Electrics: Battery charger

[chenry]

I used a C-TEK on mine a couple of weeks back as we hadn't been using the car much and it was 'slow' to start.

I was surprised after a few hours that the C-Tek said it was full, because another car I charged the day before took 6-8 hours.

Anyway, went to use the car the other day and it wouldn't start. Had enough power to unlock/lock, but not enough to turn over.

I've just been out and started it with a Noco GB50 Li-Ion jump battery (which is fantastic btw).

If I have to remove the battery to charge it, will that cause issues? I might even have to buy another battery.

- Colin

[CondorXC90]

I have used CTEK chargers for years on my X5's , now the xc90 and all our other cars.......they work brilliantly but cannot work miracles with a faulty battery despite recovering some batteries which have run down severely, quite well.

The trickle based solar chargers I have never found to be effective and I prefer the smart chargers like CTEKs. Even use a CTEK on my boat's batteries!!

[Red Tony]

I got a low battery warning. Sure enough the [main] battery reads 12.4v. Put my intelligent charger on, red on terminal, black on chassis. Got contact break error message [uh?] Meter on; red on terminal, black on chassis > 23.6v. So that's with the little battery in series then? [tho i cannot see the little battery in my 2016 XC60, doesn't seem to be per manual picture].

So do I recharge, red on main terminal, black on chassis at 24v? Recharge the main battery only at 12v, which will then flow thru to the little 'un?

Thanks for suggestions

[gmonag]

I think you are in the wrong forum.

[SwissXC90]

Put your 12V charger directly on the battery terminals.

[Red Tony]

Greg. Thanks, where should I post then?

[Red Tony]

Swiss XC90. OK, you might think so but the manual says NOT TO THAT as it upsets the electronics........

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by Red Tony

Swiss XC90. OK, you might think so but the manual says NOT TO THAT as it upsets the electronics........

Fine then don't

[Red Tony]

Thanks anyway XC90. I can't be the only person with this problem and for sure won't be the last with Covid-19 romping away, so if someone knows the answer that would be useful for many of us.

[oragex]

Originally Posted by Dastardly Diesel

The pattern of usage of my D5 is a bit odd. It'll get used intensely for 4 or 5 days, then it'll stand idle for 7 or 8.

The car handles it just fine, but I am aware that SLA batteries don't like this sort of thing. Does anyone use an intelligent charger or battery conditioner on their 90? What makes or models are recommended? I'm thinking of one with a permanent loom I can attach to the battery, so it's a plug and play activity.

The best is to test the battery after being parked for several days, undo the positive, let sit 1h, measure. If there's at least a 12.5v I wouldn't worry. I would have the key in POSII when disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, to prevent the CCM thermistor from failing (rare)

For longer term storage or if the battery is rather weak, I recommend disconnecting the positive then locking the car manually (otherwise it will trigger the alarm - even if it's no longer working). Also test the door lock manually with the key to be sure. Of course, this being a XC90, one will need to do some stretching and gymnast moves to connect back the battery pole as the trunk has no key lock like in the S60