I don't know why it would be.

 

I've seen it mentioned here before that having your suspension hang like that for long durations is "bad". What does "bad" really mean? I'm not sure--thus my question.

I tried a couple searches in the archives to see if this was discussed at length, but I couldn't track any down.

Perhaps someone can pipe up and give us a brief explanation.

 

I've been using the porsche cigarette tender for a few years and am very happy (looks different than the picture posted above- mine has the big plug that's black and says Porsche Chargo-o-mat or something, and a nice long cord to reach the cigarette lighter.

My question is if it's safe to use the porshce charge-o-mat on other cars, or is it engineered specifically for the 911s? (i.e. spec of voltage/ amps to be considered fully charged and turn the maintainer off)? Also, I wonder if all cars can use the cigarette lighter method to keep a charge, or do only certain newer cars have this option (do older cars keep a link to the cigarette lighter when the car is turned off to allow a plug-in maintainer to work)?

 

I 'hang' my '76, 2.7 Ltr every winter on axle stands and remove the road wheels. A bit of overkill but with early shocks they can sieze if left under load in the same position for too long - I don't think this is true of the modern shocks. It hasn't done my suspension any harm after 100,000 miles.

PJC

 

Jeff, good question - I fired up a new thread to ask the forum.

PJC - I wonder if modern shocks have stops to prevent the suspension from resting on the strut seals?

 

I installed a Battery Minder yesterday which happens to be on sale this month at Car Care Specialties. I've read a few independant reviews comparing it to the Battery Tender and the Battery Minder came out tops. Given that all smart chargers pretty much do the same thing, I picked up this one and hard wired it in 10 minutes.

One terminal goes to each battery post leaving a little pigtail which can be tucked away when not needed. The business end of the Battery Minder is zip tied to an electrical outlet to prevent anyone from tripping on the wire. Simple and effective.

The problem with the BMW/Porsche branded Battery Tender is that some models (as in the cars) switch off the 12V accessory outlet after a few seconds. This would render the cigar lighter plug charger useless. So hardwiring should be the only method employed and can be done by anyone with zero mechanical ability.

As for winter storage, the suspension should not be left unloaded. It's not its natural state and can lead to premature dampener failure (from my limited research). Lifting the car is a good idea to isolate the tyres from the ground temp., however blocks of wood should be placed between the tyres and the ground to preload the suspension. Dudley's sizzor lift is perfect but the car should be lowered so the tyres aren't just hanging in mid air. Oh and set the tyres to sidewall-max + 10% (fudge factor). Sidewall-max is the [tyre] manufacturers guidline given a normal day allowing for a driven car. Since we're talking about storing the cars for winter, not only is the ambient temp low, but the cars won't be driven. That's my unscientific fudge factor explanation.

As for petrol, back in the day, filling the tank was recommended to reduce the change of moisture/corrosion/etc. However, times have changed. Petrol tanks are generally made from plastic (certainly the case in a 993) and fuels are more stable (less prone to to deteriorate(sp?)). STA-BIL is a good idea though.

Rodents!
These rat b'stards (pun intendend) seek out nice cars sitting in garages. They have monthly meetings and have GPS (remember how times have changed?). They found my M Coupe this year but no damage done. A trip to Home Depot got me a box of moth ***** for less than $2. Never put them in the car. Not even under the bonnet. Instead, place some in ceramic bowls around the car/garage.

Of course there are lots of other little tips to prep your car for winter such as Wurth door moulding conditioner, waxing the car, conditioning the leather, change of oil prior to hibernation, etc., but all that info can be had by doing a search on the topic. I think an excellent resource is Larry Reynolds (from the link posted above). He has all the products mentioned including Porsche branded ****e.

Disclaimer - I'm in no way affiliated with CCS. Just thought I'd pass on some useful info.

 

Replacing the alligator clips with a cig lighter adapter strikes me as a very risky idea. You're charger appears capable of probably several amps, so if your battery gets low and you hook this up, you could be putting a lot of current thru there. Could fry some wires, I'd fear.

I bought a used Schumacher smart charger on ebay and it maintains at 13.5V just great. There's no point to owning a separate maintainer since good chargers already have that feature.

 

Eric - must be the poor photography. It looks bigger than it is.
I checked the unit, just to be sure, and it is only 1.5 Amps. I also checked my receipt. I paid $31.49 (with tax) on Jan 8, 2005. I have had it plugged in continuously since I bought it with no ill effects (except for the time it was switched to 6V and it allowed the battery to discharge).

I bought it at Sears because I had a gift card and it seemed to fit my needs. I am sure there are better/fancier maintainers on the market.

Here it is:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...00&tab=des#tab

In fact, I would not be surprised, if you peeled off the Sears sticker, that this charger is actually a Schumacher charger.
Funny, just adding the Sears sticker bumps the price up $11.

(I corrected the website to avoid having anyone else buy the wrong model.)

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1296395

 

Well, the 993 still refused to show any signs of life. I took the old battery out, went to an Interstate dealer I've used before and found out that the battery was indeed beyond help. Luckily they had the right battery in stock. Bolted it in and the car fired right up Hooked up the maintainer and can sleep better now.

Andreas

 

Dave-
Gotcha. It looked a little bigger than just 1.5 amps. And yup, it looks exaclty like the Schumacher unit. Schumi makes their larger DieHard chargers so it's no surprise that they supply the little maintainer too.

Andreas- You didn't mention it, but I hope you hooked up your battery drain tube. Trust me, they are needed.

 

Eric,
The Interstate battery has an oval-shaped port. I've already contacted them to see about a supposed "vent kit" for the MTP-91. In the meantime, I will fashion a connector to work with the stock hose.

Andreas

 

I can't beleive the battery didn't come with the hose vent. IMHO it certainly should. Apparently sometimes they do: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...ghlight=mtp-91

I'd go back to the dealer for the vent kit. Or call IBSA directly. http://www.ibsa.com

 

Earlier this winter I drained my battery while it was on the Porsche Maintainer by stupidly leaving the trunk light on. See thread called (Trunk light beats Porsche battery charger, or something like that). It took over a week for the maintainer to recharge the battery after I turned the light off, but it did it and is still working fine. Pretty good service for that little unit. I was a bit worried after I saw the chargers red light finally go out that I had burnt it out from excessive prolonged load. It is working fine though.

 

Nope; just hook it up. However, I did have it disconnected as I hooked it up when I used to attach the unit to the battery terminals. Now, with a permanent wire harness installed just for the tender able to be run outside the trunk with a two-prong connector at the end, I just hook this connector up to the tender which is already hooked up to a 120V source.

 

I just bought the Schumacher charger listed above and it says "This is a manual charger and must be monitored to prevent overcharging of the battery"

Dudley, are you still leaving yours plug in continuously? Have you had any problems? I assume that since it is only a 1.5 AMP charger then you are safe it leave it plugged in?

Thanks!
Christian