jrkitching said:

You can charge in situ providing you connect the positive lead of the charger to the positive battery terminal and the negative lead to the 'false' negative battery post or, (better), a solid earth point on the chassis.

Never connect the negative lead of the charger to the actual negative battery terminal with the battery connected or you risk frying £300+ of electronics.

The same rules apply if you want to jumpstart the car from another vehicle battery.

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sorry jr kitching where should i put the negative terminal when jump starting battery? where is false negative terminal exactly?

ahmett said:

sorry jr kitching where should i put the negative terminal when jump starting battery? where is false negative terminal exactly?

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I've seen more than one configuration over the 500's production run, some more compact than others.

I've attached the original '08 S/S supplement - there are indicative diagrams in there.

Much easier just to connect to the positive battery terminal and a good earth point.

jrkitching said:

You can charge in situ providing you connect the positive lead of the charger to the positive battery terminal and the negative lead to the 'false' negative battery post or, (better), a solid earth point on the chassis.

Never connect the negative lead of the charger to the actual negative battery terminal with the battery connected or you risk frying £300+ of electronics.

The same rules apply if you want to jumpstart the car from another vehicle battery.

Click to expand...

Thanks I know that but I was more wondering about any risks of connecting what is probably a fairly dirty dc supply from the charger directly to the car without disconnecting the battery. I know the battery itself will smoothen the supply but my instinct would be to disconnect first to avoid potential harm to electronics. No need you say?

I've done it both ways.
I've charged across both poles of the battery whilst everything was connected normally, and I've charged across both poles with the -ve connection completely off. Both ways on more than one occasion. Only issue was when after reconnecting the -ve lead, I had to reset the date and time.

Both ways worked ok, but with the -ve connection off, I got a better charge and S/S worked adequately.

Thanks JR, for the supplement.

Getting my battery checked sometime today. As far as I can tell, it isn't holding the charge. Trouble is, in taking the car to a mechanic, the battery will be charged, so I'll have to leave it an hour or two (maybe) to allow the charge to drop off.

Mick F said:

I've done it both ways.
I've charged across both poles of the battery whilst everything was connected normally, and I've charged across both poles with the -ve connection completely off. Both ways on more than one occasion. Only issue was when after reconnecting the -ve lead, I had to reset the date and time.

Both ways worked ok, but with the -ve connection off, I got a better charge and S/S worked adequately.

Thanks JR, for the supplement.

Getting my battery checked sometime today. As far as I can tell, it isn't holding the charge. Trouble is, in taking the car to a mechanic, the battery will be charged, so I'll have to leave it an hour or two (maybe) to allow the charge to drop off.

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It could take a while. When I took mine back to FIAT for the S/S problem I noticed the report said;
"Tested battery - Failed. Charged and re-tested - Failed. Battery replaced."

I don't know what sort of charger was used or what sort of test but at least they seem to have been thorough. Obviously it took some time; I left the car with them in the morning and they phoned after mid-day to say it was ready.

Just been to the local garage, and they tested the battery.

Completely fine! Good battery! It should be good too, considering the age of the car!

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These were the sort of comments made. They offered to give me a print-out, but said that if I had any concerns, I should take the car back to where I bought it and let them sort it out. I told them the symptoms of my poor S/S, and they said they knew little or nothing about S/S!!!!

I explained that where we bought the 500, he was just a car salesman and wouldn't have any real info to give me, and that I hoped for some hard evidence of a dodgy battery so I could present him with it.

I'm now in a cleft stick.
1. Just buy a new battery - £100 odd.

2. Take the 500 to Fiat and pay them to test out the S/S, then (hopefully) be presented with hard evidence about the poor battery so I can go back to where I bought the 500 and ask him what he's going to do about it. He's in Torbay - 40odd miles away - 80odd mile round trip.

If I take No 2 option, I may have to pay £50? to Fiat, then £10+ of petrol (plus time) to Torbay and back.

Meanwhile, I'll be calling in at Fiat later this week and asking their advice and asking for an estimate of their charges.

All of a sudden, £100 for a new battery doesn't seem so expensive.

Regards,
Mick.

Did you do a refresh on the battery or just a charge?

I charged it a few times over a week or so using my Ctek charger.
Connect up, and let the Ctek do what it does. S/S definitely improved - though temporarily.

What else should I have done?

Thanks,
Mick

The Ctek has a mode where it boils the acid and refreshes the battery, makes a mahoooooooosive difference

306maxi said:

The Ctek has a mode where it boils the acid

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306maxi said:

makes a mahoooooooosive difference

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might make a mahoooooooosive difference to your underbonnet paintwork if you did it in-situ .

Not sure how a modern gel battery would cope with that sort of overcharge.

Seems a bit of a 'kill or cure' mode to me.

Only very gently Tbh I've always done it in the kitchen. I've got a set of winter wheels in the kitchen at the moment, it makes a nice workshop

306maxi said:

Tbh I've always done it in the kitchen.

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Bringing a car battery into the kitchen would definitely make a mahoooooooosive difference to my relationship.

This one's mine.
http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/mxs-3.8.php

I tried it in both the 0.8A and the 3.8A modes.
I tried it with the battery still connected fully, and I tried it with the -ve terminal completely removed - basically a bench charge.

I left the Ctek until it had gone through all the steps up to Step 6 on each occasion.

What else could I have done?

Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

What else could I have done?

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Put your hand in your pocket and bought a new battery.

This thread would then be about 50 posts shorter and we would all have been spared the story of Maxi boiling acid in the kitchen .

Yeah yeah yeah!

Mick.

Mick F said:

This one's mine.
http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/mxs-3.8.php

I tried it in both the 0.8A and the 3.8A modes.
I tried it with the battery still connected fully, and I tried it with the -ve terminal completely removed - basically a bench charge.

I left the Ctek until it had gone through all the steps up to Step 6 on each occasion.

What else could I have done?

Regards,
Mick.

Click to expand...

Ah, you've got the cheapie one, I've got the mxs5 and it does the refresh

jrkitching said:

Bringing a car battery into the kitchen would definitely make a mahoooooooosive difference to my relationship.

Click to expand...

I've got an understanding wife

Any road up, I've put my hand in my pocket.
[ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Varta-Start-Stop-EFB-Battery-027EFB/dp/B00842JYQC[/ame]



This had better work.

Regards,
Mick.

This is the one.

Mick.

Well fingers crossed it works.

I'm probably going to get our battery tested out in a few weeks in our 62 plate Punto. S/S hasn't worked for about two months now, but in all fairness the car pretty much does sub 5 mile journeys at the mo (which is not great, but if I don't need the car then I don't need it!).

I guess it's not out of the question either that the battery may have permanent damage as the car only did 1500 miles in the 12 months prior to me buying it.

Anyway, all I really care about is that the battery is fine for the winter. Couldn't care less whether S/S actually works or not.