Hi

am newbie, sort of

97 coupe xk8. Not driven much. Have CTEK trickle charger. But...

how to connect is confusing
red to pos terminal black to neg?


but then I see stuff about battery management system (BMS) and neg to spare tire securing bracket

so what to do?

thanks

 

I park the car for the 6 months of winter and leave the battery charger attached to the two battery poles. The battery stays fully loaded and starts with no problems in May even though the temperature regularly gets below -30C (-22F) for a couple months.

 

so you don't worry about the BMS (battery management system) and the idea to connect to the spare tire securing bracket

and

what charger do you have?

 

You need to keep the battery at about 13.5v, that will keep it charged but it will not gas . I used one of the earth bolts to the right of the battery for the neg and connected positive to the positive terminal clamp bolt. If you keep the battery charged it will not freeze.
I have a standard electronic charger which outputs 14.2v and I put a diode in line which reduces the voltage by 0,7v ie 13,5v .I have a charger output extension cable with the diode in it so I can use it without the diode for normal charging on other cars

 

You've probably seen that on posts about the X150 XK. Our cars, the X100, has no BMS to worry about.

 

ah so, so much for that
but
I did watch a gazillion YouTube on charging the XK8

best one is and the author is kinda like your grandpa; speaks nice accented English
​​​
Several said use the spare tire securing bracket to avoid a spark
So BMS issue is gone
spark issue has arisen
but I guess spark probability is kinda minimal
so I think am done on this
I will see if CTEK cable reaches the spare tire thingie

thanks for all the help

 

Use the bolt to the right of the battery instead of the spare wheel fixing. If its turned off when you connect then its not going to spark. Jump starting etc is not the same as making a permanent connection for a small charger.

 

I prefer to leave my hood/bonnet open rather than the trunk/boot so I connect my CTEK up front on my 97.


+ on left to bolt under rubber flap cover. - on right attached to strut mount bolt

 

There’s a substantial amount of cushion built in to the trunk seal. It doesn’t hurt anything to close the trunk with the charger wires routed across the opening.

I was a little hesitant to do this when I first bought the car, but the wise sages of the forum assured me that the charger wires would not be pinched to any degree. They were correct. With the trunk lid closed I can still move the charger wires in and out of the trunk easily.


I hook up the Delran battery tender plus every time the car is sitting overnight or longer. So far that’s been about 1,400 times the trunk lid has been closed over the charger wires and left overnight that way. No damage to the wires or the trunk seal.


Z

 

There will never be a spark in or near the car if all of your connections are tight & you hook the charger to the power last . An old electric company lineman taught me that rule. Alway work towards the power source and you’ll never have a problem with electricity sparking in the wrong place.

Z