Discontinued by Draper apparentlyThe older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
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I've had HDC message on dash at startup for a while now.
Cranking has gotten slow lately. Been to dealer a few times.
Yesterday morning, booked into dealer again (long story) and moved the car in the front garden to unload the boot. Slow cranking. Left boot open for about 15 mins whilst I faffed around emptying contents.
Car then had pretty flat battery that wouldn't turn engine quick enough to start. 15 mins on a Ctek trickle charge put enough back to get it to the garage.
Haven't got car back yet, but hopefully a new battery will be fitted. Mine is 3 years old on the 29th Dec, and is on about 48,000 miles.
Dealer needs it another day to clean all the mud off from Salisbury the other weekend
16th Dec 2008 5:50 pm
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi JMC, the reason I asked about a special need, your D3 cranking battery at it’s lowest state of charge, is not going draw any more than 20 amps at the very maximum and more likely, only 15 amps max.
This high current charging is good if you only have a couple of hours to get the bulk of charge back into a flat battery but all lead acid batteries actually absorb and hold a slower low current charge better than a fast high current charge.
If you are using the charger to keep your battery in a fully charged state between D3 uses, then as posted earlier,long term, a small 2 to 4 amp charger is actually going to be far better for maintaining your battery in a fully charged state with the intention of extending the battery’s operating life.
This slow charging will have no trouble keeping a Lead/Calcium battery fully charged and help extend their life span.
Try checking the battery manufacturer’s web site, most say the same thing. Slow low current charging is ultimately better for any battery.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
I spend some of my working day dealing with charging various batteries, but not the automotive type.
Have I been a victim of marketing and hype?
I was led to believe (from previous threads here) that a standard 12v charger will not fully charge the D3 battery - hence the expensive charger.
At the end of the day, it may be more than I need, but with a number of rarely used vehicles/batteries, I'm sure it won't be money wasted in the longer term.The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom
Founder member of Club FFRRV
Club Orange, Mint or Fruit
Club Walnut Sniffers
16th Dec 2008 9:01 pm
stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
I use this little wonder. Perfect.Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
16th Dec 2008 9:05 pm
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
>£30 at Costco last time I was there
JMC - you deffo need a charger suitable for lead-calcium batteries as the charge voltage needs to be higher at low temperatures, a 'standard' charger won't do
16th Dec 2008 9:10 pm
Pelyma
Member Since: 06 Jan 2005
Location: Patching, Sussex
Posts: 15496
I use a Ctek for the tin tent, says its ok for calcium but never tried it. It is definitely good at reviving dead leisure batteriesDS3 TDV6 HSE - Silver with Alpaca (old one) Gone
DS3 TDV6 HSE- Silver with Alpaca (new one) Gone
D4 HSE Lux - Montalcino Red Gone
Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel S
16th Dec 2008 9:14 pm
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
While lead/calcium batteries do need a special charging regime to get them to a fully charged state, the improvement over a conventional charger is less than a 5% gain and will have no effect on the overall life span of the battery.
For the subject being discussed here, any elcheapo small 2 to 4 amp multi stage battery charger will give the same results.
If you giving your battery(s) a hard time then something like a Ctek may be the way to go but if you are giving your battery(s) a hard time then it is high likely they are going to have a shorter life span no matter what charger you use.
If you are in a situation where you are not likely to fully charge your battery while driving then you can greatly improve the operation of the battery for starting and operating life span of the battery by putting a low current charger on your battery when ever it is not in use.
Here's a tip I give to many of my agricultural customers who have equipment they leave for months at a time between uses and will save you having to pop the bonnet all the time.
Fit a length of twin cable to your battery and run it to a point where it just comes through the grill and fit a small 2 pin plug to the end of the cable. 10 gauge cable is all you need.
Next mount your battery charger somewhere near the AC power point and then run a similar type of twin cable from the charger to the plug at the grill and fit a socket on the other cable.
Make sure the cable coming from the charger is long enough to be able to lay it over the driver’s side mirror and then connect to the plug at the grill.
This last bit means you won’t forget to unplug before you drive off.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
16th Dec 2008 10:18 pm
norto
Member Since: 10 Apr 2006
Location: batemans bay
Posts: 1605
I just bought on of these
http://www.projecta.com.au/catalogue/cid/54/asset_id/154/ for $150 on fleabay
and put an anderson plug on it and did the same with my
caravan deep cycle....makes it easier to use
Ill put an anderson plug on the aux battery on the D3 in the future
Drivesafe
Keep the "free" info coming Pete
16th Dec 2008 11:50 pm
Bushwanderer
Member Since: 27 Nov 2007
Location: Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia
Posts: 2050
Hi drivesafe,
Thanks for your input. You are making a lot of sense.
Well after driving near 60 miles last night the voltage was 12.5V with the engine off, and 12 hours later it's still 12.1V, so definitely think it down to too many consecutive short journey or the iPod wire.
Based on all the comments above, I suppose my initial idea to get one of these little solar powered trickle chargers and permanently mount it on the Expo rack isn't really worth while.
Having never had to charge the battery in the D3, I presumme it's no different than others in that I don't need to disconnect the main leads from the battery whilst leaving the mains powered charger to do it's work and can just close the bonnet and forget above it until I want to drive away.
To make 100% sure I'm going for a drive today with the multimeter connected so I can see the charge rate etc.
Thanks for all the advise guys LRs are a fond memory, apart from the maintenance.
17th Dec 2008 10:00 am
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi again MrH, a solar trickle charger is actually quite a good move and when a battery charger is in the maintenance stage, it is a trickle charger and does not supply all that much more current than a good sized solar trickle charger provides.
BUT
For a solar trickle charger to work, your battery needs to be fully or near fully charger in the first place because solar trickle chargers do not have the current capacity to charge a low battery.
Still, it is something worth seriously considering.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
Just got back from a 25 minute drive with the Multimeter wired to the battery terminals - interesting (well to me any how)
As expected with voltage at 12.5 this morning she burst into life almost immediately I then cruised around the forest roads with the outside temperature at around 0 degress - nice frosty scenes everywhere 8)
Voltage was 14.95-15.00V for the first 18 minutes, then dropped to 14.16-14.20V for the last 10 minutes before I got home. On turning the engine off, the voltage dropped back down to 12.5V.
So in summary, I think it's probably been due to too many short journeys in succession during the cold weather. I'm going to put the charger on both batteries (in turn) over night and make sure they're fully topped up, and I think I'll also look into re-wiring the FBH so that it takes it's power off the Auxillary battery, that way if SWMBO wants to use it with the timer it won't affect the cranking battery.LRs are a fond memory, apart from the maintenance.
17th Dec 2008 11:20 am
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Good bit of info MrH, and the fact that your battery rested back to 12.5 pretty quickly indicates that your battery is STILL not fully charged but keep us informed.
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I then cruised around the forest roads with the outside temperature at around 0 degress - nice frosty scenes everywhere 8)
