Car laid up for extended periods due to Covid-19

[philchave]

Hello everyone,
As I've got some crappy auto-immune disease at the moment and the meds are compromising my immune system, I've been having a wonderful time at home and in the garden.

The downside is, my beautiful S320 is sat on the drive going nowhere. For something like 8 weeks now.

I have started it a couple of times and just let it tick over for an hour or so, but I am worried that the battery (or batteries, as there are two) will give up the ghost when I really do need it most.

So I thought I would purchase one of those trickle chargers. Not sure if I would need two.

After doing some research, it seems that most of the large ones are too big as the amperage is too high and can quickly cause out-gassing. It needs to be something like 5% of the amp capacity of the battery, if you intend to leave it on for extended periods without damaging the battery.

Could anyone advise us all perhaps of the best approach to keeping our batteries in best condition.

I don't know if links work in these forums, so I have put the titles of these small ones I was looking at which can be found on Amazon and wonder if they would be just enough to keep the battery from discharging over time.

Sealey SPP01 Solar Power Panel, Black
Ring RSP150 1.5W Car Solar Maintenance Charger, 12V
MASO Solar Panel Trickle Battery Charger, 4.5W 12V

Thank you for any advice, confirmation, alternative ideas. I'm sure lots of us are in the same boat with this.
Kind regards
phil

 

[Blobcat]

Solar will work, you'd be better with an Optimate or Ctek mains charger - they're small devices that monitor the condition of the battery and keep it topped up. I use them all the time on my cars and bikes that don't move for many months at a time - always start first time.

 

[rifiki]

I have a Ctek MX5. simple and easy to use, plug in and forget.

 

[philchave]

Thank you so much, Bobcat and Rifiki. I could bring the car closer to the house and run an extension out to the charger. That would work.
The only reason I was thinking solar was because I normally keep it parked in a little parking area away from the house that is cross covered by 3 CCTV cameras covering the drive, car park, gates and house. She sits right in the middle of all of them.

If I can't drive, at least I can look at her on the monitor.
Thanks again, all the best
phil

 

[Wighty]

Thank you so much, Bobcat and Rifiki. I could bring the car closer to the house and run an extension out to the charger. That would work.
The only reason I was thinking solar was because I normally keep it parked in a little parking area away from the house that is cross covered by 3 CCTV cameras covering the drive, car park, gates and house. She sits right in the middle of all of them.

If I can't drive, at least I can look at her on the monitor.
Thanks again, all the best
phil

Maypole 7423 will only set you back £20-30 eBay or Amazon

 

[Wighty]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAYPOLE-...067543?hash=item1c39382e97:g:Er0AAOSw~y9ZAer0

 

[McDonald]

I use a C-Tek. I put it on for a day or two every fortnight. I only do the consumer battery. The starter battery doesn't seem to need any encouragement, the car starts immediately every time. It is perfectly appropriate for either one, of course.

My neighbours are delighted that I have heavy duty jump leads. The Coronavirus has produced a few flat batteries in my neighbourhood and the C-Tek has been on tour too.

 

[ZZZZ]

Maypole 7423 will only set you back £20-30 eBay or Amazon

Hear-hear
Amazon delivery time might be extended, but this one from eBay arrived next day!

 

[LostKiwi]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAYPOLE-...067543?hash=item1c39382e97:g:Er0AAOSw~y9ZAer0

This is what I have 2 cars connected to almost permanently at our holiday home.
Used them 3 years now with no issues.

 

[Clare Parry]

It's so great how folks share the solutions they have found.
You make it sound so easy.
But do people have their vehicles inside garages for this to be made easy? I can see how that would make it easy yes.

It seems like such a hassle to be feeding wires through household windows to the outside several days per week (makes house cold in winter too), then lifting the bonnet, watching the weather etc.

I was hoping for a solution where I could put a solar pack on the dash board and plug this internally within the car - and just leave it on when I am not driving. Would be wonderful. Someone should invent this. I know I have some kind of battery under the drivers seat, possibly the main battery. (although there are also points under the bonnet to clip onto to jump start). The low volts in my Vito mean that the Cruise Control rarely works I need it for my knee joint.

