Auto Battery Charger

[TmcG]

Visiting Ireland in a few weeks from the US.

Can I purchase a battery charger in the US that works off the cigarette lighter and expect that it will work ok in the rental car in Ireland?

I will be purchasing the charger for the Rebel EOS

Thanks for any advise

Tom McGuinness

[CoolToolGuy]

Visiting Ireland in a few weeks from the US.

Can I purchase a battery charger in the US that works off the cigarette lighter and expect that it will work ok in the rental car in Ireland?

I will be purchasing the charger for the Rebel EOS

Thanks for any advise

Tom McGuinness

It should be fine - unless you rent an old MG or such with positive ground (earth) :wink:

[robertwgross]

Can I purchase a battery charger in the US that works off the cigarette lighter and expect that it will work ok in the rental car in Ireland?

I will be purchasing the charger for the Rebel EOS


For the EOS Rebel (type 123 primary lithium), or the EOS Digital Rebel (lithium ion rechargeable)?

If the latter, then it uses a standard BP-511 lithium ion battery pack. My Canon charger for this pack will not work from 12VDC. However, I purchased an aftermarket charger for the pack which will work from 12VDC or 115VAC. I believe it was from GreenBatteries. It only handles one battery pack at a time, but that is all that I ever try to charge.

That sort of thing ought to work pretty good on a rental car. Just to be on the safe side, you might use it only when the engine is running. If the auto battery were weak and the engine not running, you might not be able to start after charging up the camera battery packs.

---Bob Gross---

[JoeTampa]

If your BP-11 (at what, 1100ma?) somehow manages to drain your car battery (at, what, 500+ CCA?), then you have worse issues than figuring out how to recharge your battery. In fact, that's a battery I wouldn't use or a car I wouldn't ride in. :)


I purchased the Canon dual battery pack charger and IIRC (it's at home and I am not) it takes 12v in. Should be able to get a car adapter for that.

I use a 12v cig lighter --> 120v AC inverter that I bought at Radio Shack here in the USA. I plan to take it to Europe with me and try it there later this month.


- Joe

[robertwgross]

If your BP-11 (at what, 1100ma?) somehow manages to drain your car battery (at, what, 500+ CCA?), then you have worse issues than figuring out how to recharge your battery. In fact, that's a battery I wouldn't use or a car I wouldn't ride in. :)


I purchased the Canon dual battery pack charger and IIRC (it's at home and I am not) it takes 12v in. Should be able to get a car adapter for that.

I use a 12v cig lighter --> 120v AC inverter that I bought at Radio Shack here in the USA. I plan to take it to Europe with me and try it there later this month.

- Joe

Read again. First of all, it is a BP-511. The mAH rating of the battery is the output, so you have no idea what the charger does on the input. Secondly, I saw one left charging (off the car battery) all night long, and that does put a drain on the car battery. Inverters for a car are good, but again, if you leave one running all night long, that will hurt the car battery. The little ones aren't so bad, but then they won't run anything bigger than an electric shaver or a camera battery recharger.

---Bob Gross---

[JoeTampa]

OK, BP-511, so I goobered it. :)


The mAh is not the output, it is the capacity of the cell. You can't shove more into the cell than it can hold, and you can't get more out of it than it can hold.

If you left it charging all night, what happens depends on the charger. Most chargers (all Canon chargers) will charge a cell until it's full, then trickle charge or shut off. Rarely will a charger continue to charge at the full charge rate as this would damage the cell. Therefore, assuming a trickle rate of 10 mAh, you would need roughly 300,000 hours to discharge a 300 CCA cell. Of course, you would not be able to start the car long before that, but I am not concerned here. :)


An inverter will eat up the battery much quicker as it is constantly using more current to provide the 120v AC on that side, even under no AC load. However, it would still take quite a bit longer than overnight, IMHO. I don't have current draw figures for any inverters handy.


This all notwithstanding, running the engine would always be a good idea assuming the vehicle is attended. :) I often charge batteries on the way to the studio.

