Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) What Did You Do To Your Morgan Today?

That's really helpful

Replaced the 6 year old Numax Supreme battery after the conditioner's indicator stopped showing 'fully charged'. Battery output showed 11.0 volts on the meter - so definitely time to go. Much better discovering this in the garage rather than when miles away from home...

An Exide Premium 61Ah is the new incumbent.

Was expecting more than 6 years use from a battery that's always hooked up to the conditioner, having previously extracted 9 years from a Fireblade bike battery.

What's the collective's consensus on battery life expectancy these days?

I replaced my last roadster one at 10 years to be safe Chris. My CX one when I bought it after 9 months at a dealer and 18 months old failed. The AA guy said AGM batteries often fail early (the CX uses an AGM but doesn't have start stop, I suspect to match the standard BMW charging profile) but both our Polos had battery life over 10 years & they were/are AGM.

6 years seems very low to me.

Ours has a 1/19 date tag, which I just discovered when I took the hold down bracket off to clean up some corrosion and repaint it. I had it tested and it's still good. The conditioner LED does go green after only a couple of minutes. It's an odd size battery, Group 57, but I'm happy they are still available because the tray and hold down are not original, and were made for that battery...

I've heard some say that continuously leaving on a conditioner (even a sophisticated one) may not be the best for the battery

I've always done a week on and 2 or 3 off, and usually get over 10 years on the 'classics'

My +4 battery lasted 8 years and I have just changed my Fiesta battery at 11 years not sure it actually needed it as the car had sat unused for a few weeks I jump started it and drove 10 miles to the garage that was booked to change the cam belt and they said it started next morning. Changed it anyway.

Were one to seek health and safety advice, I suspect the base line would never to leave a battery connected to a charging device unsupervised...and were one tasked with writing a risk assessment relative to battery charging, then the world becomes a more complex place in which to operate..?

There are a huge amount of variables to even begin to try to provide advice that might suite every Morgan of all ages, used or stored in in every kind of conditions imaginable and some perhaps beyond our imagination..?

I think the folk at CTEK produce a pretty clever little float charger, that seems designed to automatically cope with quite a few expected variables...?

I own and use a CTEK MXS 3.6 which is permanently connected and switched on to my rarely used trad Mog when it is not in use, as the battery will discharge over time through the constant few milliamps load placed upon it by the immobiliser system... I have lost count of the number of years since I adopted this practice, perhaps more than 10, and only very recently replaced the battery as a precautionary measure due to it`s age, as I prefer not to risk it letting me down in some really inconvenient situation.

My 2012 car let me down, not long after I purchased it, having forgotten to connect up it`s CTEK MXS 5.0, and not used the car for circa 7 days since it`s last long run, it failed to start. The battery in it was original to the car and 9 years old at the time.. Replacement battery required to be coded in to the car`s on board "intelligent" charging system, and from that time on, it too is permanently connected to it`s CTEK when not in use.

The above is no more than sharing just my limited experience in the hope it might help.

If a charger might for any reason fail to the extent it provides it`s maximum output constantly, then overcharging to the extent the battery begins to overheat and create explosive gasses.... There is potential for considerable damage and perhaps personal injury.... !

Just thinking in type..

Biennial brake fluid change just performed. This time using an inexpensive pressure bleed system provided via Temu. A few issues led to large quantities of brake fluid on the garage floor though when the seal on the bayonet air type union temporarily gave way half way through, this joining pressure vessel holding brake fluid to master cylinder cap adaptor. I initially pumped to 20 psi as recommended by Montegue but found the 10 psi shown in instructions worked almost as well putting less stress on the iffy bayonet. Such fittings are used on air lines and I did wonder how compatible the seal is with DOT 4 fluid.

As a process pressure bleeding is definately the way to go and can be performed single handed. Pleased I had a nice hard pedal after completion.

Have to totally agree there Richard and with the 10 psi rate! I have found it such a good way to do it that I invested in a better set up which is even better than the guns type variant I have now used for years. It too was via Temu, cheaper than uk gunson basic kit and obviously made for the western market for labelling and £100 cheaper. No filling and emptying as you store your fluid in the vessel itself.

For those reading this and deciding to take this route.... I can tell you Richard is not alone in his experience with leaks!, set it up and test it without brake fluid in the reservoir, any leaks will be just air leaks and you can safely rectify them before adding fluid!
Especially check the fluid reservoir cap.... be prepared to modify the seal of the air and fluid connections!

Yes I did test without fluid and it appeared to be holding air ok. Eventually used the supplied plastic cap reservoir adaptor as that had matching bayonet fitting from pressure vessel.

On my Roadster MMC had fitted a heat resistant cover over m/cylinder reservoir which inhibited the cap being screwed full down as it fitted over the threaded plastic. This protection was needed due to proximity with o/s exhaust manifold. Easily removed though as held on with cable tie.

Problem I found was that the bayonet connection would be air tight for a while then suddenly let go with subdued short hiss at which point fluid would leak out rapidly. Fortunately there is a pressure release but impossible to get to it quickly enough. It was if the rubber seal within bayonet was temporarily displaced as it would always seal again later for a while, albeit with reduced pressure.