Disconnect battery

[Hiettd]

I don’t use my car a lot w207 2011 as I have a work van so it sits in garage for up to 2weeks without use. I also have to drive in frontward and is very tight so I’m worried about the length of jump cables I will need if runs flat. Is there simple way to disconnect battery so I can just leave it each time ???? Thanks for help

 

[Marku]

Although two weeks should not be a problem if you are apprehensive then you should invest in a battery conditioner. It will maintain the battery through periods of non use at the optimum level. They do vary in price and I think Mercedes do one, although apparently not cheap, but there are many others on the market. It would take the worry out of it and I would also think about over inflating the tyres to avoid flat spots.

 

[jasonh]

Disconnecting the battery regularly is not a great idea. Various things like electric windows and sunroof may need re-initialising each time. You will need to leave the car unlocked or manually lock it.

A trickle charger is the way to go if you have mains electricity in the garage. CTEK seem to be the main player in the battery charger market these days.

 

[Hiettd]

Disconnecting the battery regularly is not a great idea. Various things like electric windows and sunroof may need re-initialising each time. You will need to leave the car unlocked or manually lock it.

A trickle charger is the way to go if you have mains electricity in the garage. CTEK seem to be the main player in the battery charger market these days.

Thanks

 

[Monkeylegend]

My SL has sat on a £25, 70 amp, Halfords car and bike trickle charger for the last 3 years without any issues. You do not need to spend large amounts of money. My previous charger was an Accumate charger which cost a lot more 15 years or so ago and did the job no better.

As already said be careful with disconnecting the battery on a regular basis. I would get all sorts of warning messages on the SL when reconnecting, most of which would reset themselves after a drive, but some needed to be reset using STAR which was a pain.

Out of interest why can you not back you car into the garage?

 

[Chrishazle]

Search on here and t'other side for battery conditioner and you'll find loads of info and opinion, all the way from Lidl/Aldi cheapies, one from Amazon thats cheap and gets good reports, to CTEK at £50-70+. I have 1 Aldi cheapie, newly acquired but appears to be OK, and a roughly 20 year old that 20 years ago was more than twice the price of the Aldi but is still going strong and has saved me the cost of a couple of batteries in its time! Get one, connect it to the battery terminals whenever the car is in the garage, you won't regret it.

 

[wongl]

Search on here and t'other side for battery conditioner and you'll find loads of info and opinion, all the way from Lidl/Aldi cheapies, one from Amazon thats cheap and gets good reports, to CTEK at £50-70+. I have 1 Aldi cheapie, newly acquired but appears to be OK, and a roughly 20 year old that 20 years ago was more than twice the price of the Aldi but is still going strong and has saved me the cost of a couple of batteries in its time! Get one, connect it to the battery terminals whenever the car is in the garage, you won't regret it.

Nothing wrong with Aldi chargers - they are cheap and does the job. However, a couple of points to bear in mind with cheapo chargers:-

1. They often do not have a memory which means that if the mains is interrupted, say a glitch or power-cut, the charger will not return to the charging mode previously set. This lack of memory is really only a problem for long-term charging of a weekend/holiday car. For example, I regularly spend several months away from the UK and rely on the charger to maintain the battery in my car whilst i am away. I cannot afford to have the charging interrupted by a power-cut.

2. The Aldi chargers will not charge a battery that has run flat as it will not start charging if the battery voltage is below a certain threshold (8.5V seems to come to mind, but I cannot be certain). This means that the Aldi chargers cannot be used to recharge a battery that has run flat, say from leaving the lights on overnight as it will not boot-strap itself into a charging mode. Interesting enough, I found that I can boot-strap the Aldi charger into a charging mode if I momentarily connect a 12v source to the flat battery and let it charge from there.

 

[mersum1es]

MB charger is made by CTEK

 

[Petrol Pete]

MB charger is made by CTEK

...And - by the amount of posts on here regarding MB cars that can not be left standing for a short while before breaking down - should come free with every new Mercedes Benz . 'Keep your spare tyre , jack and wheel brace Herr Daimler, my brand new Mercedes Benz is more likely to leave me stranded with a flat battery rather than a flat tyre ! I'd rather have a battery condition thanks'

 

[wongl]

Following the work from home and general lockdown, time to buy some shares in battery manufacturers.

 

[350cls]

Like the OP I don't use my car much at all in this current situation we find ourselves in. Can I asked one question regarding battery charging.

I have a smart charger that conditions battery's. I've only ever used it to charge flat batteries that I have had the unfortunate episode's of having.

Would it be ok to leave this smart charger attached to my battery to keep the cars battery within a decent charge. Or do I need to get a more suitable trickle charger. Thanks.

Sorry for the slight hijack OP but I did t think it necessary to start a new thread on a similar matter.

I paid £79.00 for it some years back. From a local car assesorries shop. They have since closed down, quite a few years ago now.

 

[Chrishazle]

My newly purchased smart charger shuts off once it senses the battery at 100%, so try the owners manual (hopefully online if you no longer have it) to see if yours does the same or stays in maintenance mode. Otherwise get a battery conditioner, use the charger to get the battery fully charged then put the conditioner on it whenever you park up (assuming you can safely get power to the car, like in your garage).
This gets good reviews and is cheap :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009A83P1E/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

 

[190]

Would it be ok to leave this smart charger attached to my battery to keep the cars battery within a decent charge. Or do I need to get a more suitable trickle charger. Thanks.

Simple test if you have a voltmeter is to measure the charging voltage. Once it gets to the float stage the voltage should drop to 13.5 volts or there abouts. If it doesn't then the charger should not be left connected.

 

[350cls]

Simple test if you have a voltmeter is to measure the charging voltage. Once it gets to the float stage the voltage should drop to 13.5 volts or there abouts. If it doesn't then the charger should not be left connected.

I don't have a voltmeter, thanks for the information 190.

 

[louwdj]

I can only relate my own experiences. I used to have a high rate of battery turnover, particularly on vehicles with limited use and normally shortly after the warranty had expired. Some years ago I invested in a C-Tek (XS 3600) charger and now charge every battery, regardless of use, at least once a month. This includes regular used diesels, low use collectables, scooters and restored garden tractors. Some batteries indicate fully charged within the hour, some take overnight but since I have done this, I have hardly lost any batteries. Matter of fact, the battery on my 2004 W203 c220cdi, lasted 14 years and on the 2009 W204 c220cdi, 10 years. Both were original MB gel type batteries. Since their replacements were three times the cost of an ordinary Exide, I opted for the latter as neither the cars nor I, will likely be around in another 14 years!

Modern cars and their batteries behave strangely. Driving the W204 on a motorway I suddenly received all sorts of warning messages. Stopping and restarting did not help and the auto gear lever then refused to unlock from Park. Fortunately, I remembered that there is a release button under the gear lever cover and I was off in limp mode. After leaving the motorway I went over a bump and the car was back to normal, no warning messages. A dealer suggested a loose earth but long story short, I replaced the battery and no more messages since. Incidentally, this battery at the time measured 7.8 Volts and the car still started normal, without any hesitation.

Quote from another site: A very wise old service manager I worked with one time told me; "Batteries are like people, they are all going to die sometime. Some last a long time and some die young. Some will drop dead just like that".

I expect a brisk trade in vehicle batteries after this lock down.