How to Change a car battery without losing the radio/cd security code?

I simply connect a 12v battery charger to the vehicle electrics to keep it powered up before disconnecting & replacing battery.

I have done this three times on K11s in recent years without issue.

This simple life hack is a lot less hassle then taking radios out & searching for security codes that may not be easily obtained? (y)
 

r-reg-sr

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Site Supporter
You got to hack that fool up one day so thats justified simple as that no rocket sciences involved here for sure. again nice one !
 

John_D

Club Member
Radio Code Guru
Even easier, have the radio turned OFF (very important!), undo the battery clamp down and remove it (BEFORE disconnecting the battery terminals). Have the replacement battery right next to the car. LOOSEN both battery terminals then quickly lift both terminals off, lift out the battery, lift in the new one and push both battery terminals in place. You will have about a minute to accomplish the swap without loosing the radio code as internal capacitors in the radio have enough charge to hold the code as long as the radio is NOT turned on.
 
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Even easier, have the radio turned OFF (very important!), undo the battery clamp down and remove it (BEFORE disconnecting the battery terminals). Have the replacement battery right next to the car. LOOSEN both battery terminals then quickly lift both terminals off, lift out the battery, lift in the new one and push both battery terminals in place. You will have about a minute to accomplish the swap without loosing the radio code as internal capacitors in the radio have enough charge to hold the code as long as the radio is NOT turned on.

I cannot agree with this one minuet short cut as it is an unsafe practice for the following reasons;

Rushing to disconnect & reconnect another battery within one minuet, for anyone other than a well-practiced competent person, would be a safety risk too far with charged lead acid batteries.

This one minuet method cannot be recommended for novices & the inexperienced.

Any slip or dropping of a spanner shorting either battery terminals or positive to chassis (earth) would result in a very dangerous battery short circuit blinding flash & result in dangerous molten lead/spanner steel splashing about or a battery fire.

Safety comes first & my method using a battery charger is protected by the chargers primary & secondary internal fuses & allows as much time as is required by any individual to proceed slowly with forethought in an unhurried manner to complete the task safely as with any normal battery changing procedure.
 

John_D

Club Member
Radio Code Guru
I cannot agree with this one minuet short cut as it is an unsafe practice for the following reasons;

Rushing to disconnect & reconnect another battery within one minuet, for anyone other than a well-practiced competent person, would be a safety risk too far with charged lead acid batteries.

This one minuet method cannot be recommended for novices & the inexperienced.

Any slip or dropping of a spanner shorting either battery terminals or positive to chassis (earth) would result in a very dangerous battery short circuit blinding flash & result in dangerous molten lead/spanner steel splashing about or a battery fire.

Safety comes first & my method using a battery charger is protected by the chargers primary & secondary internal fuses & allows as much time as is required by any individual to proceed slowly with forethought in an unhurried manner to complete the task safely as with any normal battery changing procedure.
Sorry but what a load of bollocks!
 

r-reg-sr

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Site Supporter
Sorry but what a load of bollocks!

I'd rather have loads and loads of bullocks than lgbt bowlers trying to extinct the human race :)

his method has merits like, having a cupa tea in between swapping batteries. your way requires a lot of expertise though.
 

John_D

Club Member
Radio Code Guru
Yes I agree with you that your one minuet method is a load of unsafe nuts! (n)
Your perogative, but not every one has a battery charger and many that do do not have a suitable place to plug it in near the car for a battery change, so at the best you are talking about mains extension leads across pavements etc........not ignoring the fact that many cheap battery chargers may well produce an off load voltage of up to 20 volts or so which will be fed to the cars electronics immediately the battery load is removed from the circuit..........
I'll stick with being methodical and careful, it's never taken me more than about 30 secs to take the already undone battery connectors off, lift out the unsecured battery, drop the new one back on the battery tray and place the connectors on the posts. At this point you can take your time to tighten the battery connectors, replace the clamp etc. We are talking about Micra's here with a relatively small battery, most of which these days have a fold down carry/lifting handle.
 
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Your perogative, but not every one has a battery charger and many that do do not have a suitable place to plug it in near the car for a battery change, so at the best you are talking about mains extension leads across pavements etc........not ignoring the fact that many cheap battery chargers may well produce an off load voltage of up to 20 volts or so which will be fed to the cars electronics immediately the battery load is removed from the circuit..........
I'll stick with being methodical and careful, it's never taken me more than about 30 secs to take the already undone battery connectors off, lift out the unsecured battery, drop the new one back on the battery tray and place the connectors on the posts. At this point you can take your time to tighten the battery connectors, replace the clamp etc. We are talking about Micra's here with a relatively small battery, most of which these days have a fold down carry/lifting handle.

