BenDiem

Greetings RLs,

Hope everyone is well.

Quick and perhaps a silly question, but I'm seeking your assistance here. I'm puzzled...

This past weekend, I charged my car with one of my Corvette BTs, that I think cost me about $150 dollars when I bought my ZR1.

I attached the BT to the power outlet just below the glove box, at the passenger footwell, located in the middle of the transmission tunnel.

At the conclusion of 48 hours, I unplugged the cord from the power outlet from the garage wall. I noticed that upon unplugging the BT from the garage wall, the BT's light (image of a Corvette) was still illuminating.

This never happened when I unplugged the BT from the Corvette. The image of the Corvette light would stop illuminating. Therefore I knew that the BT was not running down my battery on the Corvette.

Question: When unplugging a BT from a 991, does the Porsche's battery/charging system continue to run the battery in the 991???

Perhaps I'm not clear but what puzzles me is that when I unplugged the BT upon charging the Corvette, the BT light went out so I knew the Corvette's BT was not running down my battery. I'm not so sure this is the case with my 991. When I unplug the BT from the wall, the BT's light continues to illuminate on the Porsche (read: the BT is still running down my battery?)

Should I be concerned if I unplug the BT from the Porsche and the light continues to stay illuminated, when unplugging the BT?

Wouldn't an illuminating light on the BT indicate that the car's electronics/battery was still running???

What I'm trying to do here is replicate the protocol I used with my old Corvette. I'd charge the Corvette for 48 hours, then unplug the BT from the garage wall. I'd leave the BT adapter (head) in the cigarette lighter, and the BT light would shut down the BT (light would go out). This is not happening with the Porsche. I unplug the BT from the garage outlet, and also leave the adapter head in the outlet in the Porsche, however, the light would not go out. The BT's light continues to illuminate. Is this telling me I should unplug the adapter/head from the power source in the car as well?

I thank you in advance for your responses.

Best/Cheers,

BB

Mike in CA

I'm not sure whether the Corvette charger is suitable for use with the GT3. For one thing, the GT3 has an AGM battery which, according to the battery manufacturer, requires a "cold weather" setting to properly charge the battery.

Anyway, with my CTEK charger (which is the company that makes the Porsche branded charger), if I unplug the charger from the AC outlet, but leave it connected to the car, the light on the charger will glow weakly. In that respect it sounds like it's doing the same thing that your charger is doing and is drawing current from the battery. As soon as I disconnect the charger from the battery, the light goes out.

BenDiem

^^^ Mike,

Thank you for your reply.

The Corvette BT is also made by CTEK.

I believe you answered my question. I think in the case of the 991, the BT (CTEK) will continue to draw current/power from the car's battery, unless I remove the BT adapter/head from the power supply outlet from the interior of the car. Learned something today...

Tks again!

B/R,

Ben B.

Just in time

Ben, why do you disconnect the BT periodically? Isn't the object of the BT to operate as a trickle charger that is always connected until you need to get the car running? Just curious.

STG

That's my understanding of it and what is stated in the instructions.

Just in time

Maybe Corvette has something different that I am not aware off. oh well.

BenDiem

^^^ Gents,

I read somewhere (can't recall where) that you do not have to keep the BT on, non-stop (3 months => Dec-Mar) until the Spring...

I charge my vehicles with my CTEK BT just one or two days every two weeks for approx 24-48 hours; the light on my CTEK BT displays a full charge within 4-6 hours or less.

This method has worked for me, so I'll continue to do this. FWIW.

Best/Cheers,

BB

djantlive

You should read ctek website and follow how it is used. Frequent plugging and unplugging doesn't make it better. I can see benefit if it's plugged in over 2-3 months at a time but doing it weekly probly leads to user error (forgetting to plug in or plug in correctly)

nycjwi

Are you able to plug the CTEK unit into the 12v plug (cig lighter) of the car to charge the battery or does it have to be connected directly to the Car battery. the question would be when the car is off does the 12v plug stay active? if not i believe this would not work.
thanks!

Mike in CA

The 12V outlets definitely stop providing power after a time. A while back when this came up I tested them by plugging in a phone charger with an in-use light and the light went out after about 15 minutes, regardless of which outlet was used.

However, it must be different when power is fed into one of the 12V outlets because that's the way the CTEK Porsche branded charger is designed to work. I have my CTEK hooked up to the battery but with the right adaptor it would work in the cig lighter too.

doubleurx

The goal of trickle charging is to maintain the battery. Unplugging and letting it discharge only shortens the battery lifespan. You are much better off leaving it plugged in.

Mike in CA

^+1

doubleurx

I'm unplugging mine this weekend - supposed to be sunny and in the 60's. It been dry enough lately that most of the sweepers have removed the salt and dust (most - it will still be a dirty girl). I haven't taken it out for a spin in nearly 6 weeks!