Smart Car Battery Charge Line?
Have an online friend that is flat-towing a Smart Car. Her battery went dead on her. Does a Smart Car require a battery charge line? Thanks, rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
Forum Discussion
..Very easy way to find out if a charge line is required, with ANY vehicle you're going to flat tow. Just put a clip-on ammeter across the battery's main ground wire, when hitched up and ready to tow (key in approrpiate position it has to for towing, tranny in neutral, everything off inside, etc).
You don't even have to hitch it up necessarily, just set everything up with it (tranny gearshift, ignition switch, etc) like it would be when towing. Then, like I said, put an ammeter across the battery and see what it reads.
If you read more than 1 amp or so, then you either need to install a charge line, or need to find the source of the draw and put a stop to it (maybe pull a fuse?). I'm not a fan of pulling fuses, and have found that its much easier to just wire in a charge line and forget about it. Thats what I did for our Fusion hybrid.
Also, sometimes a supplemental braking system can draw enough battery power, where a charge line is needed to prevent draining the battery.
However, based on the last poster's comments, it sounds as though you may want to tell your friend to re-consider flat towing the smart car at all. If we could get by with something as small as a smart car, I'd just flat-bed tow it on one of those small, collapsible trailers they make just for smart cars. I think that'd be the best solution.
You don't even have to hitch it up necessarily, just set everything up with it (tranny gearshift, ignition switch, etc) like it would be when towing. Then, like I said, put an ammeter across the battery and see what it reads.
If you read more than 1 amp or so, then you either need to install a charge line, or need to find the source of the draw and put a stop to it (maybe pull a fuse?). I'm not a fan of pulling fuses, and have found that its much easier to just wire in a charge line and forget about it. Thats what I did for our Fusion hybrid.
Also, sometimes a supplemental braking system can draw enough battery power, where a charge line is needed to prevent draining the battery.
However, based on the last poster's comments, it sounds as though you may want to tell your friend to re-consider flat towing the smart car at all. If we could get by with something as small as a smart car, I'd just flat-bed tow it on one of those small, collapsible trailers they make just for smart cars. I think that'd be the best solution.
