Battery %

[Tazzieman]

Whst kind of battery is it?

AWo

Well hidden. Someone will have taken the coveroff ; @Jean Mercier ?

 

[TheDocAUS]

Whst kind of battery is it?

AWo

They are both Moll EFB 105Ah batteries. If you selected the dual battery option.

 

[AWo]

EFB are still wet lead acid battery they do not like small currents. That produces big crystals on the surfaces of the battery plates. They are like isolaters and do not let current flow. It is hard and sometimes impossible to remove them by charging. Thst capacity ls lost.

High currents produce small crystals which will disappear while charging and the cspacity remains.

That is a genaral rule, so charging smartphones while the engine is off, is not good for a lead-acid battery. Depending of the kind of lead-acid battery it can cope with that more or less better.

AWo

 

[Lollo050968]

I spoke to Moll a few weeks ago, and the told me to use a charger, which have a min. Charging power of 10% of the battery capacity, that means we have to use 10A min….. On the CTEK MX 5.0 (5A) is written for AGM / Wet Batteries up to 160AH…. OK, next step, after SW Update, buy a stronger charging device. Hopefully not needed anymore after SW Update.
On the other hand, I used the MX 5.0 now two times in 5 month… will not kill the battery.
The alternator charges a long period with smaller A than 10… Hopefully the Ineos guys had spoke with the battery guys.
P.S. I used the red terminal under the bonnet, and the body of the engine to charge

 

[ECrider]

EFB are still wet lead acid battery they do not like small currents. That produces big crystals on the surfaces of the battery plates. They are like isolaters and do not let current flow. It is hard and sometimes impossible to remove them by charging. Thst capacity ls lost.

High currents produce small crystals which will disappear while charging and the cspacity remains.

That is a genaral rule, so charging smartphones while the engine is off, is not good for a lead-acid battery. Depending of the kind of lead-acid battery it can cope with that more or less better.

AWo

Tks AWo, do you thing better to charge at the jumping point and body -ve as suggested above or directly over the terminals of the batteries or thirdly +ve of the batteries and body -ve.

Think I read yours right above re cars ecu etc meaning body -ve not battery terminal -ve?

 

[AWo]

For the battery that makes no difference. If it is fully charged it is fully charged regardless of what the battery monitor shows you.

Technically using the battery terminals reduces losses over the wiring as the distance is shorter, charging will be faster. If you want an accurate display use the suggested charging points.

AWo

 

[WhiteBear]

My Victron 15A charger is connected to the + of the Ctek 120 (which is the + of the main battery) and the - of the auxiliary battery (could be any point of the body). It charges to 98% and also the second battery is completely charged overnight as the readout of my installed Victron battery monitor says.
The Ctek 120 manual recommends installing a charger this way to get full batteries.

 

[Orcmurd]

Why does a new car even need its battery charged so often? Would be good to understand the reason for the constant loss.

 

[AWo]

- More and more systems are fed with power even if the car is parked.
- Poor sizing and/or design
- smart generators to save CO2 make it harder to keep up with discharging
- faulty setup or cabling

It would be interesting if non-dual-battery models face the same issues as single battery ones.

It would give a clue if the dual battery system is causing issues.

AWo

 

[Wilaspira]

Could someone post a photo(s) of the correct -ve terminal charging point under the bonnet of the Diesel vehicle. The positive red brass column is very obvious why could they not provide an obvious -ve?

 

[Shaky]

Could someone post a photo(s) of the correct -ve terminal charging point under the bonnet of the Diesel vehicle. The positive red brass column is very obvious why could they not provide an obvious -ve?

Look for the thread “Battery charging”, in there @Logsplitter posted the exact photo you want.

Basically he uses the engine lifting ring, which is almost straight across to the the right of the brass post, right by the left hand side of the black plastic engine cover

It’s a silver metal ring

 

[Lollo050968]

Look for the thread “Battery charging”, in there @Logsplitter posted the exact photo you want.

