Trickle charging non-daily drivers

ashleyg82v702001 · Post by **ashleyg82v702001** » 18 Jan 2021, 08:27

I'm looking into how to maintain my battery

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this is my plan is it a suitable and safe way of trickle charging I don't want to cook any modules by trickle charging this way

It means I can fully lock the car and leave the charging cable protruding from under the bonnet all the time.
I'm using a genius 5

Post by **oragex** » 18 Jan 2021, 11:13

If there's not enough answers, I'd also try on this UK forum, they use trickle chargers quite a bit https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=19

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » 18 Jan 2021, 13:49

I'm just curious how long it sits, before it gets driven. Over a week?

ashleyg82v702001 · Post by **ashleyg82v702001** » 18 Jan 2021, 21:19

Sometimes 10 or more days

Post by **oragex** » 19 Jan 2021, 00:20

Until you set up the charger, I would try driving around the block every week for 5-10 minutes. And maybe get an idea about your battery health, older batteries will still crank very well but may no longer keep a full charge (so it may discharge more while parked). These cars have an issue when the battery happens to go flat while parked, owners have reported the car would no longer start (once they recharge the battery), it seems the software in the central computer gets corrupted and it looses the key identification which is a hassle and $$ to have reprogrammed at Volvo.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 19 Jan 2021, 01:02

If your battery is in poor health from sitting without use. You want a charger with a pulse mode to bring it back to life. This would be the 12V repair on the charger in the picture.

The charger I have will automatically detect poor health and go into pulse mode. I can tell when it is in pulse mode because the charge indicator pulses. I like to call this the Frankenstein mode. Because it brings dead things back to life.

You want a Float charger rather then a Trickle charger. Both are low current chargers but the Float charger will reduce the voltage to keep from damaging the battery after it is charged. A battery maintainer is a low current four stage float charger.

A Trickle charger does not have stages 3 & 4. It stays at stage 2 and will cook the battery if you leave it hooked up.
Stages 1 & 2 are the charging cycle, 3 & 4 are the maintaining cycle. A battery maintainer will switch between stages 3 & 4 as needed.

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ashleyg82v702001 · Post by **ashleyg82v702001** » 19 Jan 2021, 06:52

That's why I went with the genius 5 it's all charger, trickle maintainer and repair I've heard good things about the genius series, it's currently on a repair cycle.... I keep checking every 5-10 mins

BlueRubber · Post by **BlueRubber** » 19 Jan 2021, 08:37

I use a similar charger for my '02 v70 - it has a 5 stage charging cycle:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maypole-7423A- ... 75&sr=8-15

I would recommend connecting the charger to the battery in the boot to be safe.
You will probably be ok connecting where you have but it's riskier as all the current has to travel across to the other side of the car, who knows what modules etc it goes through.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 19 Jan 2021, 11:59

ashleyg82v702001 wrote: ↑19 Jan 2021, 06:52 I keep checking every 5-10 mins

A watched pot never boils. Just let it rip until it indicates it is done.

My charger requires a disconnect and reconnect after a pluse charge "repair" .

Pulled a genuine Volvo battery out of a XC90 that only had 60K Miles on it. The battery was drained down to a few hundred Millivolts. It took over a month to recover it.

Tip: If the a battery is drained too low some charges cannot detect the battery and will not start charging. Solution: Jump start the process with a second voltage source. I use a 12V power supply. Connect charger and turn on. Touch 12V power supply to terminals for a couple of seconds then remove. The charger will start up and take over.