May seem like a stupid question, but I just want to check I'm not going to do any damage. I have bought a small mains powered battery charger of the intelligent kind thats supposed to not charge the battery if you put the connections the wrong way round etc. I have it just for emergencies and also just to top up the battery during winter when its mainly getting short drives in colder weather. The instructions say that you need to disconnect the battery from the car before you charge it. My question is, is this really necessary or is it safe to just attach the charger to the battery while it is still connected to the car. Its only really because the battery on this car looks like a pain in the arse to disconnect because its got various other things attached to the top of it and I dont even know what they are or how to remove them if I wanted to. Would it be safe to just whack the charger on as it is or am I going to fry the cars electrics or something if I do that? Any advice appreciated!

Edited 18 December, 201510 yr by homesqueeze

I'd think that it depends on the manufacturer of the charger that you have bought, if it is a cheap one from a not well known source, then play safe and disconnect the battery, if it is from CTEK and places like that, then I would have expected them to state that it was or was not safe to use while battery is connected to car.

 

Worst case situation is that it can/will/might do damage so just disconnect the side of the battery that is connected to the car body, then connect you charger across the battery.

 

Edit:- my first comment is meant to read that if you have a bought a cheapie charger, then they are just covering themselves against any bad press, the more expensive ones will/should be making a safe and honest statement of fact.

Edited 18 December, 201510 yr by rum4mo

according to the seat manufactures handbook, it is safe to use a trickle charge without disconnecting the battery, however, it states that to put the battery on full charge, the battery should be disconnected or damage can be done to ecu. read your handbook for verification.

I've used Aldi/Lidl ones that are like CTEK ones and sell for about £14.  They're fine without battery disconnection.  They also say to unplug them before connecting and disconnecting, but I think they say these things to cover worst case scenarios and so absolve themselves.  It's not as if you see sparks flying off them.

 

I wouldn't turn the ignition whilst connected though.

Edited 18 December, 201510 yr by RapidReaction

I've used Aldi/Lidl ones that are like CTEK ones and sell for about £14.  They're fine without battery disconnection.  They also say to unplug them before connecting and disconnecting, but I think they say these things to cover worst case scenarios and so absolve themselves.  It's not as if you see sparks flying off them.

 

I wouldn't turn the ignition whilst connected though.

 

Thanks, I actually got mine from Lidl. Yeah, I thought it might be them just covering themselves. Don't need to use the charger just yet, but good to know for when I do.

Hi

I have used charges while the battery is connected to the for years, with no problems. At present I also the CTEK one ( I noticed that my two local Skada dealers also use them), mine is connected to the cigar lighter (the correct CTEK one) so I don't even have to open the bonnet! It in use as I type this and has been connect to my vRS for the last 3 weeks and will remain connected to Feb! While it's off the road for the winter.

Steve

I was about to say I seen 2 Skoda retailers charging batteries on cars. They use trickle charger to top up the charge on showroom models and there must be very low risk or they would be in breach of health and safety among other things. Imagine a car bursting into flames in there?

Thanks, I actually got mine from Lidl. Yeah, I thought it might be them just covering themselves. Don't need to use the charger just yet, but good to know for when I do.

 

I've used the small Lidl charger on both a Fabia 1 and Fabia 2 for quite a few years. No problems at all leaving the battery connected. Sometimes I go abroad for eight weeks and leave the car here. When I get home pop the Fabia on charge with the Lidl charger. Takes most of the day for the two lights to match indicating fully charged so it's a nice slow trickle charge.

I've used the small Lidl charger on both a Fabia 1 and Fabia 2 for quite a few years. No problems at all leaving the battery connected. Sometimes I go abroad for eight weeks and leave the car here. When I get home pop the Fabia on charge with the Lidl charger. Takes most of the day for the two lights to match indicating fully charged so it's a nice slow trickle charge.

 

Thanks for that, useful to know.

Do you actually know what all that extra stuff is that they have attached on top of the battery? Never seen that on a car before, its usually just a simple battery that you can easily just take on and off.

Always got the bike on a trickle charger over winter and never had a problem.

If mines too simple electronics wise, my dads bikes got Can-Bus and all the gizmos and he does the same. Not a prob.

Cant see why a Fab would be any different?

Thanks for that, useful to know.

Do you actually know what all that extra stuff is that they have attached on top of the battery? Never seen that on a car before, its usually just a simple battery that you can easily just take on and off.

You can still take the battery off simply enough... Just the usual two bolts holding the terminal clamps and the one bolt holding the battery to the tray. Those fuses and stuff just come away with the clamp!

You can still take the battery off simply enough... Just the usual two bolts holding the terminal clamps and the one bolt holding the battery to the tray. Those fuses and stuff just come away with the clamp!

 

Ok, cheers