Rstuner keeping the battery topped up while mapping

[Andy03]

Morning all
I have all the bits required to remap my 172, I am however a little unsure how best to keep the battery charged whilst the rstuner is re writing the ecu. I have a fairly cheap Halfords battery charger (auto charger doesn't state the charge rates etc not user control variables) and I also have a Chinese made battery jump starter.

Which one should I use?
What have other people on here done?

 

[fairm010]

Is that a requirement that RS Tuner ask about? I can't imagine the remap will take that long, draining the entire battery. Then again if it does go flat, your ECU is f****d. I should think your Halfrauds charger connected should do fine but others may say otherwise.

 

[charltjr]

Just whack the charger on, it'll be fine. You're not likely to have a problem as long as the battery is in good condition but better safe than sorry. If you want to be cautious then let it fully charge the battery first, as it's an auto charger it should go into a maintenance/trickle charge mode once that's done which will be perfect.

Is it this one? If so it's exactly the one I have and that is definitely how it works.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...ery-chargers/battery-charger-jumpleads-bundle

I wouldn't use the jump starter, they're designed to give big gobs of boost over a short period which isn't what you're after.

 

[LeeRS]

I didn't put mine on charge. Took about 5 mins to load the map.
If it does go flat though im not sure how buggered you are.

 

[Amos91]

It's not 100% essential as long as you have a decent battery ( I didn't use it on mine).

Just make sure you keep radio, lights & fans off whilst flashing.

The map itself is quick to do. its the ECU config you backup and sometimes have to update which takes a while (20 mins to backup).

 

[Andy03]

Is that a requirement that RS Tuner ask about? I can't imagine the remap will take that long, draining the entire battery. Then again if it does go flat, your ECU is f****d. I should think your Halfrauds charger connected should do fine but others may say otherwise.

Yes fast chip (rstuner) recommend a a charger that can supply a 10a charge rate and state the process can take up to 30mins. Perhaps they are covering their backs (quite wise). I took my freelander in for mapping the other week and the tuner didn't bother with keeping the battery charged the write process took circa 10 mins. However I appreciate every car and tuning software can be/will be different and I would much rather play it safe

 

[Andy03]

My charger is nowhere near as good as your one I actually have charger envy right now. The biggest difference is your one is fully automatic

 

[Andy03]

Just finished remapping my 172. No problems. I had forgotten I had another charger that was variable. It couldnt quite reach the specified 10a charge rate, 6a is its limit but it managed to keep the voltage around 14v the whole time.

Took the car out for a quick blast. It idles so much nicer. Gone is that 5k kick, bags of low down pull and a nice smooth power delivery all the way through.

Finally I just want to say thank you to all who had an input on this topic today.

 

[fairm010]

Do you plan to sell on your RSTuner out of interest?

 

[CoryColeWilkins]

I wouldn't remap mine without a charger, I borrowed one when I did mine.