12v battery maintenance, issues, etc.

[Chas G]

I start in accessory mode to check the Battery voltage using a £10 meter that plugs into the 12 volt cigarette lighter type socket. (12.7volts)

then swap to ready mode to see the charging voltage. (14.3 volts)

 

 

[Mojo1010]

You got conned Chas, I have a similar one with 4 usb port for 2 quid. 

[Chas G]

36 minutes ago, Mojo1010 said:

You got conned Chas, I have a similar one with 4 usb port for 2 quid. 

It was the only one I could find that was available on the high street (B&Q).

I don't have a credit card so I never buy anything on the Internet..........having had my bank account scammed for several £000's on more than one occasion. 

[Corolly Poly]

1 hour ago, Mojo1010 said:

You got conned Chas, I have a similar one with 4 usb port for 2 quid. 

Waiting for mine from AliExpress - £1.68. You were robbed😂

[Dala]

Today's global technology blackout ? 😮

[Yaris_Cross]

12 hours ago, Corolly Poly said:

Waiting for mine from AliExpress - £1.68. You were robbed😂

Which bit of he had to buy on the highstreets as he cannot do online shopping did you not get?

You may change your when your car looks like this 😉 

 

[Corolly Poly]

12 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

Which bit of he had to buy on the highstreets as he cannot do online shopping did you not get?

You may change your when your car looks like this 😉 

 

I was responding to @Mojo1010

did you not get that😂

[Yaris_Cross]

OK i take that back, your car is still going to look like this one day 😉

 

[Corolly Poly]

4 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

OK i take that back, your car is still going to look like this one day 😉

 

Nah, its a Corolla TS

[Yaris_Cross]

15 minutes ago, Corolly Poly said:

Nah, its a Corolla TS

They all burn the same  😉

[Mojo1010]

13 hours ago, Corolly Poly said:

Waiting for mine from AliExpress - £1.68. You were robbed😂

Got it from there too, the price fluctuates with tax it's about 1.70-2.00.  

[Cyker]

37 minutes ago, Corolly Poly said:

Nah, its a Corolla TS

I think Yaris_Cross was just trying to make a joke about overly-cheap chinese electronics being a possible fire hazard  

[Dala]

That's right! Why buy cheap when I can buy the same thing several times more expensive.🙃

[Mojo1010]

The 12v monitor from BQ are most likely to be made in china. I used to buy car stuff and other small things from eBay and Amazon, now can get it for a fraction of the price from ali express. 

Another example, tyre rubber strings cost £10-12 for 100 pcs bought in the past from eBay, recently got this for £2. It would have been cheaper before the UK govt in the introduced a 20% tax tariff on anything in recent years, it was free <£18 prior to this. 

[Yaris_Cross]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I think Yaris_Cross was just trying to make a joke about overly-cheap chinese electronics being a possible fire hazard  

It was a joke but sometimes things are cheap for a reason.

[Cyker]

The trick is figuring out what's what - I try to get stuff that has an actual manufacturer mark on it, as there are a lot of poor-quality generic clones floating around.

However, even then, I've been bitten many times by buying something similar-looking but much cheaper only to for it to fail - I suspect a lot of those thing were factory rejects that failed QC but were then resold.

The old say of "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" is always worth bearing in mind!

[Yaris_Cross]

Quote

The trick is figuring out what's what - I try to get stuff that has an actual manufacturer mark on it, as there are a lot of poor-quality generic clones floating around.

According to the B&Q their 12v voltmeter is from a UK company

i would gladly pay £7:99 with a proper 12 month warranty and no postage.
 

Hardys Car Battery Tester - 12V/24V Plug & Go Voltmeter, Lit LCD Display, Easy Readability, Measure and Drop Tester

Sold & shipped by Jazooli
 

Hardys Car Battery Tester - 12V/24V Plug & Go Voltmeter, Lit LCD Display, Easy Readability, Measure and Drop Tester | DIY at B&Q

Jazooli Afrapoco Limited
VAT number: GB939404994
Registered address
Unit 1 St Marys Industrial Park, Talbot Road, Newton SK14 4HN, United Kingdom
 

[Mojo1010]

Well from a UK company, not unusual, 99% made in china for pennies. 

https://www.toolstation.com/streetwize-12v-amber-beacon-led-light/p18425 

Above from UK based company yes, product made in china. Got it for £6 tax inclusive. 

[hind]

It's not about where it is produced but who does the QC. 

My wife attended for the university courses in home and city lighting. They went to the Phillips factory for a tour. The employee told them that the led "bulbs" are manufactured in China and about 80% of the production is sent for disposal as they don't meet the quality criteria in terms of designed power consumption, colour temperature etc. 

That's how "this is Philips led but without the logo that's why it's cheap" are made. They are most often out of specs low quality products which were rejected by the client. 

So you have to do the risk assessment yourself. What would happen if it starts to burn. Would you be able to plug it out? For the cig voltmeter I'd say - yeah, should be doable. What are the other potential issues? Maybe some radio interferences, worst case scenario it will blow up the fuse. So even if this is really bad design with bad assemble it should not cause the fire 🙂 but you should always be cautious. 

[Mojo1010]

You are correct on risk assessment and QC. Some led bulbs may not pass due to colouring etc, still safe to use. 

Talking of Philips, I too have visited their factory in Holland some 20 years ago when I was at college studying business with the topic on a European manufacturing company. Found out that Sainsbury's light bulbs were made by Philips, it was sold cheaper than Philips bulbs in the store. 

[ColinB]

I've worked closely with Chinese factories over the last couple of decades, making products for sale through UK retailers. Chinese products can be easily up there with the best of anything produced anywhere, but you have to choose the factories carefully. For my own piece of mind nowadays I only purchase through companies that I trust to have some oversight of the production process, QC is part of this but they also need to monitor the production itself. Cheap products may be ok, but I've seen some real worrying stuff in my time.... 

[Corolly Poly]

4 hours ago, Cyker said:

I think Yaris_Cross was just trying to make a joke about overly-cheap chinese electronics being a possible fire hazard  

Thanks for the mansplain but I did get it and was joking back😂

[Corolly Poly]

Ironically, bearing in mind my involvement in this thread today, I have just suffered my first dead car. Hadn't been used for a week or 10 days but was due to do 300 miles round trip next weekend so though it would be ok. It has comfortably lasted 3 weeks before. however, I had not factored in, or thought about, the guy who came to clean it leaving doors open and upping and downing the boot regularly.

Came to start it and was dead. Was behaving weirdly with strange beeps and brake pedal pulsing when I depressed it. Manged to jump it using wife's car after it insisted I placed key next to start button. Left it for a couple of hours in ready mode whilst I went out for pub lunch and all seems good now.

Lesson learnt - stick the CTEK on before he visits to get Battery topped right up and back on again after he leaves.

[Corolly Poly]

6 hours ago, Yaris_Cross said:

Which bit of he had to buy on the highstreets as he cannot do online shopping did you not get?

You may change your when your car looks like this 😉 

 

Sensible answer. I will only be plugging it in for a quick reading and it will not be in for more than a few seconds. I agree some of these things are a risk and would not leave it permanently plugged in.

[CPN]

2 minutes ago, Corolly Poly said:

Sensible answer. I will only be plugging it in for a quick reading and it will not be in for more than a few seconds. I agree some of these things are a risk and would not leave it permanently plugged in.

Well, as it happens, when the car is off, it is off also so not much risk there then.