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Battery charging

Joined
23 April 2004
Messages
6
Location
Atlanta
I've been having problems with my battery and so we had it replaced. The first few times it started up fine after a week or two but after 3 weeks it needs a jump. I bought a battery charger from the local auto supply store but I'm trying to determine the best method to hook this up. The charger seems to have both a slow charge setting that will cut off when charged and a setting that allows me to use it to jump the battery. I'd like to use it hooked to the car and keep it charged rather than jumping it or hoping it will start but I have some questions and don't want to mess this up.

Is there a certain type of charger I need or will the one I purchased do?
Can I hook it to the battery while it is in the car or do I need to remove it?
I read that I should just charge it at 2 amps slowly. Is that the best way?
The battery I have came from Acura, can anyone confirm if I have a wet or gel battery since my charger requires this designation.

Any other advice you can give me is appreciated. I don't want to mess this up but I want to drive the car whenever I can without a jump.

Thanks for all your help.
 
It is better for the battery to "trickle charge" it, or slowly charge it, over putting a fast charge on it. Definitely go with the trickle charge. You can leave the battery installed in the car while it charges.

The Battery Tender is considered to be a tried and true product for keeping a charge on a battery in a vehicle that sits for a period of time between outings, but any quality charger should serve your needs. It is possible to rig your charger with a "quick disconnect" cable, so you can basically "unplug" the car from the charger and go, without having to raise the hood and disconnect the charger each time you drive the car.

My gut instinct is that the charger you have already purchased will be sufficient, but it would be helpful if you would post the make and model of the charger, as well as the specific battery that you purchased from Acura, in order that accurate replies be given...

A good discussion of the topic of battery chargers and how to rig a "quick disconnect" can be found here.
 
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The slow charge setting that shuts down when the battery is charged would be great. The only question is when the battery goes down will it turn back on. I am guessing it will and that is perfect for keeping your battery in good shape.

No need to disconnect the battery from the car for charging

The battery you have is a wet cell type
 
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Just want to clarify one thing...the owners manual says I need to disconnect the cables from the battery before setting up a charger or I may damage the car electronics. Do I need to remove the cables? Or can I leave it as is and just hook up the charger? My spare is already out so getting to the battery is easy.

I can take back the charger I have so please let me know if you think it might not be the right solution.

It is a Vector model VEC1095A It can charge at 2 / 10/25 amps and has a 75amp jump start setting.

Thanks again for all the help. I'll read the other threads too!
 
The charger you have should never be left on the battery for more than a day. It will eventually dry out the battery.

What you want is a float charger, NOT a trickle charger. Float chargers, such as battery tenders do what others on here describe, they bring the battery up to the correct voltage then stop charging. They then turn on periodically when the battery voltage begins to drop (from self-discharge and/or the small current drain with the car turned off) I have one car that I drive once or twice a year. I have a float charger on it that I paid all of $8for. The battery is 10 yars old and the car starts every time.

If a battery needs a charge, unless you are in a hurry, always charge it at the lowest current setting possible. A quick / high current charge generates a lot of heat and cuts into the life of the battery. NSX batteries should last a fairly long time because they are not near the heat of the engine.

Anyway, the instructions on disconnecting the battery before charging are to protect the electronics in case you reverse the leads of the charger, the charger waveform has too high of a peak voltage, etc.

I put the float charger on mine during the winter without disconnecting the battery. I have also connected up a charger like yours without disconnecting the battery. But, I'm one of those engineer types that's comfortable around electronics. If you don't have a good level of comfort around electrical systems and mess up, you can wipe out lots of expensive stuff. So, its your risk/decision on not following the manual.

Frank
'96 NSX-T, red/tan
 
Just want to clarify one thing...the owners manual says I need to disconnect the cables from the battery before setting up a charger or I may damage the car electronics. Do I need to remove the cables? Or can I leave it as is and just hook up the charger? My spare is already out so getting to the battery is easy.

I charge my car with the battery connected all the time it should not be a problem but they put the into the instructions just to protect the maker from liability. I would not connect at the battery its just to hard to get to and having to take out the spare tire is unnecessary. Just connect to the jump start terminal in the engine bay (+) and the engine (-)

I can take back the charger I have so please let me know if you think it might not be the right solution.

It is a Vector model VEC1095A It can charge at 2 / 10/25 amps and has a 75amp jump start setting.

Thanks again for all the help. I'll read the other threads too!

Reading the info it looks like it will work just fine on the 2A float mode for maintaining the battery in you NSX.
 
I've been having problems with my battery and so we had it replaced. The first few times it started up fine after a week or two but after 3 weeks it needs a jump.

A new battery should be able to last 3 weeks especially when you are driving your car. I think you may want to find out what's causing the battery to drain. Putting a float/trickle charger is a band-aid. Do you have a alarm that is always on?

The float/trickle charger can be connected in the engine bay. The positive is located in the fuse box by the air box. The negative is located near the engine marked with a "-" on a silver square post.
 
I installed a trickle-charge battery maintainer on my NSX. The car would sit for weeks at a time and the alarm system would drain the battery. Once I installed the trickle charger, which left a small pig-tail located in the front center vent area, I would park the car and just plug it in and the battery was perfectly maintained regardless of how long I left it parked.

Just remember to unplug it before you drive off!
 
With a good battery the NSX can sit for 3 weeks easily, even with the alarm red light blinking.

It is better to have a float charger on it as that will extend the battery life. I prefer to just let the car sit, typically for 2weeks, and the battery lasts long enough that I don't bother with the float charger.
 
The charger you have should never be left on the battery for more than a day. It will eventually dry out the battery.

What you want is a float charger, NOT a trickle charger. Float chargers, such as battery tenders do what others on here describe, they bring the battery up to the correct voltage then stop charging.
You seem to have misunderstood. She has an "automatic" float charger, that stops charging once the battery is fully charged.

Stock cars are generally okay for 10-14 days, but it's not uncommon for an NSX battery to be drained when the car sits for three weeks. There is nothing wrong with your car.

As Brian notes, it's a lot easier to access the jump start terminal in the engine bay.
 
It is better to have a float charger on it as that will extend the battery life. I prefer to just let the car sit, typically for 2weeks, and the battery lasts long enough that I don't bother with the float charger.

Ditto, and more fun than plugging the charger into the outlet.:biggrin:
 
Thanks for ALL the great advice....hooked it up at the jumper terminals and let it charge for several hours....seems to have topped it off and it fired right up. For some reason the charger I purchased defaults to "gel" if the power goes out so I unplugged it for now. Will be out of town for a few weeks and then I'll hook it up the day before I want to head out again. I understand the reason why you wouldn't want to open up the engine every time for this so thanks for the other long term advice.

Hopefully I can get sunny days once a week and there won't be much need for this, but when I can't, then I'll just hook it up as needed.....

Thanks again...
 
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