Can you help with a question on Cars please?

I have left my Jaguar in the garage for the last 3 months. Yesterday I tried to start it and nothing happened. I guess the battery is dead so will try to jump start it today.





I will be having to leave the car idle again shortly for another long period of time - CAN I SAFELY FIT A TRICKLE FEED BATTERY CHARGER to the car whilst I am away to keep the battery topped up? The Jaguar is now 10 years old but the battery was practically new.
Can you help with a question on Cars please?
Yes. No problem at all.
Can you help with a question on Cars please?
I agree with above answer.





Or you could remove the negative cable from battery terminal while away and it would probably hold the charge without the chance of an electrical mishap.
Reply:ok,


first thing that comes to mind is that you need to change the battery


but you've got a new one, so there may be a problem with your alternator


an alternator is basically a type a electric generator to keep your battery recharged during driving





as far as charging the battery while you're away is up to the type of charger you've got


i've heard of chargers that are made for that but i wouldn'e know exaclty


all i've ever had was a beat up old charger from the 90's
Reply:Sure, that's not a problem.
Reply:I leave weeks at a time. All the time. I usually just disconnect my battery terminals. The last time I left my car was for 6 months, and my car is 8 years old. I never have any problems. I am pretty sure though that a trickle charger is not meant to be left on a battery longer than the recommend time. Which is until it is done charging. Should say it right on the charger.
Reply:There is no problem doing what you want to do, however i would do the following.





When you buy a battery charger, make sure it is a good quality one. Make sure that it will cut out once the battery reaches a certain voltage, and make sure that it is capable of being plugged in for an extended period of time.





Take the battery out of the car and place it on a blanket on the ground (not onto cement, as cemet will flatten a battery) and, if the battery has removable caps on the top, loosen them off.





Plug the battery charger into a safety plug, and plug the safety plug into the power outlet and then connect the battery charger to the battery.





It may seem like overkill, but you are bypassing possible problems.





1. The battey charger shorting out and burning down your house.


2. The battery exploding or leaking acid onto your car, at least if it does leak, its only onto an old blanket.
Reply:the reason that the battery went dead id because the car still uses a little power to keep the memory alive in the cpu and stereo. a low amperage charger would do a good job at maintaining the battery for you.