Portable Battery

[Lordjellybelly]

Within the last couple of months I`ve bought batteries for two of our cars and three of them have had to be returned under warranty. This has been a pain in the a*** and I realise that a portable kept at home on my newly ordered CTEK [and subsequently in the boot] might be sensible eg when leaving a car parked for a few days at the airport. Can anyone recommend any particular brand or price level?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Ideally what you want is a 'power pack' this is a 12v portable gel filled battery that is used by garages and the trade to start cars with flat batteries..they range in price from £20 to £hundreds... Maplan do one at around £20 and it will do your job.. also im sure other stores do them...

 

[jibcl500]

Halfords do one which has 240V socket for a TV. there is a bilut in pump, lights I have two and find them very handy. Retail at about £60

jib

 

[Myros]

I got the one from Aldi

for £29.99, with four cigar lighter sockets, and a built-in compressor and jump leads, natch.
Great for powering the kid's dvd player , so it doesn't stop with the ignition switch if I have to refuel en route.

 

[Xtractorfan]

It wouldnt be a bad idea to get your views on the different makes and types out there eg price and where purchased, and how they performed .. also stores like Aldi and Lidl dont have them all year round.. as they seem to do promotions

 

[nickcc101]

Bought mine from www.coopersofstortford.co.uk cost £29.99. Includes pump, light, 12v connector and jump leads. It also has the isolator switch which means the jump leads arn't live all the time.

 

[television]

The quality of the DC does need to be examined,,cars like the 203 do not like these things

 

[Lordjellybelly]

The quality of the DC does need to be examined,,cars like the 203 do not like these things

Television could you be more specific......?

 

[television]

Outputs from an inverted source can be very spiky and are far in excess of 12 volts.

Most inverters use a square wave, then rectified to DC, short of putting an oscilloscope on the end and examining the output there is no way of telling.

If this device says that it suitible for charging then the output is going to be above 12v otherwise it could not charge.

If the battery on the car is very flat, then the voltage from these devices could damage sensitive components (203)

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
As Malcolm says the quality of DC from Inverters can be very poor. The only "true" source of DC (i.e. flat wave form ) is from a battery.

 

[Lordjellybelly]

Mercedes London NW11 couldn`t find it but my indi has found the drain that started all this.......the ECU under the seat that powers the windows. Apparently it was live........with the air/con on and the hood up I haven`t had the windows down for months.......and they were powered with the key out! So can I ask if anybody uses a RING portable battery? Are they any good?

 

[oldcro]

Outputs from an inverted source can be very spiky and are far in excess of 12 volts.

Most inverters use a square wave, then rectified to DC, short of putting an oscilloscope on the end and examining the output there is no way of telling.

If this device says that it suitible for charging then the output is going to be above 12v otherwise it could not charge.

If the battery on the car is very flat, then the voltage from these devices could damage sensitive components (203)

Does the same apply to car battery charges? Malcom.
Reason I'm asking is if I needed to charge my W204's battery should I dis-connect the battery from the car first. Having read so many tales of woe from members having problems after dis-connecting their car batteries I am dreading ever having such a problem.:???:

 

[jaymanek]

I use a battery conditioner on all my cars that are not in regular use..

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/Store/Category/FeaturedCategoryProducts.aspx?CategoryId=51

 

[television]

Does the same apply to car battery charges? Malcom.
Reason I'm asking is if I needed to charge my W204's battery should I dis-connect the battery from the car first. Having read so many tales of woe from members having problems after dis-connecting their car batteries I am dreading ever having such a problem.:???:

As jaymanek using one of those you will not damage anything.

I do not like cheap automatic chargers because they surge to find the charging rate, and thats not good if the battery is low

 

[oldcro]

As jaymanek using one of those you will not damage anything.

I do not like cheap automatic chargers because they surge to find the charging rate, and thats not good if the battery is low

Thanks I'll bear that in mind.