Battery Charging

Well had the TF about a month now and still finding my way about and fixing niggley little things. Today, with the help of the guide, I sucessfully managed to adjust the drivers side window which was riding behind the seam and making the door hard to open. In the process however I managed to flatten the battery with raising and lowering the window so much. Is it ok to charge the battery whilst it's connected to the car as in the owners manual it states it must be disconnected?

disconnect it to avoid damage on the car's electrics

You can buy "optimisers" that you leave connected to the battery. These can be left on the battery without disconnecting it, but general battery chargers can produce a high enough voltage to damage electronics in the car.

I have 2 optimisers.

This is the more modern of the two:

It all depends on your charger I use a ctek 3600 [ the market leader ] £45 on ebay and it is designed so you can leave the battey on the car and leave it charging [ if necessary ] for 1-8 months

I was told my a mate to get a trickle charger for a fiver off eBay and leave it plugged in and connected to the car battery whilst it is off the road over winter. Not sure if this is ok now?

Could just disconnect the battery, but last time I did that, my alarm had a hissy fit and I couldn't get the immobiliser off and cost me 90 quid to get a mobile guy to come and reset it all....

It is recomended to disconnect the battery before charging is to avoid spikes damaging the delicate electronics.
Likewise it is recomended to connect the earth lead to the body and not the battery when jump starting the car from another.

I personally have charged batteries that are still connected without any problem.

To avoid the standard alarm having a fit when you reconnect a battery make sure it is switched off before disconnecting the battery, and even then you might be very unlucky.

If it was my car I would ignore the manual.

Hi my bike has been on an optimizer since November 2012, all I do is start her up when every now and again the red light comes on, but if you do try charging on the car disconnect the earth lead and try to charge at about 10% of the battery if you have a 50amp batt charge at 5amps.

Hi Vector

I have one of the ctec X5 battery charger/conditioner and mine stays connected to the battery on the car for months on end.

These smart chargers are designed to charge and condition while the battery is still connected. It also means you can keep the car locked and alarmed whilst its under its cover.

A great piece of kit and well worth the money.

Tone