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Ideas to keep a battery charged.

4K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  Aussiblue 
#1 ·
This relates to father's EH Holden but I guess the problem could happen with any OLD car.

My aging father (80+) now only usually drives this van once a week about 2 km to the shops and back. It should be no surprise that he keeps having a flat battery. Avoiding this flat battery is a problem as:

a) He recently split from mum and is living in units; this means i) his car is in a carport with no mains power to use his battery charger, ii) running the engine or otherwise working on the car in the car port is a "no no" and iii) no sun for a dash mounted solar charger.

b) He has an long term injury that makes it very difficult for him open the driver's door from the passengers side (where the only original key lock is). To overcome this I have fitted an alarm system with central locking. This means that it is not praticable for him to disconnect the battery to stop current drain while the car is parked. Rewiring it so that only the central locking is connected would make the alarm wiring a bit too obvious.

As a first step I plan to replace the original generator with an alternator (his local Holden dealer still has the upgrade kit for the HD aternator with mounting brackets for $202; yes wreckers are cheaper but this is his preferred option). This should mean that even at the relativly leasurly pace he drives, the battery will get a better charge. However, I think in winter time the low kms will still be a problem. The only other solution I can think of is to add a little circuit with a dozen Nicads that can be switched out of circuit and switched in to start the car when the main battery is flat (but this still leaves the main battery flat and just adds another set of batteries to be charged). However, he could charge the nicads in his flat as required. Any better ideas?

BTW Before you say "get him off the road" I might add that in all his years of driving he has never yet had an accident or been fined by the police. He may not drive like a larrikin but he is no road hazard. Besides, I inherit the EH (which has been in the family since day 1) if he stops driving and I don't have room for yet another car. He is also licenced to ride motorbikes and trucks of all sizes but I don't think the oldies in his flats would like either in their carports.
 
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#2 ·
we have a vehicle with the same sort of problem at work and we have a solar cell on the roof of the car. I quess if you can't get enough light under the car port then perhaps put the cell on the roof of the carport with a lead to plug into the car somewhere. Into the cigarete lighter or something
 
#3 ·
Flats are also too high on 4 sides of car port so hours of sunlight would be very limited but we might buy one from Jaycar and see what it does. On 2nd thoughts at 80+ the short term memory is not 100%; he might drive off with it still on the car port roof and connected.
 
#5 ·
what about a bigger battery?? One with more cca, and a better ah rating... This way the battery would'nt use as much to start the car, therefore not needing a real big charge.

btw - have you checked the charge the current generator is outputting?

All da best
Matt
 
#6 ·
Yeh, the alternator will be the fix - do that and see how it goes and if there is still a problem a higher capacity battery.

The other alternative is the portable starter kit you see in car yards a lot - auto parts outlets have the new breed of thes which are light and easy to carry around - he can keep it plugged in in his flat and just take it down to the car to start it - how is he though with lifting the bonnet and seeing to connect the leads the right way?

I really think the alternator will fix it though.
 
#7 ·
after you fit the alternator, just get him to let it idle in the garage for a while before and after he parks it (making sure he cant gs himself to death though!!!)
 
#9 ·
No power point in the car port so the mains charger is out. The portable charger power starter might be an option though he will still get complaints fro some of the other oldies there who unfortunately have very empty lives and complain about every little thing; they will say he breaking the no working on your car in the car port rule. There also a hidden agenda in that he one of the lucky ones with a car bay and there is a queue waiting (if they can get off the road or banned from the car port the queue gets shorter).

However I may be able to rig a portable charger/starter so he plugs it into the cigarette lighter rather than having to open the bonnet. I'm not sure about a larger capacity battery; it may just take longer to recharge once it goes flat.
 
#10 ·
mate this is what I did to my dad's car having the same problem with his battery I installed a computer protector which gauges the battery condition from poor, good ,full & charging. and every so often he could check the battery and if it showed poor or good he would take the kingswwod for a run.
better to know I think.

hope that helps mate
 
#12 ·
Great White; I guess some oldies just get less patient and tolerant of each other in their later years. They still get on OK no bitterness about it ; just live apart. Dad still takes Mum shopping each week etc - the one car trip each week we need the thing to start for.
 
#13 ·
Blue, that battery condition indicator sounds a good idea, I bought a kit from Dick Smith years ago, but never got around to assembling it. this one just had a red, amber, green lights on the dash to indicate the state of charge. If its red it's dead, amber needs a long drive or charging, green OK.

Another circuit is on this page at the bottom; control.gsnu.ac.kr/~f007dan/cicuit/page11.htm

Pity about the car port waiting list, sounds like a Seinfeld script, you know, Del Bocca Vista and Florida, well that's life I suppose.

cheers
Dave
 
#14 ·
I've already fitted a battery condition indicator with 5 LEDs. All it does is confirm its flat and doesn't get fully charged. Tried to fit the alternator today but he forgot to ask for the barcket so we had fun trying to make it fit the generator bracket; no luck. It's try again next weekend I guess with an alternator bracket this time.
 
#16 ·
AussieBlue, there are new type batteries available now, they are a "calcium/alloy" battery or something along those lines.
We had problems with dads cusso not starting easy, cause it would sit for 3-4 weeks at a time, and it would also take a while cranking it over to fill up the holley with fuel, And after sitting for that period of time, the battery would be 1/2 flat, so there was nearly no chance of starting it.

Since putting this battery in, the car will still sit for a few weeks, but it would still start up no probs at all.

Also the alternator conversion would be the way to go, as generators barely push 10 amps, and at that rate it would take quite a while to top the battery up, especially if it is only getting driven to a local shop...

If you want more info on these batteries, send me an email: jamies@global.net.au, and i'll point you in the right direction, also check out this site http://www.cyb.com.au/automotive/batt_facts/undbatt_3.htm
theres a bit of info on the bottom on shelf life and time between charges
 
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