Basically he uses the engine lifting ring, which is almost straight across to the the right of the brass post, right by the left hand side of the black plastic engine cover

It’s a silver metal ring

Logsplitter drive a petrol like mine, not sure if it’s the same at diesel engine

For petrol

https://www.theineosforum.com/threads/ctek-battery-charger-mxs-5-0.12412986/

 

[Wilaspira]

It’s not the same with the Diesel! The lift ring is not (at least easily) apparent hence my question re the -ve. A lot of the metal work eg bolts look like an alloy or if bodywork they have a coat of paint. Someone cleverer than me with a diesel must have sussed out a good -ve connection?

 

[Tazzieman]

Is it possible some early cars got early batteries , before this Sept 9, 2022 announcement?

https://www.batteriesinternational....argets-start-stop-market-with-new-afb-design/

And I didn't know this. Life for cars has become complicated.
"Another key feature of the AFB is that it can be adapted to a vehicle’s AGM on‐board network behaviour.
This means the AFB can be optimally charged if it is registered as an AGM battery with the vehicle’s on‐board network,"

 

[Gwynne]

I like to give mine a maintenance charge 2-3 times during the winter period with my NOCO charger. Keeps them in fine fettle, if it all does go wrong I also have a little battery pack jump start thing. It’s rated to start up to 10ltr diesels so my little 3ltr petrol should not be a challenge for it. I know it’s already started a 4ltr V8.

My own experience is similar to Logsplitters IG. Petrol and after 175 miles it was at 97%

Hi Shaky.

Hope someone can offer some advice. I have the NOCO Genius 10 charger and wanted to top up the car battery from 94% (according to the Grenadier). I connected the NOCO and originally had problems getting it out of standby mode. Eventually it indicated it was charging but showed the battery to be only 25% charged (one red LED bar). After two hours when I disconnect the charger and restart the engine the Grenadier still shows the same 94%. Any ideas anyone - is the charger faulty?

 

[Tazzieman]

Any ideas anyone - is the charger faulty?

Sounds like it.
Presume the charger was at 100% charge itself?
Did you set it to AGM? Can you try it on another battery?
It's only a 10Amp charger so it will be slow.
P.S. my in car gauge has only ever shown 94% max even when the charger says FUL

 

[Gwynne]

Sounds like it.
Presume the charger was at 100% charge itself?
Did you set it to AGM? Can you try it on another battery?
It's only a 10Amp charger so it will be slow.
P.S. my in car gauge has only ever shown 94% max even when the charger says FUL

Thanks Tazzieman.

Charger was on the mains and yes - it was set to AGM mode

 

[DenisM]

Thanks Tazzieman.

Charger was on the mains and yes - it was set to AGM mode

The Molle website describes the Grenadier battery as an "Enhanced Flooded Battery" (EFB) specially built for Stop/Start conditions. It's not an AGM in the true sense. I always set my (Victron) 15A charger to full/flood ...not AGM...

 

[Logsplitter]

I’ve had the Victron bluesmart 12/30 charger installed in mine with a 16amp blue socket connected to rear bumper so when I’m in powered camp sites I can just hook up the lead and batteries will be conditioned also the fridge is connected to a mains voltage socket and automatically switches over to mains power instead of 12v if it detects mains current.
Note the picture was taken before the smartpass terminal was blanked off and the mains socket is the South African round pin type which I will change to U.K. spec when back in the UK
This set up along with using solar panels when in non powered settings works fine for me.

 

[ECrider]

The Molle website describes the Grenadier battery as an "Enhanced Flooded Battery" (EFB) specially built for Stop/Start conditions. It's not an AGM in the true sense. I always set my (Victron) 15A charger to full/flood ...not AGM...

Same here, I have a Ctek MXS 10 charger and always set it to the standard charge, not AGM because I'm told EFB's need to be charged that way.