Randy M

I respectfully disagree. I've had Toyota trucks that have sit for months and they've fired right up. Every single Porsche that I've had has drawn the battery down prematurely.

1999Porsche911

Well I disagree with you. All my Porsches have never had a problem with the battery and I store them without a battery maintainer in the winter. I simply start it up once every 3 - 4 weeks and let it run for 30 minutes. My current Porsche battery is the original battery. That's ORIGINAL battery. Stored every winter season and started as descibed above. That's more than 6 years old. I replaced my Toyota Seqouis' battery the first year and I drive that every day.

Unless you can give me a specific reason why the Porsche design would drain a battery more than any other car would, I'll have to continue to disagree with you. Many of the electrical componants in the Porsche are also in many other cars on the road.

Randy M

I don't know why Porsches drain batteries, all that I know is that they do drain batteries and there's always someone complaining on the forum literally every few weeks about their dead battery. I think you'd have a hard time convincing most here that there is no problem whatsoever. Consider yourself lucky, there are many owners who deal with this problem whenever they want to take their cars out.

1999Porsche911

Randy, yes the Porsche have trouble with batteries, but so do most cars. A battery is a maintenace item just like windshield wipers are. Yes, there are many people here that complain about them too, but that is the purpose of this forum. Most people without problems are not coming to a forum like this everytime they DON'T experience a problem just to tell us about it. If you hung out at a hospital all the time, I guess you would have to conclude that all people have probelms with their health?

Randy M

No one's been complaining about their windshield wipers on this forum. And there is a difference between maintenance and a problem

1999Porsche911

No one's been complaining about their windshield wipers on this forum. And there is a difference between maintenance and a problem


You're right, and probably because they understand that the windshield wipers do not last forever and replace them periodically. Maybe they will also start to understand that the same thing applies to batteries and will stop posting it as a problem. So many complaints for a $50 item. Having to replcae a battery that sits for long periods of time is not a problem but a fact of life. Thank god there is not a forum for flashlights or we might be reading about all the dead batteries that are sitting in them because they have sat in the drawer unused for a year. Unbelievable!

Randy M

It's a problem....has been for years...

Arrwin

Oooh...where can I find a battery for $50??! Please post!

You can get a great deal here for $17.95 though

1999Porsche911

I can get them at Sams Club here, but others say they go for $48 at Costco or walmart.

Arrwin

What kind of battery is this? Optima?

1999Porsche911

They have several brands.

mike cap

Ron,

You can hook your Fluke up with the leads in series between the positive lug of the battery and the disconnected positive cable. Be careful that you don't accidently ground out something. Put the Fluke leads in to the milliamp receptacle - you should have a range on the meter, so select the 100 ma range. Make sure all the hood and trunk bulbs are out and the same with the interior lights.

A couple of years ago I checked my '97 completely "static" as if it was parked overnight, but with the alarm activated. I believe this "static" draw was about 60-75 ma. Certainly enough to draw down a less than robust battery in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what other cars draw for ma in this mode.

The reputation that the 993 for draining down the storage battery is pretty well-known and has been a problem noted by many in my three years here.

Terry Adams

I think Mike is on to something re the current draw with alarm activated. Perhaps ambient temp is also a factor. My car sits frequently for 2-3 weeks in my CA insulated garage with no alarm activated, and starts right up. I go through batteries every 4 years on average. Do we need a poll?

Ron

Mike,

This is good information.

I undestand your instructions about how and where to hook up the Fluke, but I'm not sure about how to set the dial and where to place the leads in the unit. Attached is a photo of how I think it should be set. It's set to Amps DC and I have the red lead pluged into the 10 amp hole. Is this right?

If it's connected right I need to run out and find a fuse for the unit because I blew the last one a while ago trying to measure amps. The fuses are kind of hard to find as they are that fast acting type. Do not know if I can find one today or not.

Ron

Mike,

I hooked up the Fluke like you said and the reading is .02 amp. That is with nothing on, i.e. the alarm is not set. So what does that mean in the grant scheme of things?

I think that converts to 20 milliamps. That doesn't seem like alot.