[robertwgross]

Obviously the milliampere hour rating is at the output of the battery pack, so it certainly is the output.

Further, battery chargers need more power going in than they output to the battery pack. Intelligent chargers do taper off the charge rate when the battery pack is nearing full voltage, but then they are still drawing power from the input source. In the case of the one I ran into in March, the owner had the charger plugged into an inverter, and the inverter was running all night, and therefore draining the car battery all night.

That is why I had opted to go with a 12VDC charger. It doesn't require any inverter, so there is much less to present a threat to the car battery.

Also, don't confuse CCA ratings of car batteries with the mAH ratings of lithium batteries. Besides, on many new cars these days, there are managed loads and unmanaged loads. If the computer decides that there is an unintentional power drain, like interior lights, it can shut off that load in order to save the main battery from a no-start situation. But the cigarette lighter socket is unmanaged, so the computer can't cut off the load there, and the inverter or something could present a threat if left on for a long time without the engine running.

Since I am always using my own car for chargers and computers and things, I put a secondary battery in it. It is a SLA battery of only 22 amperehours, so I put a diode and a switch on the feed from the main battery. That way, my electronic stuff can drain down the secondary, but not the primary. Then when the engine is running, I can allow the primary to charge back the secondary. It keeps the computers happy and it keeps the engine starting.

---Bob Gross---

[JoeTampa]

and the inverter or something could present a threat if left on for a long time without the engine running.


Right - but the question is: How long will that take? That gets down to the physics of how low you can get and not be able to crank the engine and how much you are drawing from the battery. In the case of the inverter, it depends on the make/model. In the case of 12v chargers, again, how much draw once it starts a trickle cycle. My argument is that overnight certainly won't be an issue for a 12v charger, and I don't think it would be an issue for the inverter although I'd be nervous trying it. Also depends on the CCA capacity of the battery. Obviously you'd rather try that in warm weather (cold weather impacts battery performance) and with a beefier battery (with more "margin for error").

I've left my iPod charging with it's 12v charger for 2-3 days (by accident) with no ill effects.


- Joe

[CanonUser]

I bought a Lenmar Speed charger for my wedding photo / video business. The one I have is the older version of this one...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AQJ8P/104-0004476-3041521?v=glance
It comes with both cord to use the charger indoor or in the car. For a BP-511, just slip it in the charger between destination and you'll be shooting the whole day without worry. Better yet, get to Walmart and pick up a Digital 1300mAh equivalent of the BP-511 for $20 (It's on sale, normal price is $25). Between the 2 batteries, your trip is totally covered. The Lenmar has adapters to fit your camcorder's battery as well as a number of proprietary batteries exist out there, so you can use it to recharge other devices also.

Regards,
Alan

[samdring]

Visiting Ireland in a few weeks from the US.

Can I purchase a battery charger in the US that works off the cigarette lighter and expect that it will work ok in the rental car in Ireland?

I will be purchasing the charger for the Rebel EOS

Thanks for any advise

Tom McGuinness

It should be fine - unless you rent an old MG or such with positive ground (earth) :wink:

Nevermind the wink! I have a 1949 MG TD (my Noddy Car) and on purchase changed positive to negative earth for this very purpose!

[CoolToolGuy]

Visiting Ireland in a few weeks from the US.

Can I purchase a battery charger in the US that works off the cigarette lighter and expect that it will work ok in the rental car in Ireland?

I will be purchasing the charger for the Rebel EOS

Thanks for any advise

Tom McGuinness

It should be fine - unless you rent an old MG or such with positive ground (earth) :wink:
Nevermind the wink! I have a 1949 MG TD (my Noddy Car) and on purchase changed positive to negative earth for this very purpose!

Here in the states, it was always a challenge for my friends with the positive ground cars to find acessories like tape players. And pity the poor guy who had 6volt positive ground. :(
But I'm used to the peculiarities of British vehicles - I have a 1971 Norton Commando with no electric start and the shifter on the right. :roll: