Morris Minor Owners Club

Connected battery charger [correctly] and before it was plugged in, it started a plaintif 'pinging' sound.

It is a more regular 'ping' now. Has been plugged in for an hour or so.

Someone tell me it's ok to go out and leave it please.

It didn't do this last time I used it.

I suppose the worst thing that can happen is it'll trip one of the circuit breakers.

NEARLY on the road........

Wondering where to make my first real trip.......

The red power light is still on but the green 'Charging/Full light is now flashing amber then red in time with the 'ping'

er???


No sign of any activity within the cells but it's only been on a relatively short time.

Spoke to Halfords where I bought charger from and they say the battery is faulty.

I mentioned that the garage left the ignition on [and the battery was dead] and that they told me they used the strongest/fastest charge to recharge it.

It started the car to get me home but was dead again very soon after.

Halfords say the garage 'fried' the battery and they should replace it.

Could this be the case?

Any help very welcome.

Supercharging (equivalant to "jumpstarting") a battery to get it going doesn't do it any good at all. I should contact the garage and complain. Unplug the charger at the mains before you attempt to touch the battery.

ASL642 wrote:Supercharging (equivalant to "jumpstarting") a battery to get it going doesn't do it any good at all. I should contact the garage and complain. Unplug the charger at the mains before you attempt to touch the battery.

Have pm'd you.

i would try and get the garage to give you a replacement battery .

dalebrignall wrote:i would try and get the garage to give you a replacement battery .

Didn't work.....said he put it on max for 12v and that the battery couldn't have been damaged by them.

Said the charger is acting odd cos the battery is so flat

Said to leave charger on [bleeping and flashing] to get some charge in battery then start car with starting handle and go for a long drive....

I think he has fried your battery - AND possibly your alternator if you have one ? Is the battery definitely right way round on the car - and the charger correctly connected ?

bmcecosse wrote:I think he has fried your battery - AND possibly your alternator if you have one ? Is the battery definitely right way round on the car - and the charger correctly connected ?

Thanks for all the support.

I don't have an alternator. It's a 1952 sidevalve engine with a dynamo.
Oh crumbs, it's different charging the battery while in the car isn't it? I doubt they removed the battery.
Battery definately right way round. Idiot proof as terminal connectors very different. One is a screw-in.

.

Was worried they'd cooked the coil by leaving ignition on.

But car started when I collected it and ran so hopefully that's ok.

Not sure if this is relevant to what the garage might be responsible for:
To complicate matters....of course....even though the car started first time, last week, with the recon' engine in, the ignition light stayed on.
--Fanbelt was ok.
--One brush stuck in dynamo. But forgot to put springs back over brushes now done but unable to test without battery.
--If it still stays on the regulator box contacts are the next to be checked.

PS Charger quiet now and battery slightly warm. Could it have simply been that the battery was so flat that the charger threw a wobbly?

Could be - but why is the battery so flat ? I don't understand the brush/spring thing with the dynamo...... but you must obviously get it charging and the red light out. Maybe the dynamo needs polarising?

Maybe they charged it the wrong way

I was rather thinking that - but surely not - in a 'garage'

bmcecosse wrote:Could be - but why is the battery so flat ? I don't understand the brush/spring thing with the dynamo...... but you must obviously get it charging and the red light out. Maybe the dynamo needs polarising?

Springs hold the brushes close to the armature. I took them off to examine the brushes and unstick one of them.

Did polarise the dynamo with a jump lead. Should I do it again I wonder when it's all back together?

I think the regulator box will be the next place to check. Couldn't get the securing wire off it yesterday to remove the cover.....

Battery, apparently, still charging. ie green 'battery charged' hasn't replaced red 'charging' light.

Not sure if it's ok to leave it on. On from yesterday afternoon.

I have a small bosch charger that does the same when charging a dead flat battery flashes amber green and a ticking noise from unit turns green when charged . Battery will get slightly warm,did you loosen the filler plugs to stop pressure build up

ian.mcdougall wrote:I have a small bosch charger that does the same when charging a dead flat battery flashes amber green and a ticking noise from unit turns green when charged . Battery will get slightly warm,did you loosen the filler plugs to stop pressure build up

Thanks Ian. Yes I loosened the caps. Although some say you don't need to.

I'm glad it's not a faulty charger or battery.........I switched it off [still amber] and then back on an hour later.......now, an hour later the GREEN LIGHT is on.... yippee.

Maybe they charged it the wrong way

Just what I thought if the garage has charged the battery on the car!

It is actually possible to charge an OLD flat lead acid battery the wrong way round .
The curious thing is that the car can run with the battery wrongly polarised... so it is completely plausible that garage employees didn't think of positive earth!

hope battery will take a good charge and run the car - best to leave it on charge for 24 hours or more.

Lets face it, they damaged a brand new brake flexi hose by just trying to fit it!

rayofleamington wrote:

Maybe they charged it the wrong way

Just what I thought if the garage has charged the battery on the car!

It is actually possible to charge an OLD flat lead acid battery the wrong way round .
The curious thing is that the car can run with the battery wrongly polarised... so it is completely plausible that garage employees didn't think of positive earth!

hope battery will take a good charge and run the car - best to leave it on charge for 24 hours or more.

Lets face it, they damaged a brand new brake flexi hose by just trying to fit it!

Hello Mr Ray

It looks like it's fully charged...Green light on charger.

Garage stalling with bill. Hmmm. I've been in twice to pay. I'm going to let them contact me.

I need to check but I have a theory about that brake hose.

Suppliers sent me both types to make sure I had the right one to replace the new one they had damaged.

On checking, the wrong one does screw in a short distance and just seems like it needs a bit of persuasion.
The right one screws in with no resistance.

I reckon the first one they had was the wrong one. Will check just for the record.

Have a good evening one and all.

Why is the time two hours out on my posts ?

It's only an hour out on your last post. The site server is based in Europe so is running on local time, not UK time, hence the time difference

Oooh Hello stranger.

I hope you are well. My posts show 2 hours out....or I'm losing my last marble