Battery Maintainer?
#46
Three Wheelin'
Can someone with a permanent connection post a pic of the battery terminal connection and a pic of what the hanging "tail" looks like?
Thanks.
Thanks.
#47
Hi Guys, greetings from "sunny" Italy...; in reality not so sunny as this winter weare getting often below freeze point and well down the scale at night! I have been reading this interesting thread as I havea long lasting problem on my S4 MY88; I must have a rather abnormal current absorption as the battery drains off completely if I do not run the car for a few days. I installed a photovoltaic battery maintainer, directly attached to the battery poles: the battery maintainer specs are the following:
- Power: 1,5W
- Tension: max. 17,5V
- Current: max. 85mA
it seems to work OK, the led fleashes etc. but it does not help with keeping the battery on, it seems just as if it was not there. My battery (which was fully rechargedand checked 6 weeks ago) run flat again recently after just a few days of non-use of the car. I believe 85 mA just to be not enough to do the job, what do you think? What is the typical absorption of an S4 like mine with door, hatch and hub closed and the doors locked? Thanks
- Power: 1,5W
- Tension: max. 17,5V
- Current: max. 85mA
it seems to work OK, the led fleashes etc. but it does not help with keeping the battery on, it seems just as if it was not there. My battery (which was fully rechargedand checked 6 weeks ago) run flat again recently after just a few days of non-use of the car. I believe 85 mA just to be not enough to do the job, what do you think? What is the typical absorption of an S4 like mine with door, hatch and hub closed and the doors locked? Thanks
#48
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Your discharge rate may be higher than what the solar charger can provide. Take an amp meter and see what is your drain. Solar charger only works in full direct sun light. Since the sun moves and you get night time, it may only provide a small charge for about 8 hours in a day if you are lucky.
#49
Rennlist Member
My trickle charger is 1600ma, and I have seen that take overnight to bring battery to FULL.
You need to get an ammmeter in between the battery and earth (set at 10A first to be carefull, then to lower range when you know the size of the leak), then pull fuses one at a time until the drain stops, and thats your problem circuit. There are cases of relays sticking, door light switches grounding when they shouldnt etc.
Pics of socket and plug at
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...uestion-2.html
jp 83 Euro S AT 52k
You need to get an ammmeter in between the battery and earth (set at 10A first to be carefull, then to lower range when you know the size of the leak), then pull fuses one at a time until the drain stops, and thats your problem circuit. There are cases of relays sticking, door light switches grounding when they shouldnt etc.
Pics of socket and plug at
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...uestion-2.html
jp 83 Euro S AT 52k
Last edited by jpitman2; 01-07-2010 at 05:23 PM.
#50
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I'll add my two penn'orth to this thread.
I use the same maintainer as jpitman (two in fact one for each 928) . It is a voltage sensing unit ie it's quite clever in that it does not produce a charge until it senses some voltage at the connection, and switches off once the voltage is high enough. Thus with it switched on but unconnected there are 0 volts at the connection.
I thought long and hard about connecting at the front or rear tow hook positions but I didn't want to drill holes in any of the bodywork however discrete they may be. I ended up removing the ring terminals on the supplied pigtail and soldering on an RCA (phono) plug. This connects to an RCA socket mounted in the carpeted section of the sheet metal cover to the handbrake (E brake) below the handbrake lever so it is all but invisible. Electrical connection is to the power supply side of the drivers side seat movement switches which is permanently hot. Where you connect does not really make a difference so long as it is always hot.
The battery maintainers themselves are mounted on the ceiling of the garage approximately above where the drivers doors are when the 928s are parked - getting into the 928 to drive it means moving the connection leads so no danger of forgetting to disconnect.
I use the same maintainer as jpitman (two in fact one for each 928) . It is a voltage sensing unit ie it's quite clever in that it does not produce a charge until it senses some voltage at the connection, and switches off once the voltage is high enough. Thus with it switched on but unconnected there are 0 volts at the connection.
I thought long and hard about connecting at the front or rear tow hook positions but I didn't want to drill holes in any of the bodywork however discrete they may be. I ended up removing the ring terminals on the supplied pigtail and soldering on an RCA (phono) plug. This connects to an RCA socket mounted in the carpeted section of the sheet metal cover to the handbrake (E brake) below the handbrake lever so it is all but invisible. Electrical connection is to the power supply side of the drivers side seat movement switches which is permanently hot. Where you connect does not really make a difference so long as it is always hot.
The battery maintainers themselves are mounted on the ceiling of the garage approximately above where the drivers doors are when the 928s are parked - getting into the 928 to drive it means moving the connection leads so no danger of forgetting to disconnect.
#51
Three Wheelin'
I'll add my two penn'orth to this thread.
I use the same maintainer as jpitman (two in fact one for each 928) . It is a voltage sensing unit ie it's quite clever in that it does not produce a charge until it senses some voltage at the connection, and switches off once the voltage is high enough. Thus with it switched on but unconnected there are 0 volts at the connection.
I thought long and hard about connecting at the front or rear tow hook positions but I didn't want to drill holes in any of the bodywork however discrete they may be. I ended up removing the ring terminals on the supplied pigtail and soldering on an RCA (phono) plug. This connects to an RCA socket mounted in the carpeted section of the sheet metal cover to the handbrake (E brake) below the handbrake lever so it is all but invisible. Electrical connection is to the power supply side of the drivers side seat movement switches which is permanently hot. Where you connect does not really make a difference so long as it is always hot.
The battery maintainers themselves are mounted on the ceiling of the garage approximately above where the drivers doors are when the 928s are parked - getting into the 928 to drive it means moving the connection leads so no danger of forgetting to disconnect.
I use the same maintainer as jpitman (two in fact one for each 928) . It is a voltage sensing unit ie it's quite clever in that it does not produce a charge until it senses some voltage at the connection, and switches off once the voltage is high enough. Thus with it switched on but unconnected there are 0 volts at the connection.
I thought long and hard about connecting at the front or rear tow hook positions but I didn't want to drill holes in any of the bodywork however discrete they may be. I ended up removing the ring terminals on the supplied pigtail and soldering on an RCA (phono) plug. This connects to an RCA socket mounted in the carpeted section of the sheet metal cover to the handbrake (E brake) below the handbrake lever so it is all but invisible. Electrical connection is to the power supply side of the drivers side seat movement switches which is permanently hot. Where you connect does not really make a difference so long as it is always hot.
The battery maintainers themselves are mounted on the ceiling of the garage approximately above where the drivers doors are when the 928s are parked - getting into the 928 to drive it means moving the connection leads so no danger of forgetting to disconnect.
Thanks