I have a heated car seat, and I keep leaving it plugged in.
I don't need to know that this is stupid, that it damages the battery, that I shouldn't use it, or that I can get an ancillary circuit put in. I know all this stuff, and yet I still manage to leave it plugged in overnight occasionally. No excuses, I just forget!
So, having called the AA out three times since Christmas, I now think maybe I should just buy a battery charger. But there are quite a few at Halfords, and I don't know which one to get.
I have a 1.2L Petrol Skoda Yéti if that makes any difference.
Equally, if getting a battery charger is an even worse idea, please tell me! (Just don't shout at me for leaving the seat plugged in - I'm already getting enough hassle from my mum, the kids and the hubby over that!)
I think I have STOP START in my car (where it turns the engine of when you're at traffic lights, and starts again when you press the clutch - I presume that's what it's called?)
So the one I was looking at I don't think will be suitable?
http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-up-to-1-8l-car-battery-charger
But maybe this one would be?http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-smart-battery-charger-vehicles-up-to-2-0l
There's also a plus version of this one for an extra £10, but I don't know if I'd need the extra functions?
Are you talking about a separate seat heating panel that you have put on yourself & plug into cigar lighter? Or do you mean you have a heated seat & you left it switch on? Either way I would have thought there would be a power cuttoff after 15mins. Most cars have these & cigar lighter socket usually goes off with ignition.
Neither of those chargers in your links are any good if you need to start the car right away with flat battery. The charger in your second link would be ok but if your battery was flat it would probably need to be on there some hours before you could start car.
If you need to start your car in the morning with a flat battery then you need something like this. You would need to check it was ok for stop/start though.
A quick google tells me that Yeti lighter socket is permanently live which is unusual. On most cars socket power is cut when ignition key is removed. So back to my original answer. If you want to start car straight away with flat battery you need the jump starter pack I linked to provided it is ok with stop/start otherwise the smart charger in your 2nd link should recharge battery in a few hours.
If your car battery is flat in the morning when you need to use the car, you don't need a charger, you need a jump starter. A charger would only be any good if you left it attached and plugged in every night.
A jump starter will mean you will be able to start the car even if the battery is flat ( provided you remembered to charge up the jump starter beforehand! )
Haven't done any research, so no idea if these are any good, or how they compare to others, but it's something to work from . There are probably much more powerful and usable ones out there.
Both our cars have permanently live cigar lighter sockets by the way, and indeed the Skoda Yeti also does.
Why not just wire the seat to a source that is only live when the ignition is on?
How loing before the AA start charging for your flat battery issues?
The issue with the charger is you go out in the morning and find its dead, Plug it in and wait at least 4 hours for it to put a reasonable amount of charge into it?
what Paul_B said. by buying a charger, to somehow 'offset' an output that the heated seat is drawing from the battery you're just masking the underling problem and are asking for trouble. get the cig lighter under an ignition fed feed
Should only do its job when you have forgotten to unplug. Though do check to see how much power the heated seat draws (maybe too high), but then there may be a higher power version.
Thanks guys. So I'll look out for a jump starter just in case it happens again.
For now I've just taken the seat out, but I'm going to get an auto electrician to sort something out, because I know I'm too forgetful to be trusted otherwise!
The device mentioned in this thread might mean you don't need to worry about leaving the seat (assuming it doesn't draw more than 8amps) plugged into the lighter socket?
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Topic: Car battery charger
