Club 80-90 Forums

Hi

I have my engine starting battery mounted in the engine bay.

Like most, occasionally I need a little jump to get going after a long spell of not being used.

It's really annoying having to empty everything out, get under the bed, carpet, engine lid and connect up the jump leads.

Has anyone tried making secondary battery terminals somewhere more accessible - either inside the van or accessible from the oil/water flap behind the numberplate? Is this a crazy idea.

I've found some for sale in the US (pitstopusa), but figure you could fairly easily make one with some massive gauge wire.

If they were easy to get to, i'd just rig up a little trickle charger every now and again.

Afterthought: those cheapo solar panels from Maplin? Do they work, they look so tiny I wasn;t convinced, anyone got a story?

What do you think?


My alternative plan of action, whilst not negating the annoyance, is to purchase a portable power starter, some have got compressors and stuff attached too, though I think the readily available ones will not be man enough for a diesel engine - i'm not even sure jumping diesels does them much good anyway.

All points gratefully recieved

A few of us snapped up the LIDL battery charger. I see ALDI also has a version now. Best bet is to run two wires permanently from the battery that you can gain access to via rear door, perhaps terminate them in some kind of socket? That way you could hitch up the charger via a matching plug.

dumpy wrote:Hi

I have my engine starting battery mounted in the engine bay.

Like most, occasionally I need a little jump to get going after a long spell of not being used.


What do you think?

I think you need a new battery.. how long is the "spell" a year? 6 months?

lidl charger as Covkid says is great

Hi
The solution that I have used or the past 30+ years is a fork lit charging socket like this one
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... #powerconn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Which goes to two large cable tails bolted to the battery terminals with ring connecters. Then jump leads made of welding cable. Two earth clamps and it will jump start anything. I have jump started 6LX and 8LX gardner engines, caterpillar engines etc. Used to mount the socket under the front bumper of my wreckers.

Yep, as above. We use these connections at work because most batteries cannot be got at without taking half the plant apart!

On our rickers we used to mount an earth connector as used on mig welders and connected to bat +ve, dont need an earth connector as the bumper iron will act as this.
Mike

Yes my battery is very difficult to get at for security reasons and I am aware of the problem I would have getting a jump start if for instance I left something switched on. A good thick + lead taken to somewhere convenient would do the trick but I would want it to look like something other than an emergency jump or charging point.
Cheers
Wolfie