 

[LostKiwi]

In France my cars are kept in a barn.
In the UK we had a waterproof RCD external power socket fitted by the front door. It's incredibly handy not just for running a charger to the car but also for running power tools, electric garden tools, jetwash (as well as Christmas lights when it's that time of year).

If you have any power socket on an outside wall it's dead simple to do.

 

[chic0821]

Amazon or Ebay is your friend. Search under Car solar panels
Just noticed this is an old thread oops

 

[Tony Dyson]

It's so great how folks share the solutions they have found.
You make it sound so easy.
But do people have their vehicles inside garages for this to be made easy? I can see how that would make it easy yes.

It seems like such a hassle to be feeding wires through household windows to the outside several days per week (makes house cold in winter too), then lifting the bonnet, watching the weather etc.

I was hoping for a solution where I could put a solar pack on the dash board and plug this internally within the car - and just leave it on when I am not driving. Would be wonderful. Someone should invent this. I know I have some kind of battery under the drivers seat, possibly the main battery. (although there are also points under the bonnet to clip onto to jump start). The low volts in my Vito mean that the Cruise Control rarely works I need it for my knee joint.

There are more solar powered battery maintainers available today than you could shake a stick at, even ALDI are selling them! and they include adaptors to connect them to the different sources available in your car, one thing to be careful of is connecting it to a cigar lighter socket, firstly you should know what else you may be backfeeding by plugging a charging device into a socket which is not advised! and secondly, CAN could disable all or some of your car 12v Sockets with ign off!, always better to find an appropriate connection directly to the charging circuit.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/black-solar-...Vh4xRCh3cDwyREAQYAyABEgKrH_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[LostKiwi]

Solar chargers are next to useless. They can't provide sufficient to make a difference unless you get a large one and connect direct to the battery.

 

[jimbg]

Work fine for me!

 

[V6Matty]

Solar chargers are okay at reducing the drain of a battery but it won’t keep a battery charged,

 

[jimbg]

Well I find that they do, also have one on an open boat and bilge pumping kicking in frequently in the winter.

Solar panel still keeps the battery fully charged in winter with very little sun.

Just make sure you buy one with a decent output!

 

[bembo449]

Even with your current medical issues , i cant see why going out fir a drive in your own car puts you at risk ? Just dont get out of it ?

 

[Clare Parry]

Thank you, Comments are really helpful. Wow this forum is absolutely awesome! To have knowledgeable peeps ready to help is so appreciated! Meantime - is my battery finished? Can any of the folks on here look at the recent basic diagnostics print out at all please?... (it was brand new from a Mercedez main dealership in 2020 - since then, I have not known about trickle charging - and the van stood still during Covid - so I bought a jump starter kit and am now using it to try to equalise the battery every other day, due to distance of van parking from current house). Can this low Volts Mercedez battery be revived at all ? Reconditioned ? To a top performance, so that my cruise control might start to work again? What is the best way of fully restoring a neglected battery? .....
Long journey?
Recondition it professionally at garage at a cost? If so any ideas on what is a fair fee please?
Maybe there's a way to use my expensive jump starter to recondition the battery? I attack a pic of it. (I recommend it and has an awesome torch!)
Thank you soooooo much

 

[sonic]

It's so great how folks share the solutions they have found.
You make it sound so easy.
But do people have their vehicles inside garages for this to be made easy? I can see how that would make it easy yes.

It seems like such a hassle to be feeding wires through household windows to the outside several days per week (makes house cold in winter too), then lifting the bonnet, watching the weather etc.

I was hoping for a solution where I could put a solar pack on the dash board and plug this internally within the car - and just leave it on when I am not driving. Would be wonderful. Someone should invent this. I know I have some kind of battery under the drivers seat, possibly the main battery. (although there are also points under the bonnet to clip onto to jump start). The low volts in my Vito mean that the Cruise Control rarely works I need it for my knee joint.

You will only need to charge the battery once every two to three weeks for about 2 to 4 hours each time. So just pick a dry day.