nevadakid

tonight, I checked the lights on the trickle charger (us 3300 plugged into the cigarette lighter) and I noticed that the lights are not as usual.


instead of the usual



I thought that my battery was getting old and decided to check what percentage it was on the battery charger (Schumacher Electric 75A). I plugged it to the battery under the hood: Red on + and Black on - and the charger indicated that the battery was at 77%. The car had been on the trickle charger for 2 days and should have been at 100%.

So I decided to let the battery charge with the battery charger (not the trickle charger) for a few hours. Since the hood was up, the light inside the hood was on so I decided to lock the car with the remote thinking that the lights would go off. I heard a horn sound and left.

When I came back 2 hours later, the charger was at 100% and I unplugged it. I tried to unlock the car with the remote to no avail. I tried with the key in the door to no avail. I tried to open the door to try to start the car but the door was locked. I went to the passenger window that was open to allow the trickle charger cable to go into the car and tried to open the car from inside. The alarm went on (or went off? sorry for my english) and the hazard lights started flashing. Of course it was 11pm and I must have woken up all the neighbors...

After 2 minutes, the alarm stopped but the hazard continued to flash.

I then decided to disconnect the battery and re connect it. The lights went off.

I decided to let the car charge with the trickle charger during the night but as soon as i connected it and tried to open the door again, the alarm started again but with less volume, like if the battery was very low (the battery was still disconnected, stupid me, how am I supposed to charge the battery if the battery is not connected LOL) .

Anyway, I can't accept the idea to close the hood because I won't be able to re open it if the battery is flat... even though I don't think the battery is flat because the battery and lights can go on...

How do you charge a battery with a normal charger without closing the hood?

What did I do wrong?

Please help.

Thanks

Phil

964polar

This is my friend. Ctek extension Cable 2.5m. Thin and can be used with a closed hood without harm.

Racetwin2

Posted in another thread 10 seconds ago but same here: this is what I Use. It's normally just tucked under the hood but still reachable by hand without opening the hood.

Please also note that the level on the charger is not abnormal! It will continuously charge and discharge the battery to simulate daily use. Sometimes it will be showing full charge but during short periods of time it will be in discharge/charge mode and then you will see those lights.

nevadakid

Thank you for the tips.

this morning I tried to reattach the battery, the negative first then as soon as I touched the positive, the alarm woke up with the hazard lights again. I decided to let the alarm on and close the hood to see what would happen.
The alarm stopped after about 30 seconds, then started again for another 30 seconds, then stopped.

I was then able to use the remote to unlock the car and start the car.

Very weird. I think the car did not like the fact that I let the hood open and closed the car in the first place.

Trickle charger showing 100% charge.

I think I was in the twilight zone for a moment there...

Another good day starts!

Phil

997_Toronto

Related question...I have 2 motorcycles & the car which I keep on the battery tender on rotation especially since the bikes are not used in the winter and the car is not used a lot during the week.

I have a battery tender with the traditional jumper cable type clamps as per the pic below. Is it possible to retro-fit the cables with a Ctek type 2-pin connector in order to use the Ctek extension cable?

jhbrennan

Any of these what you're looking for?

http://www.batterytender.com/Accessories/

EdwardB

Just a word of caution, when installing a battery (or connecting it) always install the positive terminal first then the negative. When removing, always remove the negative first then the positive.

In this order you will never short your tools to ground. (If you've ever worked on an aircrafts 28 volt system, you'll never make that mistake twice)

nevadakid

Good point @ EdwardB... ouch!

997_Toronto

Thanks...think I need to do some mods to my current battery tender wiring to replace the alligator clips with the quick-release connector. Ordered some parts from Amazon.

Carmichael

Huh. I thought this was going to be a thread about muffler bypass pipes.

996scott

LOL, that was my thought as well. I thought there would be an audio clip of a newly installed Fister III or Fabspeed