Quote: “it's never taken me more than about 30 secs to take the already undone battery connectors off, lift out the unsecured battery”

We have a fiduciary responsibility of safety first when advising others who may not fully understand the risks of the, Quote; " thirty seconds" operation involved.

We should consider safe working practices for novices & the inexperienced without regard to what we may be capable of with our years of lifetime career training, experience, & in depth engineering knowledge?
 
Get a mates car , set of jump leads , loosen the battery clamp and remove, loosen the terninals and put the out the jump leads on Between both cars and remove and place the battery, or puT the jump leads on the alternator+ and a good earth
Only had one stereo lock it's self out a good few, as the ecu was damaged
 

DEdgeMac

Buy & Sell Member
Really?

Don't get me wrong the method of using a battery charger, if you have one, makes sense and is straight forward.

But let's not make out changing a battery has the same safety implications of defusing a bomb or complexity of a Rubix eh.

If it takes you longer than a minute to physically move a small Micra battery and replace it with the new one or you're going to flap like a headless chicken changing it then I seriously think you should let someone else do it tbh.

Safety is obviously important but I think some points are way overboard and more than a bit obsessive.
 
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Battery Potential Hazards

I assume that you may not have had to attend & deal with a real battery fire acid fumes?



Quote;
RAYTHEONGAMING 2 years ago
Not too bright getting that close to a bulging battery like that. I know a man who was killed when a battery exploded and a plastic piece shot out and went into his neck severing his carotid artery.
 
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DEdgeMac

Buy & Sell Member
Mate, as you'll no doubt know, pretty much anything electrical has the potential to be dangerous, including every household appliance that we use everyday without second thought and most of us can do so without being reckless.

It's also worth noting that ANY battery has the potential to explode, including those being charged by a portable charger... But I'm sure anyone on here would be able to sport the difference between a useable battery and one that is bulging out it's arse ready to spit lava all over their face, to give them credit.

The point that you're missing is- I'm not saying they aren't hazardous- I'm saying as long as you're not an idiot then you can change one fine in the time above without having to flap about or be concerned.

Millions of people change them everyday- I would guess that you've got more chance of setting your house on fire with a toaster tbh.

FWIW I agree with your method and safety points- I just think the latter are way out of proportion in this instance- maybe not on paper but batteries aren't changed on paper.
 
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Mate, as you'll no doubt know, pretty much anything electrical has the potential to be dangerous, including every household appliance that we use everyday without second thought and most of us can do so without being reckless.

It's also worth noting that ANY battery has the potential to explode, including those being charged by a portable charger... But I'm sure anyone on here would be able to sport the difference between a useable battery and one that is bulging out it's arse ready to spit lava all over their face, to give them credit.

The point that you're missing is- I'm not saying they aren't hazardous- I'm saying as long as you're not an idiot then you can change one fine in the time above without having to flap about or be concerned.

Millions of people change them everyday- I would guess that you've got more chance of setting your house on fire with a toaster tbh.

FWIW I agree with your method and safety points- I just think the latter are way out of proportion in this instance- maybe not on paper but batteries aren't changed on paper.

Quote: I'm not saying they aren't hazardous- I'm saying as long as you're not an idiot then you can change one fine in the time above without having to be concerned.

The point that you're missing is that my original thread was designed for the untrained & inexperienced MSC members to avoid unthinkingly losing radio stereo codes while changing a battery with forethought in an unhurried process with the safety hazards of operator error minimised
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That was until my thread was hijacked & adulterated by others, that is those who claim to consistently change batteries safely in 30 seconds & then with inconsistency of jumbled thoughts, reverted to a one a minute time frame?
 

DEdgeMac

Buy & Sell Member
You need no training to change a battery, experience? Not so sure tbh, it's a case of remove 2 connectors (which are either colour coded or sign posted) and moving a block to put another block in its place and replace the connectors- if you can work a spanner correctly then you can do that- if you can't how is your method anymore relevant when it includes another process into the equation? Someone with a battery charger has surely changed a battery before anyway...

From what your first post states- it's giving a method of changing the battery without losing codes, nothing more, nothing less- John D's post also gives a valid method of doing so in less time- whether you want to add your own stipulations to that to make it any less valid is irrelevant to your first post tbh.

FWIW his method is perfectly safe- in fact it's just as safe as your method.

