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Idling to charge car battery

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TwoSmokeDS

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Hey.
I have been driving my car not much (about 20 miles per week). It doesn't seem like that's enough to charge the battery to max capacity. It struggled to start my car yesterday.

If I let my car idle on the driveway, how long would it take to fully recharge the battery?

Interstate battery is 1 year old.
 
Not sure if it charges much at idle. Depends on how discharged the battery is also. Buy a cheap battery charger and charge it over night or on weekends when your home. I work at a car dealership and we start the cars once a week to check the fuel and so forth. I think the electricity would cost less than having it idle in the driveway. Best advice I can give is sell the car and buy another motorcycle.:rofl:
 
Too many unstated variables to give you an answer. In any case it's not worth it, you'll be wasting too much gas, will take too much time and risk getting your vehicle stolen or overheated while idling. Run an extension cord and buy a $30 Harbor Freight charger and the job will be done in an hour.

_
 
This?
image_21974.jpg

Centech
This portable automotive battery charger has three modes, making it easy to charge, maintain or jumpstart 12 volt batteries. Use this car charger/jumpstarter to bring drained batteries back to life and keep them charged. This engine starter doubles as a trickle charger.
•Portable unit offers 2-10 amp charging rates plus a 50 amp engine start for emergency starting
•Warning lamps for reverse polarity and charge complete
•Switches to trickle mode when battery is completely charged
•Self-resetting circuit breaker
•Auto shutoff
•Thermal protection shutoff
•6 ft. battery leads with copper plated clamps for superior conductivity
Click to expand...
 
TwoSmokeDS said:
This?
image_21974.jpg
Click to expand...

That's their higher one, usually found on sale for $40 and then use a 25% off coupon. They also have one without the 50amp start assist for about $10 cheaper. That one will be $25 OTD after coupon and sales tax and is what I would buy. Then you're never tempted to hit your battery with the 50amp, not the best thing for battery life.

_
 
And of course, match the charger to the battery type: open wet cell, sealed wet cell, AGM, Lion, etc.
Good luck
 
year make and model? and this is wrong section for this.

20 miles at one time or spread over a full week?

test the battery.
 
Most cars won't really charge at idle. Either take a longer trip, or charge it every other weekend.
 
Is there a charger that can charge both my car battery (12V wet cell lead acid)as well as my scooter's battery (12V wet cell lead acid)?
 
Swing it by any Firestone, we test batteries for free. We also sale Interstate Batteries. 1yr old is free replacement, although you may have to pay the labor to swap them, should be 15$..

Go out for a drive, like an hour or two to get a good charge back in the battery then keep it on a battery tender after that. You can also have a Battery & Electrical test done at any FS for 25$. Checks battery, alt, starter for any charging related issues.
 
Sounds kind of like the battery is on it's way out. At church we have a truck that's used to haul a trailer to and from storage to the school we meet at once a week. It's about an 8 mile round trip, and that's all the truck does. It was getting hard to start so I put a new battery on it and it hasn't hesitated since.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'd definitely have the battery tested.

I have a similar condition. My mother's car sits in front of my house and is driven maybe 1-2 times a week, to take Mom to church (only a mile each way) or to an occasional doctor visit. That's actually plenty to keep the battery revved up. But we've had a couple of batteries fail on us due to lack of use.
 
And carry one of those terminal cleaner brushes. I can't tell you how many cars I have started after cleaning the contact areas on "dead" batteries.

In this case I would charge at least once a month, probably twice a month. Doing this you should get at least 4 or 5 years out of a good interstate battery. Exception for me is if the battery gets fully drained even once, it can be recharged but it is the makings of an early death.

Greater damage is to the engine that NEVER gets hot. Definitely change oil ahead of schedule or get it out on the highway once in awhile.
 
Solar charger from Rural King, plugs into lighter socket, sits on dash, costs $18. Works for me.
 
KenH said:
Solar charger from Rural King, plugs into lighter socket, sits on dash, costs $18. Works for me.
Click to expand...

