Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Battery

I had a battery disconnect switch in on my 1972 Morgan. Unfortunately the removable key worked loose a couple of times at speed so I disconnected it permanently. Perhaps a Lucas style switch would be more robust.

I had similar - must have been a bad year! The internals on mine had gone dodgy.

Initially bypassed and then removed it, and now have one of those 'unscrew' types on the negative battery terminal, but to honest, only use it when doing wiring or welding.

If you want a reliable battery isolator switch, look up the marine versions boaty folks use as usually much better quality

Mark, they are terrible at draining batteries, If it starts after 3-4 weeks without a conditioner attached you'll be lucky and its nothing to do with your battery condition. When I first had my Morgan 2010 with what is fundamentally a modern engine and management systems I didn't dream that this could be the case. Testing the battery state after a three week discharge I assumed that the battery must have been stuffed! So I bought a new one and yes, it just kept doing exactly the same thing You can put a battery isolator switch in but there have been cases of these blowing the electrics when switched on again especially if the car isn't stored in perfect conditions. I bought the Ctek battery conditioner, one of the top options from the range and have wired it up to be an easy connection plug in as the battery is rather inaccessible for a simple connection. When I swapped out the battery the original was fully charged and I stored it on a shelf in the workshop, I had forgotten about it and about 6 months later my son's VW Polo battery failed so I thought I'd give it a go on his car. I fitted it and expected to charge it overnight but guess what It fired the car up instantly and its still working fine 3 years later!

There is a constant draw on the battery when the ignition is off as the management system has not been fully integrated into the morgan or made to function well enough in that it does not enter a sleep mode and shut down fully.. After hearing some tales of disasters around PCB failures related to isolation switches I thought keep it simple and go with the Ctek, think mine is the 10.0 version and its not let me down so far.... I on the other hand have by forgetting to reconnect it when putting the car away!

Yes as cooperman says, and Richard V6 a short while ago too.... check out the marine versions as they are far better quality! That's if you go down the isolation switch route. Must be honest, when I saw Richard's post I did feel confident in then fitting one but keep forgetting to get on and order it. When you consider the Halfordian price of the cheapies on offer they really can't be that good for anything other than an emergency shut off. I think Richard also offered an alternative way to isolate those electrical areas which are problematic yet those areas which need to remain functional were left as is! Perhaps Richard will reply here as I might be talking gonad's!

Something I would like an answer to is how PCB's and some components degrade if not regularly used. My wife's sowing machine, A Bernina, was taken out the other day and failed to work. Now this is an expensive machine with a sales slogan of " you'll never need to buy another sowing machine" and "The best in the world" etc. So, we take it into the repair centre and it's in there for three months waiting its turn. We then get a call saying "Oh we don't have the replacement boards for those anymore you'll have to buy a new machine. What you have done wrong is to not use it enough, you need to switch them on for at least an hour a week even if you are not using it so its your fault! They need using in order to protect the boards, Funny that, that's not what the gas boiler service dept. said re. the boiler PCB.... the exact opposite in fact! "Oh they're on all the time so just fail".... me thinks cheap crap from foreign climes!

sewin, you struck a cord with me in relaying your real world experiences with digital tec. Being somewhat of a Luddite, I do indeed become rather frustrated with the ability which digital control functions really require that we humans adopt procedures to fit their requirements in ways that may be logical to the programmers as long as we operate to their imagined norms...?

i.e. vehicle designs are such that they are expected to be in at least semi regular use, thus the battery is again expected to maintain enough charge and discharge cycles in order to function as us humans might expect...even in terms of longevity, with the battery showing expected issues as it ages and may require replacement...?

However, in the case of digitally controlled vehicles which may be subjected to irregular use, or even stored for months on end, it seems they have not quite got around to a system whereby even in sleep mode there may be still a measure of drain on the battery, though I suspect the issue of lack of use/storage, if not on a Ctek or similar, may well be exacerbated by the wakeup demands placed on the battery that may not seem entirely obvious, and given the load placed on a battery that has suffered parasitic draining over a period of time, these wake up demands might just be the straw that brakes the camels back, even before the starter is finally engaged ...? If one adds not only the age of the battery, but also the duty cycle it may have suffered over time, then is there any wonder that it might fail to fire up the engine...?

Also in regard to choice of Ctek/float chargers, might be best to be sure to buy one that suits the type of battery, be it old style lead acid, Gell battery of AGM construction, or I think there are even newer style batteries of different internal construction that may require a charger/charging regime relative to the needs of their chemical makeup.... Though pretty sure Ctek and others will be up to speed..

BTW just to present another real world view..... The battery on my mid 80`s +8 used to drain down in time as the result of it not being even semi regularly used (blame a self build project) the cause of the drain down was the small but constant load of the immobiliser system. The purchase of a basic Ctek MXS 3.6 put an end to the battery issues other than those age related.. I also have a car with an AGM battery and it is kept maintained by a Ctek MXS 5.0 which has a specific AGM function.

.As ever, more than happy to be corrected if anything I typed may be considered incorrect..

Luddite, That reflects my thinking exactly. Aston Martin have them built in to their cars to maintain battery status so if it's good enough for them then I felt I was on the right track! I bought a high spec option so as to cover future eventualities for different battery styles/types and it has a regeneration cycle and a stand alone power source if say disconnecting the battery for any reason it keeps radio power on etc. Like you, since using it I have to say all has been fine.

I am with you also re the functionally and the user interaction of all these electronic systems. I think it started to go downhill when button combinations gave more that one function, It may well be logical to those pencil sharpening designers but it certainly ain't to us mere mortals. Now we've reached the single control wheel, a touch screen and the inability to keep your eyes where they should be whilst driving the car as the screen is somewhere below dash level. I wonder were the "Head up display" brigade disappeared to and the footwell I-pad brigade took over!

Sod looking out the window, my car drives itself! Really!

I think a Ctek or similar battery conditioner is a good option. I had a few problems with the battery with my old Plus 4, and using the Ctek plugged in overnight regularly was an easy way to fix it. I think the factory still has a battery conditioner on their options list.

As some have said. CTEK 5.0 permanently plugged in is what I use. Occasionally I utilize the recon function.

sewen... perhaps best not to watch Harry`s Garage latest vid on the Ferrari 296 GTS as just seeing his frustration in terms of cancelling all the ADAS programming before setting off was grinding my gears....

On the other hand.... perhaps I should change my forum name to Selective Luddite as I also run a Tesla, though only rarely and just to perform the weekly shopping, of the three cars I currently run, I have to admit that it would be the last to go... I have little doubt that a Tesla can perform amazing digital wizardly, but in truth I desire minimal interaction with it and just wish it to perform reliably for as long as I might last. Truth be told I suspect some of it`s capabilities may make up for the old man I have become to some degree, the all round cameras present an on screen of parking bay lines, and generate audible proximity warnings, and combined with the reversing camera, works a treat...I view it as a basic transportation device, and if it in any way might reduce global warming then that is just fine by me..