General Charging Punto Battery

[cluelessmotorist94]

Hi all, this is my first post on the FIAT forum. My question is about charging the battery on the Punto Mk/2.

My battery is 12V, 40ah and is in good condition, but needs recharging. I'm looking at purchasing this battery charger for the winter months: https://www.very.co.uk/streetwize-accessories-612-amp-automatic-battery-charger/1600013741.prd?_requestid=239432&Ntt=streetwize%20battery%20charger

I would use the low charging mode to charge it at 4amps.

Would using this charger at 4amps, while the battery is still connected to the car harm it in any way?

I only have a basic sony radio connected in the car.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[Ziggy122]

If the battery charger is outputting upto 14.5v then it should be fine to leave it connected

If it goes higher i would disconnect to prevent issues....

No issues with charging at 8amps espically if its a flat flat battery
4amps is still a normal rate of charge, these chargers will decrease as the battery is charged
So 4amp peak or 8 on high

Ziggy

 

[Brendan W]

A rule of thumb for safe charging old school lead acid batteries is C/10 which means one tenth of the capacity. For a 40 Ah battery 4 Amps is bang on.
They can take more but at C/10 you can relax and leave it to itself.
I had to recharge our 37 Ah last week. I used the bike charger overnight on the high, 4 Amp, setting.
If the car has a serious drain the charger will end up trying to fight it.
Best practice is to remove from car completely. You can charge on the car. Disconnect the negative terminal and let it charge in situ but isolated from load.

 

[Ziggy122]

Stupidly flat batteries can mess up these style chargers as the battery suck way more than these can producr
Ive got a charger for my rc cars and thats controlled preventing it suckin too much