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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 03:27
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Hey guys
I want to run some cables from the battery to a convenient place so I can connect a trickle charger to the car/ski when not in use. The manufacturer of the car has specific points where to connect the jump leads. I.e. Plus terminal and chassis. Is that where I'd connect the trickle charger as well or to the battery???
Thanks
Anthony
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 03:57
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A battery charger should be connected to the battery terminals.
Who would have thought? 
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 04:12
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often recommended to remove at least one of the battery terminals also to break circuit with rest of vehicle..
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 05:15
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Thanks!
Well the thing is,
the car is also fitted with a battery isolator switch, from the manufacturer, but if you turn it off the ECU will lose its memeory and has to relearn when you start it. 
I was hopeing I could just connect a couple of wires to the jump start terminals and run them to a convenient spot so when the car is siting you can easliy just hook up the trickle charger. (the batteries a dog to get to gotta pull the front wheel off!)
I was also hoping to do the same to the jetski as every summer I have to buy a new battery! (I am slack and let it go flat)
do you have to disconnect the battery?
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 05:47
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main reason is that battery chargers are often not that well regulated and may reach higher voltage than normally found (ie greater than 14V). there is a chance that you could damage any electronics that are exposed to the battery chargers voltage (it could be 17V.. could be 20V.. hard to say). can you hook up a few batterys to provide a seperate source of power for the ECU's memory and do a 'hot swap' of it's power? guess that might be a little difficult...
well, you could give it a try, but it could fry things. then again, it might be fine 
Cya, Stewart
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 05:57
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I have a funky little thing for the race car which is basically a 9V battery on the end of a ciggy plug, basically i use it just to keep the clock and some monitoring memory when i pull the main master switch in order to keep the battery from flattening due to dodgy wiring.
Works ok.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 06:09
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Thanks guys for you advice. I appreciate it!
I have some ideas now.
I might just have a look at the trickle chargers at super cheap/auto pro and see what quality they have. I think some might even have a ciggy lighter connection!
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Location:
Armidale
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 06:39
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Take a look at these babies:
http://www.icpsolar.com/specifications.php3?id_art icle=8
That is the unit I use on my road bike (which doesn't get enough use) and my quad bike (which sits idle a lot in the winter).
It is has permanent wiring designed to be connected directly to the battery and left there alongside the regular wiring. You just plug the charger panel in when you park.
I paid about $50 or $60 each at my local bike shop about 2 years ago. They'd be ideal for the ski - I see they do bigger units for cars, etc., but I have no idea how much they are or if they are available in Oz.
I have no affiliation, other than being a happy customer.
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Location:
Perth, WA
Registered:
December 2004
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 09:12
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like takai said,
jaycar sell this thingy, you slot in a 9v battery and bung the thing into the ciggy adapter and BAM problem solvered,
RAC use these when peoples batteries need replacing :)\
cheers,
Eldar.O.
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Location:
Armidale
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Tue, 01 March 2005 11:06
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Sure, the 9v battery thing will keep his ECU, clock, stereo and so forth happy if the main battery is isolated, but it ain't gonna do spit to stop it going flat during the off season 
Lead acid batteries hate being discharged, and just leaving them to sit (dodgy wiring to drain them or not) for weeks or months on end is one of the easiest ways to kill them. This I have learnt the expensive way ...
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Thu, 10 March 2005 00:38
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Thanks guys for all your feedback.
The 9V is a great idea for swapping/disconnecting batteries!
But I do need a solution to keeping the battery charged!
Do you recon I could make up a connector to trickle charge back through the ciggy lighter?
I bought a 750mA unit. I'm pretty sure the curcuit can handle that low input. Can I test by putting a multi meter on the ciggy and see how much it current it puts out when the engine is running?
Thanks Anthony
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Thu, 10 March 2005 02:02
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cig lighter should be able to handle 10 amps?
yup, trickle charge back thru lighter should work in prncipal, as long as the cig lighter is constantly powered when key is out.
just a thought.. look at what ppl in cold countries (ie US, canada etc) do in winter for their cars... i know a few ppl that trickle charge them each night, otherwise the current output from battery is not enough to start car in morning...
must be someready made products you can copy?
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I supported Toymods
Banned User
Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Thu, 10 March 2005 02:12
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Go to any marine shop and buy an on board trickle charger. You dont have to keep it on the car but you can do what you said. Just run 2 wires to the battery and to an easy to access spot. Just connect the trickle charger and forget.
They are a regulated unit so you dont have to worry about over voltage damage.
Also so you know, the thing you said about connecting the leads to the positive battery terminal first and then to the chassis, this is only to stop a spark near the battery. It serves no other purpose. So you will be able to fit your charging leads directly to the battery if you connect the charger to the other end of the leads.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Trickle Charging a sports car and JEt ski
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Fri, 11 March 2005 04:37
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Thanks again fella's
I'll let you know what I find.
Just another though.
Good point about the acc needing to be on! If thats the case would there be any problem with leaving the car on acc overnight and will charging through the power socket effect/damage any electronics?
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