V70: General External battery charger

[Topper]

Does anyone have experience of using an external battery charger connected to internal socket i.e. being recommended an Optimate ? .... suitable for D5 V 70 ?

I know the system works but ...... it’s the practical problems I’m concerned about ..... leaving leads “out” and bonnet open .... a target for Jack the Lad ?

Any recommendations as to models / manufacturers would be appreciated.

Topper

[canis]

What I've been doing is putting an extension up from under the car into the engine bay, putting the charger in a convenient gap between the radiator and air-intake resting on a rubber hose, and closing the bonnet down. There's not a lot of space, but just enough. It means I can still alarm the car. But that's in my V40.

[tt82]

I've done the same as Canis with my V70. Hide the extension and charger in between the engine and radiator and leave the cable coming out where the headlight meets the bumper. You can close the bonnet then and the car is alarmed and everything is safe.

[Whyman]

If you have a towbar fitted with electrics I am pretty sure you can charge through the permanent Live in the socket, just get a suitable plug and adaptor so the charger can plug straight in and it is easy to remove it in the morning.

[Semnoz]

Originally Posted by Topper

Does anyone have experience of using an external battery charger connected to internal socket i.e. being recommended an Optimate ? .... suitable for D5 V 70 ?

I know the system works but ...... it’s the practical problems I’m concerned about ..... leaving leads “out” and bonnet open .... a target for Jack the Lad ?

Any recommendations as to models / manufacturers would be appreciated.

Topper

It might depend what type of charger you have, as more advanced items such as the CTEK MX5 perform a reconditioning cycle and I'm not sure if it's safe to connect that anywhere other than the battery terminals.

On my V70, as far as I've seen, none of the 12V sockets are powered if the car is locked and alarmed, so I would guess you can't send electricity back up through them either in that situation.

As said above, I leave my CTEK under the bonnet with it closed (it's a small device). If you're really stuck for space, pop the air-filter out and rest the charger in that box overnight !

[Tatsfield]

I also have a CTEK charger. When I first connected it I made the mistake of putting the fixed adapter leads directly on both the positive and negative battery terminals. This means that when the battery is charging the electronic circuitry that monitors batter state in the car is bypassed. The negative lead should be fixed to a good strong earthing point on the body, away from the negative terminal.