charging the battery

Adrian & Joanne Hall · Post by **Adrian & Joanne Hall** » Sat Jun 15, 2002 12:41 pm

Hi all
How long should it take to recharge the battery on an MX5? I've been away
for 3 weeks, came back to find the battery completely flat. The AA man paid
a visit, got the car started and said the battery appeared to be charging OK
and suggested I drive it around for at least half an hour to recharge it. I
had no problems with that suggestion (just a shame that the weather's not
better in Akld today) however when I stopped, the car wouldn't restart. Got
a push start and then drove up an down the motorway for another 40 minutes,
only to find when I got home again that the battery was still not that
enthuasiastic about starting the car... Do MX5 batteries take longer than
ordinary ones to recharge, or is this a sign that either my battery is dead,
or that the alternator isn't holding the charge??

Thanks in advance
Joanne

Ric Allan · Post by **Ric Allan** » Sat Jun 15, 2002 2:04 pm

18-24 hours at TWO amps... NO HIGHER THAN TWO AMPS!!! A fast charge can
kill that battery.

Keith Cook · Post by **Keith Cook** » Sat Jun 15, 2002 2:17 pm

Sorry Adrian but I think a new battery is indicated. When mine went like that (it was not an MX5 batt.) when pulled out it was only 1/2 full of water and the other half was sulphate!

Gary Morrison · Post by **Gary Morrison** » Sat Jun 15, 2002 2:54 pm

Your battery will be fine, as long as you have the original MX-5 battery do
this... (DONT LET ANYONE PUT IT ON A REGULAR BATTERY CHARGER THOUGH!)

Buy yourself a trickle charger from Repco, they're a plug pack with leads
and clips. They deliver about 1A.

Put the battery on that (take out of car first) for about 24 hours, 36 if
you can.

Put back in car and all should be well.

My battery is 10 years old, and has been rescued like this twice, and is
still going strong.

Gary

Post by **zorruno** » Sat Jun 15, 2002 4:58 pm

The MX5 battery may appear dead, but can usually be revived with the correct
procedures

a couple of good links about mx5 battery charging are
http://www.miata.net/garage/jumpstart.html
and http://www.miata.net/garage/battery.html

oh and if you still need info, many more links about batteries in general
here:
http://uuhome.de/william.darden/batlinks.htm

[...]

Mark Roberts · Post by **Mark Roberts** » Sat Jun 15, 2002 5:59 pm

starting the car... Do MX5 batteries take longer than ordinary ones to
recharge, or is this a sign that either my battery is dead,

Others have given excellent advice but possibly not really answered
these questions:

From personal experience, it's probably fine, but needs to be trickle-

charged by a charger. Just driving around won't do it. Chargers are
MUCH cheaper than a new battery.

OTOH if yours is an import, bear in mind that the battery is probably
already at least 5 years old - so maybe a replacement is called for.