Henry

I keep my car covered in the garage when not being used. These periods are usually from 1-2 weeks at a time. Is there a problem with connecting a battery tender from a garage electrical outlet, underneath the car cover which would still be in place, and up through a small opening in the side window to the cigarette lighter using an adapter? If possible, I would like to keep this setup in place for up to 3-4 weeks (while gone on vacations, etc.) as long as there would not be any resulting problems or dangers.

Is there a problem with keeping the car completely covered while doing this for even a short period of time (ventilation, etc.), or does the battery tender work and maintain the battery at such a low rate that it doesn't really matter? For those of you which store your car over the winter months and don't want to disconnect the battery, what other options should I consider?

Thank you.

Viken

No problem. You can even run the secondary wire through the door seals without any issue. I used the Porsche battery maintainers for years in this manner on two cars.

Paul902

I use this type of maintainer on my 993 all winter long. My car is covered as well.

lowblow

Henry-

I store my car exactly as you do, (covered in the garage for 1-2 weeks). I have a wall pack type battery tender that I use on my car and my motorcycle. I simply connect the tender to my battery, run the cord out through the hood and close the hood so the interior lights go out. The rubber seal/ gasket under the hood is soft enough and gives plenty to account for the cord thickness. I also read yesterday of someone who leaves the hood open and pushes the latch closed which will also turn off the interior lights.

Mike

Henry

Sounds good!! I had either been told or had read somewhere that there could be a ventilation issue with the car being completely covered (fire, fumes, explosion, who knows...don't remember why). I just want to be sure that everything is safe with both car and house while I may be gone away for a few weeks.
Any more thoughts?
Thank you.

993Maineiac

I've stored mine in Maine for two winters with the Porsche battery tender with no ill effects. Hopefully she'll be in AZ soon and winter storage will be a fond memory.

Al

Dudley

Henry, I also use this same method. Works well.

Dave

Blue S2

I would just look into getting a maintainer that shuts off when the battery is full, and supplies just enough to keep it there when it starts falling again. Not one that provides a constant charge.

914und993

Any hydrogen gas that is formed by a 'battery tender' type device is easily recombined within sealed lead acid batteries.

If you still have a non-sealed lead-acid battery, one that has caps for topping off the water, then there could be very small amounts of hydrogen gas escaping from the battery. But, hydrogen would diffuse through a typical cover awfully quickly, and buildup would be unlikely.

If you made the mistake of leaving a high capacity charger hooked up, then there could be some more dangerous issues.