1A Trickle charge import car battery How long?

Question

I've got a dead import car battery sitting in my car. I haven't been using my car for about three months and about a week ago, I noticed that the anti-theft light on the radio wasn't blinking any more.

I have a 1A battery trickle charger, more meant for motorcycle batteries.

I've got a 24hr lamp switch timer where I can connect the trickle charger and have rigged it up to charge the battery in 15 minute spurts.

Time is not an issue in charging the battery. I'll probably use the car again in about a month when the weather gets really bad.

My question is how long would it usually take to charge a battery if I were to continously charge it from 0 to 100% and how many total hours a day would you recommend to charge the battery to slowly bring it back up to 100% in about a month? Remember, I'll be charging it in 15 minute spurts to be easy on the battery and give it a chance to 'rest' between 15 minute charges.

Thanks

Answer 1

You dont have to give it a rest between charges With a trickle charger about 24 hours would be good. Remember if you dont get it all the way charged when your car is running it will charge it fully. what you want to prevent is charging it fully and then allowing the charge to go to zero. when a battery is taken completely thru the charging spectrum it has a tendency to warp the lead plates in the battery This causes a short and will kill your battery.

Answer 2

First of all, a JUMP is not intended to act as a battery, it's intended to "BOOST" the available power. If you try to start a car JUST off the booster cables (jumper cables) you're not going to have any success. If you left a door open all night and drained the battery completely then you won't be able to start the car without charging the battery first, which will take several hours. But if, as you say, all the lights come on then it's not a battery problem. It could be a loose connection on the battery or on the starter or even a bad ground going from the battery negative terminal to the engine block. OR you could have a bad starter. Since you believe the battery is the problem you didn't describe any other conditions that would clue us in on what the real problem is. All anyone here can do is guess. If you have a volt meter or know someone with one, check the battery voltage before you do anything else. If the voltage is above 12 volts then things are looking good for the battery. Next, turn all the lights on, all the electrical, everything you can think of. Check the voltage again. It should still be above 12 volts. But if it goes down to 11.8 or even slightly lower, the battery may still be good. But if it falls below 11.5 then the battery is either a factory defect or is not charged properly. And stop taking battery terminals off while the engine is running. That's not good for any of the electronics. It DOES prove the alternator is giving a charge but it doesn't indicate if the alternator may be slipping on the belt. If it slips on the belt then the alternator can't recharge the battery. Eventually the battery will be so depleted it can't start the car again. AND putting a dead battery on an alternator can damage the alternator. The battery can draw more current than the alternator is rated to handle. You may end up blowing out the alternator. But that's not common. Not rare either, but it does happen Start checking voltages and grounds and the connection to the starter. After you have more information, if you haven't solved the problem post another question. Be thorough describing what you did so we can rule out things that aren't going to be the problem. Some important information is what type and age the car is. Some cars have starter relays that are powered through low amperage fuses. If the fuse or relay is gone the car won't start no matter WHAT the voltage is on the battery. If the car makes a clicking sound, if it tries to turn over, if it turns over rapidly but doesn't fire - there's lots you need to tell us or we can't help you. Sorry. Hope this helps. 'av'a g'day mate. '')

Answer 3

Lose the idea that the battery will come back to 100%, because this doesn't happen. For the tiny light on the anti-theft device to go off, the battery is simply too far flat for a charger to do any good. The timer thing is way out in left field. The 1 amp motorcycle charger could have helped two months or so ago but, the trick to keeping a battery up, while in storage, is to use a float charger. Float chargers are inexpensive low current units that only charge when the battery needs charging.
Now to your battery problem, the solution is to buy a new battery and install it along with a float charger.

Answer 4

Put the charger on and leave it on till you drive the car again. 1 amp will take a long time and the charger has a limiter so it won't overcharge.

Answer 5

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