Can I charge car battery?

[muscleflex]

Can I charge my ford focus car battery with either my Turnigy Accucell 6 or my Triton charger?
If so, how please?
My car battery light is flashing. I think the battery is old but can't get a battery for another week..
Thanks

[Radbourne78]

Can't comment on the chargers, but the car battery light is an indication that the charging system is not working. Charging the battery will get around the problem short term but you probably need to get it looked at - suspect it's the alternator on it's way out

[josh h]

if you battery light is coming on its probably because the alternator isnt charging properly

[noddyflyer]

accucell 6 will charge lead acid batterys it has settings for it....mick

[cjcj1949]

I don't know how closely you read instructions, or what you know about chemistry or latin, but the chargers often refer to lead acid as Pb which is an abbreviation of the latin word plumbum. That doesn't look the right word now I've written it down, but it was a bummer for the Romans as they used it for drinking cups. I've checked the word and its right. So plumbers are named after plumbum. There's one at our club. Wonder if he knows.

[Streetluge Chris]

You need to put a volt meter across the battery positive & negative if you have anything less than 13v or less you have problem .

[muscleflex]

poop - the light only came on yesterday. i have had my tomtom connected to it charging for 3-4 days so not sure if that's the cause?

how much will an alternator cost?
by the way - the car battery has not been changed since i bought it almost 4 years ago i dont think..

[rachel]

[QUOTE=muscleflex;710412]Can I charge my ford focus car battery with either my Turnigy Accucell 6 or my Triton charger?
If so, how please?
My car battery light is flashing. I think the battery is old but can't get a battery for another week..
Thanks[/QUOTE]

Hummm complicated this one is !!!!!!!
the battery light is not an indication of the battery but the charge rate from the alternator.
we need more info such as when it flashes ???? engine running or not?

If your focus is newer than 2003 ish it has smart charge , have a look at the plug in the alternator if it has 2 or 3 wires its smart charge.

it is common to have an alternator fail on a focus but don't jump to fit a new one really someone needs to read the codes on it first.

If you are in the Rac/aa ring them first they will code read the ecu for you.
good luck x rachel

[muscleflex]

hi rachel - thanks. i forgot i have RAC membership... should i just call them then and get them to find out exactly what is wrong? will they do that?
the battery light only came on yesterday when i drove to work. i have had my tomtom plugged in and charging for a few days (car power is still on even when car is not running)
when i start the car, the light doesn't come on. but it comes on after a few seconds and stays on. sometimes it switches off but only for a minute and comes back on again (my drive to work is only 2.5miles)

[muscleflex]

i think mine looks like this:
[IMG]http://www.lyonssystemsserver.com/breakerpro/1060/1060-240611-154614-111-010-PTIMG.jpg[/IMG]

[rachel]

[QUOTE=muscleflex;710490]hi rachel - thanks. i forgot i have RAC membership... should i just call them then and get them to find out exactly what is wrong? will they do that?
the battery light only came on yesterday when i drove to work. i have had my tomtom plugged in and charging for a few days (car power is still on even when car is not running)
when i start the car, the light doesn't come on. but it comes on after a few seconds and stays on. sometimes it switches off but only for a minute and comes back on again (my drive to work is only 2.5miles)[/QUOTE]

Hi patrick,
you have "Smart Charge " thet means the ecu tells the alternator is told how / when to charge by the cars ecu (computer) its no biggie but my advice would be to drag the RAC out I feel you will be replacing your alternator expect a bill of around £175 ish.

Good luck x rach

[muscleflex]

rach - thanks! Are you a mechanic?
if so... pity i'm too far from you else i would bring my car to you for fixing! :)

[rachel]

[QUOTE=muscleflex;710499]rach - thanks! Are you a mechanic?
if so... pity i'm too far from you else i would bring my car to you for fixing! :)[/QUOTE]

Yes I own my own garage only a small one 3 staff and yes I fix cars all day ,..... it's very hard work and modern cars are like rocket science , but fix cars is all I have ever done as my dad owned his own garage.

Dad flew model planes too so that's why I learnt to fly heli's.

X Rachel

[cjcj1949]

The charge rate of a battery is a function of the battery and the battery state of charge. As lead acid batteries get older they charge more slowly at a given voltage. I would measure the charge current from flat, I suspect you will find that the battery volts rise quite quickly to 14 and require hardly any amps to stay there. As your battery is 4 years old I would change it, especially with Winter approaching. I would not expect an alternator to go so soon, but Rachel has the hands on experience and that is usually a better guide than theory.
I've been able to rejuvenate car batteries by discharging them slowly. At less than 1 amp. It is interesting that the voltage actually rises as the battery discharges, presumably as chemicals change state during discharge and the bad bits get replaced by good bits. Discharge down to 10V at 100ma usually helps. Followed by a normal charge. It takes a long time and only works in 50% of the batteries I used. (About 10 batteries) It does not make the batteries like new but does make them better than they were.

It does take a few weeks for the battery to stabilise after charge as the acid reaches parts it hasn't seen for a while.

[muscleflex]

^^Thanks
so - if i used my Accucel 6 to charge my car battery, what amp should i charge it at? (i'm only using a monitor psu rated 12v 4a)

today, on my way to work, stupid ABS light's come on as well - i'm guessing because of the low battery?

i think the alternator needs changing. i tested it again and i asked my girlfriend last night to help and rev the engine while i tested with a multimeter and it was showing at under 12v still.
my car overheated about a month ago (coolant leaked and emptied whilst i was driving) on the M1 and the engine light came on in my dash so that might have knackered the alternator?