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Why does the manual say to not charge a dead battery while it is in the car? I know many of you use trickle chargers without apparent problems. What am I missing here?
Hi Rob,
They are speaking about other charging systems damaging the Jaguar charging system. So if you jump the jag from a truck, the trucks charging system will screwup the sensitive one built into your car. So you only jump with the cables disconnected from the charging system of the truck. I.e just the battery.
AGM batteries have a different charge profile and can only be used with chargers that are made specifically for it. Then it doesnt matter what you do.
Thanks for the info. I have a feeling the car has the original battery, so it needs to be replaced.
However, for the moment, can I charge it with one of the portable chargers sold at the auto parts store that you plug into the house power?
Yes, go to pep boys and get the charger in the link below. Its way better than the charger everyone here recommends (ctek) its 3 times faster and will tell you how much charge you have on the battery.
Actually, no. We use battery tenders which are a very different animal from a trickle or regular charger.
All Jag manuals have the caution about charging a dead battery but the exact reason is unknown despite much speculation and discussion. It could be concerns over sparks, accumulated battery fumes, explosion -who knows. I'm not aware of anyone that's damaged anything by charging the battery in the car or by jump starting even dead batteries.
Actually, no. We use battery tenders which are a very different animal from a trickle or regular charger.
All Jag manuals have the caution about charging a dead battery but the exact reason is unknown despite much speculation and discussion. It could be concerns over sparks, accumulated battery fumes, explosion -who knows. I'm not aware of anyone that's damaged anything by charging the battery in the car or by jump starting even dead batteries.
Oh geezus, here we go again. You know someone that has the same car as Rob? ask to borrow it and try jumping it from another car- let me know if the charging system survives.
Richard,
He is in the same boat as me, he let the battery die before he had a chance to research and buy a charger. He needs one locally as I did. Incidentally, the one I bought locally (in my link) I prefer over the CTEK I ordered because it is faster and more features.
Looks like a nice unit and will do the charging needed. I don't see in the info anything about float charging which is what you need for long term storage. It does have trickle charge capability at 2 amps but this is not usable for being on the battery for a week or a month as it will possibly boil off the water in the battery unlike a float charger. I'd check that out before using as a battery maintainer.
Why does the manual say to not charge a dead battery while it is in the car? I know many of you use trickle chargers without apparent problems. What am I missing here?
I see you have a 2010 MY which was when the charging system was revised. Attached to the neg. battery terminal is a control module which is also linked to the ECM . If you have a total discharged battery and need to recharge it you should remove it from the car because a deep charge will have a tendency to emit flammable vapors which could explode. Also you do not want to put the charger clamp on the negative battery terminal as it will damage the control module and possibly the ECM. There is a recommended method to both charge and jump start the car in the OM. You can hook up a smart charger positive lead directly to the battery but you must hook up the negative lead to a body ground and not the negative battery terminal. As I understand it you do not have to do this with the 2007-2009 MY because they have a different charging system.
Oh geezus, here we go again. You know someone that has the same car as Rob? ask to borrow it and try jumping it from another car- let me know if the charging system survives.
I agree Q&C. This is common knowledge in modern cars, or at least should be. Here's a brief read on it and even contains some feedback from Jaguar to the authors of the article on the repercussions of using a car to jump start another:
I have a different Schumacher charger which is simply an older model.
SickRob, when you get her sorted out and IF you decide on a maintaining your battery, a battery tender, not a trickle charger, is what you want. There is a difference and it does matter.
A trickle charger will always apply a charge, whether it needs one or not. A tender will monitor the battery and charge it when to drops to a preset level.
Thanks for all the input. I also have a Schumacher unit. I also have one of these battery combo units that also inflates tires. It has a built in battery and leads to attach to the in-car system.
Since this is just a battery, it appears from the manual that it is fine to use to try to start the car. I have to look further for info on using the Schumacher unit or similar to recharge the battery. Right now I think a new battery is the place to start.
They lived in better times- when a someone asked to drain a tranny, they were pointed to the transmission filter kit. Now they have to build a seperate room.