bay all the way to the indicator panel in the boot area, then provide another short cable off the panel and ground it somewhere on the chassis.

I bought the panel from ebay for something like £25, then I sourced the cable and switch from either ebay or Aliexpress. I went with a cable that had a slightly larger diameter core and less resistance than the one that came with the panel so as not to cause any resistance problems. I cut and soldered the cable along with the switch, cut a small rectangular hole in the side of the boot liner and pushed the panel in. All in all, it took a couple of hours to do everything but seems to work really well as we've been charging the car on a fortnightly basis due to the short runs we do.

I'll see if I can find the photos now..