Thanks Richard!
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Excellent picture, thanks, think that will be the way I go too! Peter
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I have an Oxford solar charger which I will have to connect directly to the battery, it wouldn’t charge through the in car socket
If you have an MX-5 with iStop, I’d connect the negative side of any ‘smart charger’ to the chassis for earth rather than the battery terminal. There is a current sensor on the negative battery terminal so connecting it straight to the terminal means the current sensor won’t ‘see’ any current going into the battery while charging. This may upset the PCMs calculated state of charge of the battery and may affect iStop operation.
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I thought that was for the i-ELOOP charging control.
i-STOP without i-ELOOP should not need it.
And what if the car is not used such as during four months of lockdown?
My Mazda3 leaks 25-45mA dark current according to specification, about an Ampere-hour per day, so after two months it would be a Dodo, if not topped up.
Mazdas W/iStop but WO/iEloop still have the current sensor.
Nowhere did I say I wouldn’t use a battery conditioner.
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This is what Mazda told me in response to an email on battery charging during the first lockdown. They also said the battery caps need to be removed for charging as per the manual.
"After speaking to our Technical Specialist Team I can confirm we would not be able to recommend any battery charger as they will not have been tested by Mazda, however I can confirm the 12V power point does not ‘back-feed’ to the battery. So a charger plugged into this port would not work and only ones which directly attach to the battery would work. A stop-start specific charger would need to be purchased due to the iStop system and would need to be connected under the bonnet as per the instructions on the specific charger across the battery, or directly to the battery and a separate earth point.
The advice we are giving at the moment states for all 6th Generation vehicles (Mazda2, Mazda6, MX-5 and CX-5) - A short 15 minute drive once per week will be good enough to keep the battery in a suitably charged condition and help prevent excessive corrosion forming on brake discs, keep the coolant and oils circulating and naturally rotating tyres so that they won’t flat spot/go out of shape.
If a drive isn’t possible, leaving the car idling for at least 15 minutes (with an adult in the car at all times) will at least keep batteries charged - however the best and guaranteed method is a drive cycle as this keeps brakes and many other things moving.
Please note that vehicle idling is actually an offence against the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002. The law states that is an offence to idle your engine unnecessarily when stationary. If you fail to turn your engine off after being spoken to you may be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £20 - however I’m sure unless you have fussy neighbours this will at least help.
In most cases one or two trips to the local shops will tie a customer over for a short period"
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Very interesting to see what Mazda say, thanks for posting:-)
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Interesting suggestion about the OBD2 socket. I wondered about what fuse separated it from the battery. A little exploration first took me to the help text on the cover, & then the owners manual. Nothing that specifically identifies the OBD. The manual shows a few identifiers with “+B” on the end. I thought, & it checked out that these are live when ignition is off. - straight to battery.
I have a Mk4. By selectively removing fuses, it came down to fuse 23 - described as “ENG+B2” which has a 7.5A fuse. As said elsewhere, pin 4 on OBD2 connector is chassis ground; pin 16 goes to battery positive. With my 5 amp smart conditioning charger, all is looking good. Not only that, but £5 bought me the wirable ODB2 plug, which looks good for my other vehicles.
I agree with this entirely. I think it is far better to start the car up occasionally, get it up to normal operating temperature and get the engine oil circulating to coat the moving parts rather than leaving it for long periods possibly with condensation in the system. Even better to go for a short drive and getting the gearbox, diff and brakes moving, and the tyres rotating.
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In light of the info from Mazda contained in the post by ACB1 I have changed the smart charger for my ND 30AE (which has iStop and iLoop) from an Optimate 4 to an Optimate 5 which is “start/stop” compatible. My ND SE-L Nav which doesn’t have the “benefits?” of that advanced technology will continue to use an Optimate 4.
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You can get a magnetic battery charger connection, I know Audiofile-incar of Bishops Stortford fit them to the front of the Land Rover Defenders they do so if you forget and drive off they decouple.
Saw this on Amazon.
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Perfect for the busy farmer who wants to just get in and go…
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No use to me with my ND’s as their bumpers are plastic and their bonnet and wings are non-ferrous.
Er, you fix one half to the body with what looks like a threaded ring and the two plug connections are magnetic. 
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Ahhh! I see! I should’ve looked at the link first! Silly me!
I still won’t be getting one though!
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I won’t either, the ND is driven daily and the NB has a smart charger that is connected in the boot while it sleeps cosily under it’s cover in the garage only to be awoken by my wife asking how she is. 
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