Sorry Haywain I missed this thread.
The Lidl charger is fine to leave connected, assuming it's this (the usual) one:
www.lidl-service.com/static/2844174/52513_GB.pdf
The point about battery freezing is that charged batteries don't freeze; only if it goes flat is there a possibility of the electrolyte freezing. At 20% charge for example the freezing point for lead acid batteries is about -7 degrees C. I don't know about the gel type, I suspect mine has been flat and survived that sort of temperature but I wouldn't guarantee it.
The answer is either to remove it or keep it charged. I just leave the CTEK or the ALDI charger I have (similar to the LIDL one) connected, as the car only gets used every week or two for much of the year and hardly at all in November-March.
The only difference I have found in use between the CTEK and the ALDI ones is that the ALDI one is baffled by a completely dead battery. The boss's battery went flat (not used for a fortnight with a consumer left plugged in to the permanently live accessory socket) recently. The ALDI one did nothing. The CETK had it charging in a couple of minutes, and fully charged by the next day.
As carmalade says, the original battery was a Panasonic. Mine is a Westco which is a very common replacement (they are £100, the Pana is dearer).
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 2 Nov 15 at 15:03
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