SORN

[Karl V]

'tis the time of year that Atoms are tucked away for the winter months.

For me, that means 'attach the roof and carry on'.

Anyone planning to SORN their Nomad?

IMG_20181111_003925715.jpg (3.88 MiB) Viewed 984 times

[Trigger]

Not gonna Sorn it - dont see the reason tbh - the saving is minimal in real terms. When the snow arrives I want to play !!

T

[phil4]

I don't even SORN my atom... and no, it's not because I've got bags of money.

It's because I will take advantage of the odd dry sunny day and go for a drive. Those might be expensive days, but it beats the hassle of SORN/UnSORNing it all.

[Trigger]

Yeah I never sorned my Atoms either - too much hassle for too little saving - and as you say when you get that cold sunny day its awesome !

[Karl V]

So next question then... Anyone know the fine line between trickle charging and a battery disconnect?

The car has been tucked up in the garage for a week now, so obviously it's being trickle charged. If the week turns into a month, should I disconnect the battery?

Trickle charger takes 3 seconds to remove. Reconnecting the battery takes 3 minutes. Either way, I can be out on the open road way before the DVLA reinstate my road tax status.

But would the car / battery benefit more from trickle charging or a disconnection over a prelonged period?

I'm thinking immobiliser 'memory' and longevity of the battery.

If I HAVE to drive the car at least every two weeks, I'm sure I can sell this to the wife... ;-)

[John Scherrer]

Not sure about the pros / cons of constant trickle or disconnecting the battery though the decent trickle chargers are designed to manage your battery health - they only charge if/when they deem it necessary.

I have a tracker and also a master battrey cutoff switch that still provides power to the tracker when off.

If i didn't start and drive the car for 15 mins every 3 weeks or so, it was very slow to crank.

With these gel batteries, if they lose their charge just once they're toast !

[Fastlane]

They are designed to condition your battery so can be left on for as long as you want - personally that's what I will/have always done. My Atom came with the factory CTEK trickle charger but I also have the exact same charger that I bought 10+ years ago and I have always just left my cars on it when they are not in use.

[Peter255]

Battery conditioners (CTEK etc) as fitted by Ariel are designed to be left on for a long as necessary.

They charge the battery then run through specific modes to keep the battery in good condition.

I run then both on my Atom and Clio (which hardly ever even moves!) and have never had any issues.

Not sure about an old school trickle charger, although i doubt it would do any harm.

FTR i never SORN anything. The saving is small and it is additional avoidable hassle. Plus it would peeve me if i wanted to use one of my toys but couldn't.

[Trigger]

I had an Optimate trickle charger i had used on previous Atoms and was fine - not sure if the Nomad has a larger battery or if the charger had lost ability but I found the battery wasnt being charged enough with it - so went to a Ctek that the factory uses and so far so good. I just leave it connected all the time tbh.

[autobackup]

I have a CTek charger that I leave connected to my Atom 24/7/365 when it is not in use.

I had to replace the battery shortly after I bought it almost 4 years ago as the original battery decided that it didn't want to retain the charge - I think the problem possibly originated because the previous owner might have allowed the battery to run flat sometime?

Since I replaced the battery there have been no issues with the CTek charger or battery whatsoever!

[Karl V]

Thanks for the feedback all.

I'll stick with the CTek charger plumbed in and see how she gets on.