Back in stock, from Thursday 14th Jan
http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=30031
I bought one last year, using it right now perfect for keeping your garage bound 5’s battery topped up.
Hi
While your charging your winter stored car, are you disconnecting the Battery Terminals or leaving them in place while conditioning the Battery
As there seems to be varied opinions on this ??
I’m currently charging mine with the Battery Terminals disconnected
I was just wondering what approach others take.
Cheers
Gary.
I try and use the MX5 as often as possible but if not used for over 2 weeks then I trickle charge. I have an automatic charger and set the charge rate to 3 amps and charge the battery on the car still connected. To avoid any surges I connect the charger to the battery and then switch on the charger.
Avoids having to reset the radio and the DSC and relearn the ECU when I next come to use the car.
I always leave the battery terminals on, no problems so far, famous last words!! I have accidentally left an alternator connected while welding the car and had the alternator fail very shortly after. This was a car where the alternator was the only electronic thing on it.
I welded the Mk2 while using a suppressor shunt across the battery to protect the electronics, and the car seems to have suffered no ill effects.
I have used an Optimate 4 for some years with 3 different cars. I use the permanent connectors that come with it (it also comes with the crocodile clip connectors). I plug the car in after every trip, the battery is still connected as per the instructions. No hassle, no problems with car circuitry etc., no starting problems, no flat battery! Great piece of kit! My nephew stores his race Honda Fireblade each winter with an Optimate attached to the battery, bike starts first time and battery in tip-top condition in the spring!
I leave my battery connected and just hook up the Lidl charger. It gets a charge if not used for say more than 7 days, and topped up every 3 days or so. Of course it can be left on 27/7 but I choose not to do that.
Thanks for letting us know MickAp. I bought one at Lidl last year - now permanently connected to my hibernating Honda Beat. At their price, I’ll grab another for the Eunos!
I bought one of these a few years back. Works fine, so long as the battery is at least half-full (otherwise it thinks it’s a 6V battery and stops charging at that point).
I don’t run mine on the car - there’s no power socket nearby. Instead, I’ve got a spare (sealed) battery on charge in the house. If one of the cars goes flat, I can do a quick swap, or use it as a portable jump-starter. Worked quite well when one of my neighbours had a flat, and saved moving the cars around.
I’m a big fan of the optimate too - used an optimate 3 SP on bikes and MX5, etc for years.
If something works really well as this does, find it hard to consider any other option. Currently looking to buy an additional charger as too many vehicles/batteries for just the one.
The lidl charger is very cheap - does it have a desulfate mode?
I have a two year old Noco which is excellent but refused to charge a battery too low in starting voltage. However after having been kicked by a simple charger for five minutes the battery was then recharged and reconditioned by the Noco, and after a month of short journeys started the Vectra early this morning first turn despite three inches of snow on the car.
The latest version of the Noco Genius G3500UK 6V/12V 3.5A UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger addresses the problem of a totally flat battery as one of the extra options now added to the charge modes. It is expensive but worth a look to see what is possible. It also has a screw-on terminal lead for installing across the battery in ones car - I fitted the lead with its capped socket to my MX5.
As with the Optimate, there is a desulphation phase of the charging process,
during which the charger delivers a low-amperage pulse charge.
On the Optimate 3 SP this is indicated by the flashing orange LED.
On the LIDL this is indicated by the flashing of the voltage display.
The LIDL charger feels a solid, well built device. 3 Years warranty. German TUV certified.
I’m well pleased with mine.