Battery charging

[Ray Bush]

Hi all ,hope everyone is ok and managing to get through these tough times.

My question is . My little Yaris even in normal use doesn't do that many miles and I struggle to keep the Battery charged , now that most of us are doing a lot less miles can I from time to time put the Battery on charge while it's still in the car in order for it to stay alive , what I didn't want to do is to (dependant upon how long the car isn't used ) is to do any damage to the Battery and or car by charging the battery possibly several times over the time it's not being used .

Take care

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Yaris club to generate responses.

[scannerman]

Depends on the interval between use. A good Battery should be ok for quite a time, I will guess at least a couple of months. If not I suspect its getting nackered. One thing that might help your situation is to disconnect the Battery if you are going to leave the car for a while, the ECU will need to reset on the next drive but it will be more covenient than having to keep charging the Battery.

[Bernard Foy]

On 3/28/2020 at 3:00 PM, Ray Bush said:

Hi all ,hope everyone is ok and managing to get through these tough times.

My question is . My little Yaris even in normal use doesn't do that many miles and I struggle to keep the battery charged , now that most of us are doing a lot less miles can I from time to time put the battery on charge while it's still in the car in order for it to stay alive , what I didn't want to do is to (dependant upon how long the car isn't used ) is to do any damage to the battery and or car by charging the battery possibly several times over the time it's not being used .

Take care

Best way to charge the Battery quickly is to take it out for a half hour spin. If unable to do that, to answer your question yes you can put it on the Battery charger without disconnecting from the car. Connect + terminal first and low amp charge is best.

[Fencer24M]

8 hours ago, Bernard Foy said:

Best way to charge the battery quickly is to take it out for a half hour spin. If unable to do that, to answer your question yes you can put it on the battery charger without disconnecting from the car. Connect + terminal first and low amp charge is best.

Okay, thanks! I'm looking for a replacement for my old Corolla and was looking at the Yaris, and I was worried about Battery usage as well (it's a plague I'm always having trouble with when using my phone and laptop, so I was worried about it in a car). Thanks for the information, I'll keep lurking the forum as to see what I can learn about how to use it!

[Madasafish]

  A decent Battery charger will change charging current according to Battery condition and can be safely left connected for weeks or months...

 

Lead acid batteries sulphate the plates if left in a partially charged condition for a long time: capacity is then reduced..

 

Wife's Yaris is charged once a month in winter as short journeys and dark nights - lights, heater air con all one - can leave a Battery in a partially discharegd state.

 

I have a Halfords charger which self regualtes charge and works very well - idiot proof as if connected the wrong way it does not work and the  warning lights on it go out..(just as well)