No jumbled thoughts here- he stated in less than 1 minute but then went onto say he could personally do it in less than 30 seconds.

It seems the only thing jumbled here is what you perceive to be safe or unsafe- which were later added on because another member gave another example of how to change a battery without losing the codes... Nobody hijacked the thread, if anything you hijacked your own thread by dismissing another way of changing the battery that would have given the viewer another option- you added on stringent safety rules that diverted instead...

Maybe your method should be aimed at complete novices and John's can be aimed at more "experienced" members i.e anyone who has used a spanner before?

Bored now anyway, think I've more than explained everything in complete layman terms in a thread aimed at complete novices using the complete encyclopedia of health and safety car batteries 101 to complete a battery change that is potentially completely life threatening...
 

DEdgeMac

Buy & Sell Member
I realise it looks like I'm being a ****- I just feel the need to comment to put my point across, no offence intended it's done in a light hearted way.

You're obviously looking out for the safety of others, which is obviously a good thing :)
 
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It’s not the battery & equipment that’s particularly hazardous when unmolested; its untrained inexperienced operator error when unknowingly interacting with hazardous materials.

We have a fiduciary responsibility of safety first when advising others who may not fully understand the risks of the, Quote; “thirty seconds" & or one minute operation involved.

We should consider safe working practices for novices & the inexperienced without regard to what we may be capable of with our years of lifetime career training, experience, & in depth engineering knowledge?

It doesn't matter how positive your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart we think we are. If it doesn't agree with experiment & stand the test of time in the mass market, it's wrong.

Thus far it’s been an inspiring exchange of views from relatively differing viewpoints. (y)
 

DEdgeMac

Buy & Sell Member
Thus far it’s been an inspiring exchange of views from relatively differing viewpoints. (y)
I agree, nothing wrong with a constructive debate.

However I think we verged on ridiculous a while ago now?

I think even yourself can see that you're going overboard with that aspect just to somehow validate your own method?

I'm still struggling to see how yours is anymore safe than his -both methods are valid and both methods can either be done safely or unsafely regardless of the time it takes to carry them out.

The original post had no mention of novices (or the safety 101 for car novices) and more to the point owning a charger would mean that the owner is not a complete novice regarding connections and how batteries work. Unless the battery is unfit to use adjusting the time makes it no more "dangerous" than your example.

Seen as though health and safety is paramount to your example could you please answer the following for me? I'm genuinely interested...

If I were a novice doing this exercise would you advise me to wear safety goggles and hand protection just in case of the possibilities you speak of? Surely so given that they would help protect me from such dangers that could arise from handling batteries?

Also given that you've got to lift a heavy(ish) metal object above your head in order to retrieve the battery would it also be a good idea to wear a hard hat?

Maybe you should have made your first post clearer and included a detailed health and safety protocol for novices to abide by, odd that it was omitted given how it's clearly paramount to your points/method...
 

DEdgeMac

Buy & Sell Member
Just to clarify (again) the time is 1 minute, he said he could do it in 30 seconds because he's the jedi of the Yuasa corporation technical datasheet of installation.. 1 minute is more than enough time to replace the battery and connections without going reckless and forgetting the impending dangers of battery installation.

Joking apart I think we should all make certain assumptions when offering advice and regardless of the fact that there will always be that 1 person in a million who injures themselves doing anything- not everyone is 2 fingered alien with 1 brain cell and can use reasonable logic not to drop a battery and to take reasonable care.
 
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Just to clarify (again) the time is 1 minute, he said he could do it in 30 seconds because he's the jedi of the Yuasa corporation technical datasheet of installation.. 1 minute is more than enough time to replace the battery and connections without going reckless and forgetting the impending dangers of battery installation.

Joking apart I think we should all make certain assumptions when offering advice and regardless of the fact that there will always be that 1 person in a million who injures themselves doing anything- not everyone is 2 fingered alien with 1 brain cell and can use reasonable logic not to drop a battery and to take reasonable care.
Just to clarify (again) the time is 1 minute, he said he could do it in 30 seconds because he's the jedi of the Yuasa corporation technical datasheet of installation.. 1 minute is more than enough time to replace the battery and connections without going reckless and forgetting the impending dangers of battery installation.

Joking apart I think we should all make certain assumptions when offering advice and regardless of the fact that there will always be that 1 person in a million who injures themselves doing anything- not everyone is 2 fingered alien with 1 brain cell and can use reasonable logic not to drop a battery and to take reasonable care.

Obfuscation? TLDR. :sleep:
 
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