Battery charging

[Beardieman]

In my owners manual for my new acquisition to me of a p11 V70 2007 petrol 170 bhp, it states that the battery is not to be charged without disconnecting it. Is this a precaution by Volvo, a specific risk or has any one else charged their battery unknowingly of this paragraph and did it have any diverse issues? I just wish to trickle charge it, as a pensioner, the car is not used daily etc and is something I used to do on my previous car quite readily in the winter months.
Thank you

[Spike56]

I believe it is due to the possible build up of corrosive and possibly explosive gasses within a confined space (In boot or under the bonnet).

Bearing in mid how very, very temperamental Volvo electrics are, there may also be a risk of boggling your cars brains!

[BarryCambs]

If the battery's ok, it shouldn't be a problem letting it stand anyway. Mine's stood for 2-3 weeks at airports in winter weather and it's always started without issue anyway.

Our Vintage car (without alarm or any other drain) can stand for 2 months without issue. Modern Batteries don't seem to discharge themselves like the old ones. On a couple of occasions when something's been left on in the Volvo and flattened the battery, I've put a charger on it without issue so i wouldn't be paranoid about it.

[Brendan W]

Best practice would be to isolate the battery from the car whilst charging even if by simply disconnecting the negative lead. You never know when a charger could go rogue and best not have the car modules seeing any of that.

[stegreg]

if car parked outside, why not use a solar panel charger? they are hardly going to create a gassing effect, plus free power to run. I use one when car parked for any length of time.

[Auldgit]

Likewise- always use it when leaving it for 2/3 weeks on holiday. Plug into socket in load area if it's an estate. Have also used a small Optimate (m/cycle size) from time to time and has not caused any probs that I know of.

[oragex]

If not using a charger, I would recommend disconnecting the negative when parking the car for weeks. The reason for this are the multiple occasions when owners had electrical issues when the battery went flat, which can trigger a very annoying immobilizer issue.

When parking the car with the battery disconnected, we need to lock all doors but the driver's side, undo the negative post, shut the trunk closed, then lock driver's door by turning the key in the lock. Reason for locking the driver's door mechanically as the last step is I believe if all doors are locked with the fob, when the trunk is shut closed with the battery disconnected, the alarm will go off - assuming the alarm siren is still in working condition.

Make sure the door and trunk locks turn and work fine

[Brendan W]

An effective anti-theft device is a For Sale sign in the window. Slight jerk between 3rd and 4th, two injectors faulty, easy fix for enthusiast. That usually keeps them away.

[marcb]

Originally Posted by oragex

When parking the car with the battery disconnected, we need to lock all doors but the driver's side, undo the negative post, shut the trunk closed, then lock driver's door by turning the key in the lock. Reason for locking the driver's door mechanically as the last step is I believe if all doors are locked with the fob, when the trunk is shut closed with the battery disconnected, the alarm will go off - assuming the alarm siren is still in working condition.

Make sure the door and trunk locks turn and work fine

What if you have a V70 - there is no key for the tailgate where the battery is. The only way I guess is to crawl out via the driver's door if you have someone else to unlock it manually. You can take out the alarm siren fuse.

I was contemplating this recently as the battery on the our V70 does tend to run down over about a week and we wanted to take it to the airport. In the end we went on the train. But I guess there was little to worry about leaving it unlocked in the long-term car park.

[ASt85]

I use one of these https://www.aldi.co.uk/solar-battery...12551262369400 solar battery maintainers from Aldi to keep the battery topped up if the car is likely to be standing unused for any length of time - with the alarm left on the battery kicks over the starter without problems after six weeks. With the alarm not armed by locking the car with the key, the starter will still fire up the car without any hesitation at first turn of the key.

One thing I have noticed is that the price of the solar panel has gone up by over £8 since I bought the first one two years.