Great idea.

I am using solar for an electric fence but it could double as a charger if the fence was turned off. A bit more expensive though - about $300.
 
KenH said:
Solar charger from Rural King, plugs into lighter socket, sits on dash, costs $18. Works for me.
Click to expand...

Thread jack....which one do you have. This is a great idea Ken.:clap: Went to their site and found one for $24.99.
 
The solar chargers I have seen have all been less than a amp and are more maintainers than chargers.
 
I would have the battery checked. If it is good, plug in a battery maintainer ($15 from harbor freight) and forget about it. I ruined a battery because I didn't drive the truck but 6 miles a week for a few months.
 
KenH said:
Solar charger from Rural King, plugs into lighter socket, sits on dash, costs $18. Works for me.
Click to expand...

This is OK on some vehicles but not all. The lighter socket needs to be active even with the ignition off for this to work. I have two Toyotas that the lighter sockets only work with the ignition on, so the solar charger won't work on them plugged into the socket. My Chevy has an active lighter socket, so it will work on it. How ever, most of these charger/maintainers have the option of clipping directly to the battery with alligator clips.
 
Yes, the little solar chargers are low amp, but do have diodes to prevent discharge when there is no sun. This application does not need a charger, it needs a maintainer to KEEP the battery charged when not in use. This maintainer will do that if the collector is placed in a brightly lit area.

Typical wet cell batteries lose 0.5 to 1% of there charge per day if hooked to nothing, and modern vehicles have constant low amp draws such as clocks, computer memories, and alarms, so the batteries go dead quicker than older cars. When I was doing road service I had customers who traveled often who called for jumps every time they were gone for a couple weeks or more. This is 100% normal of newer vehicles.

The solution is a low amp maintainer. Solar works great, and though direct sunlight boosts the output, there is some charging even on a cloudy day. Solar won't work in a garage unless you have a window. Plug in maintainers also work great, but if you park in the drive the wires can be a tripping hazard. Being in Texas, you could hook your bicycle generator up to your windmill to keep your vehicle battery charged. You could hook up your stationary bicycle to a 12-volt generator and get something out of your exercise. There are dozens of ways to get it done. Do one that works for you. If you are blessed with sunlight the solar charger is good. It is the easiest for me.

The $24.99 solar maintainer is cheaper in the stores. Same thing I have. Works great. I've never seen a vehicle that the cigarette lighter socket (not "power outlet") is switched. Not saying such a thing doesn't exist, just that I've never seen one. Even if your vehicle does not have an unswitched lighter socket, it would be very easy to pull a wire to an "always hot" terminal in the fuse panel.
 
Had an '03 Corolla & now a '11 Corolla, both with lighter sockets that are switched. Can be quite the pain when trying to charge a cell phone.
 
You couldn't pull a wire to solve the problem? Sockets inaccessible without major dash teardowns? I expect a very simple fix, but can see where issues could arise.

I wouldn't doubt that a maintainer plugged in to the wrong terminal could really mess up the computer, too. Did that in a Freightliner plugging a maintainer into a non-switched socket. Had to wire a socket to a direct-to-battery terminal to keep the frig cold all weekend. Took about 10 minutes, and the glove box had to be disassembled to reach the fuse panel. Hey, it's built in Mexico by a company owned by Germans. Ever meet a Mexican who spoke German? Now you know what is wrong with Freightliners.
 
Bistineau said:
This is OK on some vehicles but not all. The lighter socket needs to be active even with the ignition off for this to work. I have two Toyotas that the lighter sockets only work with the ignition on, so the solar charger won't work on them plugged into the socket. My Chevy has an active lighter socket, so it will work on it. How ever, most of these charger/maintainers have the option of clipping directly to the battery with alligator clips.
Click to expand...

On our Tacomas if you plug a solar maintainer into the lighter socket the clock turns on.

My Jeep lives on a 2.5 watt solar maintainer from Northern Tool.
 
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