GrahamClarke Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Caterham's owner's manual indicates that you should always disconnect the battery from the car before charging. Presumably this is to protect the car's electrical systems. I recently bought a battery conditioner from Caterham, and the instruction booklet for this makes no mention of doing that. Whilst that makes sense when trickle charging, the conditioner can also act as a proper battery charger, so there appears to be a conflict between the two instructions. The reason I ask is that the conditioner comes with a set of leads with spade type connections on the end, so I could conceivably leave these connected at all times, and thus connecting the conditioner would be a trivial task. Also, I have a battery cut off switch, so if I charged the battery with the electrics switched off, would I still be at risk of damage? Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 I've been using an Airflow conditioner on my 1.6K for several months now and have left it permanently switched on without disconnecting or undoing the cell tops without any problems at all. I wired it in so that the connection is underneath the dash, therefore no need to lift the bonnet! With the instructions it states that as it only puts in a trickle it is quite safe and will not harm the car electrics, in particular the ECU. I think you would be ok with yours. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwhitcher Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 ......AARRGGHHHH......here we go again 🙆🏻 see here this should answer your questions 😬 Martin MW 51 CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamClarke Posted January 24, 2003 Author Share Posted January 24, 2003 Martin, Thanks for that. Didn't occur to me to search first, I suppose I should have realised it would be a FAQ! Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwhitcher Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 No worries Graham 😬, Happy motoring, at least your battery won't out of shape 😬 Martin MW 51 CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edzup Ezzer Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Just to add a bit about my own experience with one of these battery conditioners (a Carcoon one). I've been using mine for 3 or 4 years now, still on the original ('97 vintage) battery. Can vouch for the fact that the battery does seem to last longer with one of these. Managed to completely flatten the battery (not my fault I should add) last winter. Now these Banner batteries are renowned (!) for not recovering from this sort of treatment but I'm pleased to say that it still works fine after being connected to the battery conditioner following this abuse. Shows no indication of having been through this 'cycle'. Probably regret saying this now . I connect it up using the quick connector supplied & bonnet on, with the car inside the Carcoon, battery still connected - no problem. Cheers Ezzer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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