9 minutes ago, RCC49 said:

It has an adapter which plugs into one of the 12 volt "cigarette lighter" sockets, either in the centre console or in the boot. I chose the centre console one and left it connected for about 24 hours, and that did the trick.

I am not sure if I would do that these days. I would only put a charger on the Battery terminals. You have no idea how much electronics is between the battery and the 12V sockets these days.,

There will be nothing but fuses.

26 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

There will be nothing but fuses.

Maybe. 5 years ago, I would have said yes without question but now.....

Suit yourself, but I'm pretty sure you're guessing and wrong on this.

24 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Suit yourself, but I'm pretty sure you're guessing and wrong on this.

Let's just say an informed opinion

Dont know about the Karoq but often the 12v sockets have a 'delay' whereby they are only live for a period after the ignition is off. In that case there must be some electronics in the circuit.

20 minutes ago, NottsIan said:

Dont know about the Karoq but often the 12v sockets have a 'delay' whereby they are only live for a period after the ignition is off. In that case there must be some electronics in the circuit.

Not on any Skoda wiring diagram I've seen. Mythology I think.

6 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Not on any Skoda wiring diagram I've seen. Mythology I think.

Some are only powered when the ignition is on. so there is something between them and the battery,

Citigo only, AFAIK.

3 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Citigo only, AFAIK.

So it does happen on Škoda's and certainly does on other makes.

Edited 22 May, 20251 yr by chills

On Citigo it's fed by a relay. Other makes not hugely relevant.

2 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

On Citigo it's fed by a relay. Other makes not hugely relevant.

The point is there is, on many (most?) modern cars, something between the 12V socket and the battery. It is designed to be an output, NOT an input.
If they use a Triac rather than a relay you would cause harm. Triac's are a lot more reliable, and less expensive than relays.

Show me such a bit of circuitry on a Skoda 12V socket wiring diagram and I'll learn something. Until then I will not expect what you claim to be of relevance, sorry.

Edited 22 May, 20251 yr by Breezy_Pete

3 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Show me such a bit of circuitry on a Skoda 12V socket wiring diagram and I'll learn something. Until then I will not expect what you claim to be of relevance, sorry.

I don't have the wiring diagrams for the Škoda's. However, my claims are based on my working experience.

You can download any you wish, or all, from erWin Skoda, for only 7 Euro plus tax.

8 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

You can download any you wish, or all, from erWin Skoda, for only 7 Euro plus tax.

Why would I do that don't need them. I assume you have them as part of your job?

Assumptions...

Personally, I find the wiring diagrams invaluable for helping me and others solve electrical problems on their cars.

It's not part of my day job, no.

@RCC49 if you, and others, don't want to you don't need to spend £79 on an appropriate charger maintainer and personally a mate has two of those and whilst they're fine I'm with Shania (Twain) they don't impress me much especially for the money as the two identical units he has work show slightly (ETA: missing word) different (perhaps one is a one-off).

For £15 the ones at Lidl/Aldi are fine lots of people use them successfully, my neighbour has had one for a number of years now.

For £30 (or less, depends where you buy) you can get the Ring 4-amp, I prefer the 4-amp to 6-amp, just takes a little longer for more versatility of use, been using it on my wife's 2015 Fabia (and neighbour's cars) for a few years now.

Ring Smartcharger 4 - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/rsc904-4a-smart-battery-charger-maintainer.html

For those that want or prefer 6-amps - Ring Smartcharger 6 - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/rsc906-6a-smart-battery-charger-maintainer.html

Other makes and suppliers are of course available and if you prefer the reassurance of higher price cost that's fair enough, I still have a cheap (not "smart") charger from the 1980s that still works well and a semi-smartish medium price charger from the 1990s that still works well. I very much doubt I need worry about if my Ring 4-amp "smart" (they're not) charger is still going in about 30 years time, but be nice if it was, what the 12v battery would be used on I'm not sure (house lights perhaps).

Edited 22 May, 20251 yr by nta16
missing word

1 hour ago, chills said:

If they use a Triac rather than a relay you would cause harm. Triac's are a lot more reliable, and less expensive than relays.

Who would use a triac on a DC source ? How would you switch it off ?

14 minutes ago, aubrey said:

Who would use a triac on a DC source ? How would you switch it off ?

Fair point. I would not use a triac on its own... Last time I used one was for an ignition circuit. Probably better using a Thyristor.

On 22/05/2025 at 14:02, nta16 said:

I prefer the 4-amp to 6-amp, just takes a little longer for more versatility of use,

What is the added versatility of the 4A over the 6A?

11 hours ago, chills said:

What is the added versatility of the 4A over the 6A?

Not all marques and models of cars have or need the big heavy batteries that VWŠkoda, admittedly newer cars with stop/start and all the driver "assist", "aid" and convenience will have bigger batteries so if you follow the VWŠkoda 'Owner's Manual' of 0.1 amps to Ah 6 can be over. But I've found for batteries that are "dead" and possibly been that way for a good while going even lower in amps gets more into the battery that it retains for longer. For those I use my old 1.8 amps (semi-) "smart" (it ain't) charger from the 90s. Obvious it might depend on the state of the plates and take a couple of days or more to fully charge or as near as possible but I've had successes. A couple I'd not recommend for use on a German marque of more recent vintage but fine for more use simpler systems.

I used to look after a couple of neighbours' car batteries where the cars weren't used or rarely used, they run and started easily on less than 40Ah batteries, smaller physical size battery so quicker to fill too, as they were Korean and Japanese cars they probably had much smaller and more efficient alternators than the German marques I've encountered - but of course being tactful on a VW site I couldn't possibly comment. 😁

That is why it is best to use a trickle charger rather than a fast charger. I have never used the fast or rapid charge settings on battery chargers.

The problem with some "smart" chargers is they can decide to "fast charge" for themselves. At least with the "dumb" chargers, it was a physical slide switch.

For battery maintenance, I can see why you suggest the 4A over the 6A. Especially if these "smart" chargers are not that smart. (Next they will claim they have AI in them😀)

If, as suggested by others, Škoda charge £40 for a battery conditioning and top up when they do the servicing, the 4A charger at £30 is a bargain.

At the moment, I do a lot of short journeys but every few weeks a couple of journeys at 70 and 160 miles, usually in daylight. So I am hoping that the long journeys do the top-up. However for £30 and the o-rings to hard-wire in a good battery contact it is a no-brainer really and the short urban journeys do a lot of stop-start.

Given the "toys" in most cars these days, you would have thought that a battery condition screen in the infotainment would be standard. Like the fuel/speed/distance information.

I've never had a charger with fast charge and wouldn't bother as it's not needed for my use.

My wife's 2015 Fabia sometimes only does two 2 mile journeys a day including winter occasionally a few other 3 or 5 miles trips too but annual mileage is around 8k-miles a year. Some have told me the alternator and battery will easily deal with this and battery replenished by the car manufacturers and breakdown services tell us otherwise.

I can only think the reason there's not a gauge for the battery is that the manufactures think most drivers would find it too confusing or worrying. It was the same with coolant temperature and oil pressure gauges in the 1970s and the reason the needle coolant gauges show a rock-steady 90c when in reality the temperature could be above or below this and fluctuating between.

60s -

70s -