Mongo

I haven't been driving my car much lately since working on the house and the battery seems to run low every 3-4 days. I drove it on Sunday and it cranked very slow on a cold start. Once warmed up, the battery had a charge and cranked no problem. The situation repeats in the time frame stated above, so I'm thinking maybe it's time to get a tender or something to maintain the battery. Prior to this weekend, the car was only started and driven once every 10 days. Slow cranking on cold start also in that situation.

Any thoughts and opinions on battery tenders?

danglerb

I want to wire in a permanent easy to reach with the hood closed 12v cig lighter type outlet, likely a marine unit with a full weather seal, and for the juice side I am thinking the $15 HF charger next time its on sale.
One step up from this one.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automat...ger-42292.html

SeanR

Walmart

Schumaker battery maintainer.

$20.00

por917

I have used a Battery Tender Junior for the last 6 months. It was worth every penny, it comes with a long cord that that has a quick disconnect. I have routed it just out of the battery box and I just leave the hatch cracked open when the Battery Tender is attached, which is good for the seal anyways. I no longer have to disconnect the battery when I know it will sit for longer then 4-5 days and I don't loose any presets on the radio. I now just simply unplug the quick disconnect and close the hatch and I'm on my way

Mongo

How about hooking it up to the post under the hood?

cold_beer839

I hooked mine directly to the battery and dropped the plug out of the battery box underneath the car. I'm there are more sophisticated ways though.

SeanR

I hooked mine to the jump post, you can't tell it is there until I pull the connector out from under the fender lip to plug it in.

pcar928fan

I agree with Sean. I have two of the Schumachers and run them direct to the battery with a fuse in the + line right at the battery post in case anything goes wrong. The come out through one of the battery box holes and I hide the tail up under the rear bumper cover.

cpayne

Try a rennlist members site for great projects. This link is to the Trickle Charger. I believe this is Alan's site
http://www.moore-fun.net/928-Electri...maintainer.htm

Ed Scherer

Schumacher here (there are a ton of variations and relabeled units), too, which I rarely use, except when there's a big snow in the winter and I don't expect to drive the car for at least a week. Since I use mine so infrequently, I just use lift the hood and hook up to the front charge post and a cross-brace bolt.

That leaves the question, though: why is your battery running down so quickly? You should be able to get a couple of weeks minimum out of it. You might want to check for parasitic drains. If you're seeing more than about 40 or 50 mA of current flowing with everything shut down, there's probably something wrong.

Mark SF

I've been using the Battery Tender Junior too, I attach it to the post under the hood. I would like to install the cable permanently somewhere convenient, though.

pcar928fan

My '92 can eat a battery charge in a week or so, my '94 takes about 3+ weeks (they both read they are using the same amt of power when just sitting too...oddly), BLUE82 gets driven so infrequently that it is on a tender and my '84 can sit for MONTHS and not even seem to lose ANY charge! That car is amazing...and oddly (crazily?) for sale...

LarryM

I'm running the Battery Tender junior also. I purchased extra prewired plugs from Radio shack so I can move it from the 928 to the Ducati. It sure prolongs battery life.

I have mine plugged in under the hood only because the wall outlet is in front and the bike is close by.
The F250 uses a permanent mount Schumacher bolted under the hood. It has loads of room under there.
LM

Randy V

You have an electrical drain.

Installing a maintainer only masks the problem.

jeff spahn

I am with Sean. I have a Schumacher wired right to the battery with a fuse. sits in the hatch area. It's black so it blends in nicely.