Gen.4 Battery charging.

This may not be necessary, but it is best to be armed with the facts.
Due to medical circumstances, Tonka has been laid up since 20th November and will stay laid up until probably mid January 2021. The only electrical drain is the immobiliser circuit. I have a Ring workshop battery charger - Toolstation page 341 - and with the hoo-ha about " cant do this " or "cant do that", I would like the opinion of this forums members as to how to charge the battery and whether or not my charger is suitable.

Many thanks for your comments.

Roger

Just looking at the description and I wouldn’t be inclined to leave that attached for longer periods it looks to be good for flat batteries not battery maintenance. If its all you have then I would be looking for monitor charge and periodically leave it on overnight and then disconnected until the battery gets low again.

For long term connection we prefer an intelligent charger such as the C-Tech range.

We have a small C-Tech wired into the boat to keep a permanent eye on the pair of large AGM batteries we have. It only needs to be a small one if it is used to keep healthy batteries healthy. This only charges when necessary and used conditioning pulses. We added it to our boat in 2014 to batteries that were already two years old. We had to replace the batteries in 2019 so around 7 years old with the winters spent outside in rain/sleet and snow (and they only failed then due to switch gear mismanagement on our behalf.

www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-5-0-Reconditio...601&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Confirming that there is a key difference between a battery charger and a battery conditioner - do not confuse them. I have several Optimate products and thoroughly recommend them in terms of being effective in extending battery life, being reliable in operation and cheap to run. From traditional batteries in vintage vehicles to CanBus systems in current BMW's - they just quietly ensure an easy start after months of inactivity. Just make sure you get the correct Optimate that covers your Jimny (and any other vehicles/batteries that you have or might be getting soon).

My Gen 3 draws 50mA, the same as Mike’s and given that it only has a 45Ahr battery, after 30 days, I doubt it will start. I am guessing that the Gen 4 will be similar.

I have had this problem on my other car for the last 13 years and if it was me I would take the battery out and bring it inside, it won’t need charging for a couple of months, then just charge it before use. Just lock the car with the key.

Alternatively, I have just bought a solar panel for my Gen 3, 10w and will wire this in. A 10w panel will just about match the parasitic discharge current providing you can face south. A 20w panel would be better.

I have had a small panel for my other car for several years as I still use it a bit in winter so removing the battery is too much of a faff.

The only other thing I have just bought for both cars is a CTEK Battery Sense, it’s a small Bluetooth battery monitor, if you left the battery in your Gen 4 it will tell you when it needs charging.

Car was last run on 15th November. Suzuki recommend running engine for 30 minutes with lights on every 4 weeks. Just hobbled out and started motor after 50 days. Battery charge indicated about 11.8 volts. No problem starting. Ambient temp. 5 degree C.

Roger