Henry964

I was planning to buy a trickle charger to help solve the battery problems I am having with my car.

But suddenly I realized a couple of issues with this item:

Are they Bi voltage? (here electricity is 220v)

Do they have to be plugged constantly to recharge ?
(I live in an apartment building and share the under ground parking with other 200 owners who maybe won´t like seeing my car plugged to a wall consuming electricity that we all pay) and maybe some wise guy will simply pull from the cable to unplugg the charger and then put the cable in the garbage.

klr10

Don't know about the dual voltage issue, but I do know they need to be plugged in for constant charging although the power consumed will be very little (about the same as a mobile phone charger), so if your fellow residents get upset you could explain that to them.

Bull

I would expect that 220v versions are available, but haven't ever needed to find out. They must be plugged in all of the time, but they don't draw current all of the time. Technically, what you want is a "battery maintainer" not a true trickle charger. The difference is that a maintainer will turn on when the battery charge drops to a preset level, and off when the battery reaches full charge level. A trickle charger will continue to charge and may over charge your battery.

The electricity consumed by a battery maintainer should be very minimal.

springer3

I am sure you can get dual voltage chargers, but unless you plan to move, you need one that fits the local power.

I can't help you with the building co-owners, but perhaps a large charger can be used to start the car, or a 10-amp "battery maintainer" can be used to "top up" before anyone notices. Better still, fix the battery drain issue. A healthy 964 can sit for 3 or 4 weeks and still start. That is about the limit for any modern car, as they all (including the 964) have some stand-by current draw. Most batteries self-discharge in about 6 weeks, although there are stories of cars and boats starting after sitting for a year.

Henry964

Thanks for your answers, and yes springer3 you are right in telling me to solve the drain, I want to do both, solve the drains and have a "maintainer" just in case.
The car wasn´t having this issue before, so I guess is a new drain and a new issue to solve.

Madridcab

Have the original 220V Porsche maintainer for my 2 cars, but do not leave in at all times, more like every couple of weeks (in winter whem they don't get driven much) I leave it in for a day or so. My wife left lights on her BMW and totally drained that once, and with the maintainer left in overnight, managed to start it the following morning, so my guess is that if you put it in a day before planning to use the car, you should be OK..

crg53

Henry.

Battery Tender http://www.batterymart.com/pdf_files...ender_plus.pdf makes all kinds of 220V Tenders, scroll down to page #3 and pick the one you want.