Recharging battery without removing it from car

[M1Accord]

Is it safe to recharge car batteries without removing them from the car. For some reason, my new battery get drained randomly. I had the battery and alternator checked and they are good but the car fails to start randomly. It did it once last Thursday and 2 times today. AAP claims I have 26.38 Amps drain even with the key off. The people I talked to don't think it's logical or possible without having a detonation.

I wonder if I just have a battery charger connected to the battery each night and maintain its full charge so I don't have to worry about it failing to start each morning.

Is it a safe method?

 

[exranger06]

Napa sells a trickle charger that you permanently install under the hood and leave it hooked up to the battery all the time. You just run an extension cord to it when you want to charge it. So, I would say yes, you can charge a battery with it connected, otherwise such a product wouldn't exist. I also think that product would work well in your situation.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

You HAVE to find that drain - that GIANT! But, Black&Decker Trickle charger/battery maintainer at home Depot for 19 bucks selectable 1 or 2 amp rate. Keeps my Moms 89 caddy primed. The car gets driven maybe 3x year less than 200 miles!

 

[JSP]

If your battery and alternator are good. Then, the next things I would check are your battery cables and connections. Also, make sure your belt is in good condition and tight.

As far as safety of charging battery while in the car as long as it is well ventilated I don't see any difference.

 

[Carbon]

26.38 amps? That's very hard to believe. That would mean that the battery would go dead in may be 2 hours.

26.38 milliamps? Now that would be in the normal range.



If that 26.38 amps is accurate, I don't think a 2 amp charger will be able to keep up.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: Carbon
26.38 amps? That's very hard to believe. That would mean that the battery would go dead in may be 2 hours.

26.38 milliamps? Now that would be in the normal range.



If that 26.38 amps is accurate, I don't think a 2 amp charger will be able to keep up.


The car didn't start this morning. After jumping it and driving it miles, it was parked for about 3 hrs and it didn't start again. However, it didn't start last Thursday night only to start by itself the next morning. Last night, it didn't start after sitting for 30 minutes after being driving 30 minutes home. It did start on its own after sitting at the commuter lot for 9 hours yesterday though. It is very strange but I do need to fix it.

 

[qship1996]

Take it to a professional.....quick before it destroys both your alternator and battery, as neither is designed for this type of abuse.

 

[cwing6]

Had a similar problem with my Accord though my battery was almost 3 years old. Battery tested fine several times at AAP. After a couple of weeks of being randomly stranded, I replaced the old battery and no problems since. That was 2 years ago now. I think you have a bad battery.

 

[AuthorEditor]

That is not a normal amount of drain. Disconnect the positive battery cable at night until you find what the problem is. There would have to be a short somewhere. It is normally fine to charge the battery while connected to the car, but it shouldn't be necessary if all is well. You may have a short within the battery itself, which can happen. Here's a decent rundown on how to find the problem: http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_runs_down.htm

 

[JHZR2]

Milliamps are the key... Doubt it is amps. I think you have an intermittent short. Ever pop fuses?

 

[bdcardinal]

Ford even sells a version for the GT Supercar.

 

[The_Jeff]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97853

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Is it safe to recharge car batteries without removing them from the car. For some reason, my new battery get drained randomly. I had the battery and alternator checked and they are good but the car fails to start randomly. It did it once last Thursday and 2 times today. AAP claims I have 26.38 Amps drain even with the key off. The people I talked to don't think it's logical or possible without having a detonation.

I wonder if I just have a battery charger connected to the battery each night and maintain its full charge so I don't have to worry about it failing to start each morning.

Is it a safe method?


If you have that sort of draw on the battery it would be dead all the time. Disconnect the neg cable, and put a multimeter between the neg cable and neg post and measure the draw for real.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97853

I am looking into this. I saw some at Auto Zone, a place that I wouldn't shop at because the manager there is a lazy bump.

I am looking for one that is hooked up to the positive because my negative cable connection is crimped and can't be replaced easily.

A big question I have is that some guy at work says that gas mileage would suffer a lot because the computer has to relearn everything. If that is not the case, I would install it and wouldn't mind popping the hood each time. I may even do it for my Accord to prevent theft.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
You HAVE to find that drain - that GIANT! But, Black&Decker Trickle charger/battery maintainer at home Depot for 19 bucks selectable 1 or 2 amp rate. Keeps my Moms 89 caddy primed. The car gets driven maybe 3x year less than 200 miles!


I haven't been able to find the draw but I know there is a draw now. I was under the hood for 2 hours and once in awhile there is a zakzikzakzik sound. It is somewhere around the engine bay. I found a lot of oil leak over the edge of engine right above the transmission, starter, and some wires. I tighten the hub so oil leak should be reduced a lot. This is probably why I am loosing a quart every 3k miles. Some oil does sip pass the valve cover seal but that is minimum.

I am going to take it to work and ask a fellow over auto hobby shop what could be wrong. He may has some tool that I can use.

 

[M1Accord]

I will take pics of the area where oil is leaking underneath. Pics coming in 15 mins.

 

[M1Accord]

As you guys can see from the following pics:

1) The engine isn't dirty.
2) Oil leak underneath the black hub thing (what's it?)
2) Negative connection is a crimped design.

By the way, with the negative cable off I can still hear the zakzikzakzik sound like something is shorted. I am lost now. HELP.

 

[Vikas]

As I said in some other topic, put a new battery first before doing any more diagnosis. It costs between $50 and $75. Forget what has been told about "tests OK".

- Vikas

 

[Scott_Tucker]

What exactly happens when it won't crank? Do you just hear a 'click'? You may have a faulty solenoid on your starter which would cause it to intermittently not crank - very common problem. The reason I suspect this is you said one night it would not start and the next morning it started fine which would indicate that the battery is probably holding a charge.

 

[M1Accord]

Whe it doesn't start, there is nothing going on. No click, just as if there is nothing there. The accessories lights do come on but that is it.

This is a brand new battery with 100 months warranty. This problem happened in the past 4 years that I have the car and possibly before I got it. That is why I changed the battery twice.

The starter is also relatively new, about 2 years old. I started out changing the alternator, the battery, the starter, and another battery recently.

There is a strange sound, like a short somewhere in the engine bay even when the battery is disconnected. The one weird thing is that if I press the brake with the key off, all accessories are on. Another strange thing is that if I power 2 windows up at the same time, I may get a "Check Engine" and "Brake" warning lights to come on if they buttons are held. I noticed that the last 2 times the alternator was dead, the brake and battery warning lights were on constantly right before. I tried to avoid rolling 2 windows at once and not touch the brake when starting and turning off the car or while the key is out. This is what I do with my Honda as a safety habbit. It is a no-no with the Corolla.