Hi

Nobody's allowed to laugh at this! Thanks

My step-mother (aged 82) has an average weekly mileage of 10 (yes, ten) which is 2 return journeys to the village shop in her 56 reg Citroen C1.

The battery was flat last week but is now fully charged. Someone has suggested that an Accumate battery booster would be a good idea. There is the facility to connect it via a car's cigarette lighter.

I contacted the Citroen dealer today but they couldn't answer my questions. Citroen's Technical Helpline (£1.50 per minute) had no reply all day! So the questions to fellow Briskys are:

1. Is the 12v accessory outlet on the dash of the C1 suitable for an Accumate (step-mother doesn't want anything with croc clips to the battery )

2. Is this outlet permanently 'live' ie even when the ignition is off? (car is 50 miles from me so I can't easily go out and check).

3. Would the Accumate be suitable for keeping the battery 'topped up'?

Any help/advice/warnings would be gratefully received

Should have added that the car is garaged (with window) and mains outlet available.

Edited 7 October, 200817 yr by westerdam2

I had a similar problem with my mums Corsa, brought her a solar panel charger from maplins. Unfortunately the 12v socket was switched with the ignition so I wired the sp through a relay switched by the ignition, apparently if you leave the sp connected when you start the car it gets destroyed. Using this method meansyou can't forget to disconnect it. The only problem in 12 months is that the suckers that hold the sp to the windscreen dry out and the sp falls of. Hope this helps