hey guys, i got a flat battery today (watching movies for too long without the engine on:P). when the racq dude jump started me, he said something about me needing to buy a battery charger and plug the car battery into the wall and do a full charge otherwise my car will not but running on full potential and the battery won't last as long. does anyone know anything about these chargers as until today i didn't even know such a thing existed. any particular brand/model to get or any features etc to look out for . basically any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

I don't know of ones that plub directly into the wall then onto your battery, but you can buy chargers that are charged up then can be left in your car incase your battery dies.

You can buy them at Dick Smith and I think even jaycar sell them

go to super cheap or auto one etc...
they start at about $20 and can go upwards from there, depends on how many watts you want etc...
disconnect the battery terminals on the car, connect the terminals from the charger to +ve and -VE, plug it into the 240v in the wall, and leave it anywhere between 2-8hours, depending on how bad the flat battery was or how powerful your charger is...
i've got a weak one and it takes about 6-8hours for a full charge..
there are LEDs on the charger to tell you how much charge is needed

hope it helps...i've used mine about 3 times in the past 4 years on various cars and batteries, saves you having to fork out +$100 for a new battery

some body correct me if im wrong, no doubt someone will anyways, but i thought that was the job of the Alternator.

From battery's I'v had in cars and boats, they seem to last for 4 to 5 years.

Battery tip #53: Every 10 months tip all electrolite out of battery and repalce with fresh
sulfuric acid and distilled water then charge to 13/14 volts. I'v done this
in my work ute, battery is 7 years old and holds charge like new.

Its just a big 12v transformer. converts 240 v to 12v (~14 v) I got one.

Nothing special. 'Wet' batteries are not designed to be run flat, as soon as you run them flat you are damaging.

Optima yellowtop all the way.

some body correct me if im wrong, no doubt someone will anyways, but i thought that was the job of the Alternator.

alternator only charges it a bit..enough to run all your electronics and stuff but not like a full charge of the battery

cheers guys. i'll see if i can pick one up today. is it ok to do it like other times too? or only when you have a flat battery

Hey, try and get the 600amp one from SuperCheap. It's the red coloured one. They are sometimes on special for $39, if not I believe they are $49. Anyway, a couple mates and I have the same one in the boot and one day, this girl's car broke down and my mates jump pack started it even though he had never charged it in the two months after buying it and jump starting other cars in that time. It's good to be able to help others and saves time waiting around for road side assistance. Also, they have a 12v outlet to blow up air matresses and a little light which is handy if you go camping. I bought my dad one for his last birthday too they are that handy. You can recharge them off your car or via a 240v house outlet (it has a little charge indicator on the pack). Very useful to have that's for sure.:)

You can leave it on the charger all day. its good for your battery.

Buy a new battery because if it goes flat its ****ed and charging it only a short term fix

Buy a new battery because if it goes flat its ****ed and charging it only a short term fix

even though it went flat because i left my comp on for too long?

I would recommend a new battery, i got a large heavy duty for my carputer, the alternator struggles still but I can run my carputer for about 6 hours with engine off.

Car battery chargers have been available for a very long time! My father still has an Arlec one that he's had for like 35 years! They've been making them for over 50 years or something.
http://www.arlec.com.au/pdfs/battery_chargers.pdf

It pays to get a good quality charger which the Arlec are! The one of my fathers still works perfectly. Some others out there crap themselves after a couple of years, or 30 uses whatever, lol, and sometimes they end up overcharging the batteries or doing other nasty things. I'm not saying that everything except of Arlec are crap, just that they're a good brand that will last!

Car battery chargers have been available for a very long time! My father still has an Arlec one that he's had for like 35 years! They've been making them for over 50 years or something.
http://www.arlec.com.au/pdfs/battery_chargers.pdf

It pays to get a good quality charger which the Arlec are! The one of my fathers still works perfectly. Some others out there crap themselves after a couple of years, or 30 uses whatever, lol, and sometimes they end up overcharging the batteries or doing other nasty things. I'm not saying that everything except of Arlec are crap, just that they're a good brand that will last!

so are you saying that i should be charging my battery every couple of month even when it's not gone flat?

alternator only charges it a bit..enough to run all your electronics and stuff but not like a full charge of the battery
The alternator should definitely be able to fully charge the battery!
If not, then there's a problem with the current output of your alternator.

Cheers,
Martin.

The alternator should definitely be able to fully charge the battery!
If not, then there's a problem with the current output of your alternator.

Cheers,
Martin.


Not quite true Martin - while yes, in theory the alternator SHOULD be able to fully recharge your battery - it rarely gets a chance to charge a battery to 100% its holding capacity - what others are saying about putting a battery on a charger after the battery has run flat is quite true and accurate - a battery charger is capable of recharging a battery at a much more stable rate than an alternator.....you might find it hard to believe - but it can take some alternators up to 20 mins to replace the charge lost just from starting your car - i personally would recommend putting a car battery on a charger say once a year for optimum charge......having said that however - I have a 7 year old Exide Evolution battery, something like 550cca's........it has been run dead flat many times, has only had straight tap water put in it for topups.....never gets put on a charger unless its flat - and it still manages to start our 351 V8 that only get started every few months with ease!!!........so alot of it all comes down to the quality of the battery and the conditions it is used in (i live in chilly Tassie btw)