[androdev]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Just checking. Typically how many kms do you run every month in each of your cars and hence how long do the batteries last in each? Whats the general average time period in which you have needed to replace the batteries?

I bought this charger primarily for my 2012 S-Class as it was on 4th battery by 2017. I figured this car eats batteries for breakfast and decided to buy this charger and started this thread! No more battery replacements since 2017 - which is not such a long period for an AGM battery but given the past track record it's a big improvement. The car is used once in a week within city and sees a once-a-month outstation trip. I hook up the charger weekly once. It has done some 65K+ km so far. Car comes with keyless entry feature and the key fob battery also requires frequent replacement - almost once a year I think (possibly because we get low quality batteries here - MAXELL? instead of Panasonic, etc.)

Flooded batteries in my other car like Honda City, etc. typically go out in 4 years and I don't mind replacing them at the first sign of them going bad because someone door delivers the battery and it costs Rs 5K (?) I think. I charge them occasionally (lockdown or after long out of station trips, etc.).

Things are not as simple when it comes to these luxury cars. AGM batteries are not readily available over the counter. They are expensive. They often require programming at the dealer to register a new battery replacement (true for BMW). Some dramatic errors show up to freak you out. Having a charger that costs Rs 6-7K is a no brainer for me especially if you have access to a power socket in the parking area.

[am1m]

Used the car after 6 months, last week!

Had already changed the battery after it went dead (which was ok, since it was over 5 years old by then), and had disconnected the new battery. Reconnected and used the car for a run of a 180-km day trip last week.

Situation is that we both hate driving in Bangalore traffic. And now since we have remote work (and both have offices near metro stations, even if we need to go in, rarely), we have even less incentive to use the car in Bangalore. I use the bike and Metro, she uses autos and the Metro. Plus we usually end up working from outside Bangalore a few months in the year. Considered selling the car, but we still go on the odd long driving trip.

So perhaps a trickle charger is a solution. But I have never used one.

Some basic questions:

1. Do you need to keep it on continuously, when the car is not being used?
2. Are there wires or something that will stick out of the hood? I guess to the socket?
3. I'm not sure the outside power sockets work, so I will probably have to route that through a window or something. Or am I misunderstanding how these things work?
4. Should I just continue with disconnecting and re-connecting the battery?
5. Or should we just be a little disciplined and one of us can take the car for a 50km spin every 2 weeks on a Sunday? (That will be good for the tyres too.)

Thanks in advance for any information, I am clueless about this.