Phil G.

I know it's the first day of summer, and thus, early to raise this question (again). I plan to use my '04 C4S very sparingly in the Philadelphia winter, if at all. Although it's an '04, I have less than 1500 miles on the car. Yeah, I'll be driving it more this summer. Anyway, what battery tender/charger is most recommended to keep up my battery's charge? Do you keep it connected all winter, or just every couple of weeks (for several days) to up the charge? I had bought a "Battery Tender" for a vintage e-type I had and the battery routinely boiled over. Obviously something I want to avoid with the Porsche.

Appreciate your comments! And yes, I've reached 130 posts - time to formally join - which I'll do once I get some good pics!

Phil

'04 C4S Coupe/Atlas/Black/6sp

porschedog

Consider the Deltran Battery Tender - it's a "battery conditioner" which just means it keeps the battery topped off without "cooking" it as a regular trickle charger can.

ltc

I've got 2 of the Porsche Tequipment maintainers:

http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/me...Code=POTE996CC

Plug into the cigarette lighter and forget about it. I've had the 996TT (5K miles) stored for 16 months (long story), no problems with battery and the other is used on the Cup car. No risk of battery overcharge/damage/etc.
The other solid state battery maintainers (Deltan, Yuasa, Schumacher, Griots) are all essentially the same electronics and will not overcharge/boil a battery.

There have been many posts discussing winter storage in various forums, but for non driveable storage, in brief:
1. Change oil/filter right before storage (ALWAYS store with clean oil/filter)
2. Fill gas tank to the top (minimize volume for moisture condensation)
3. Overinflate tires and/or use Tire Cradles
4. Wash/Wax/Condition rubber seals, wiper blades, etc/Vacuum/Car cover
5. Battery maintainer

It is generally not recommended to start the car and let it idle/warm up, as you are just building condensation in the engine/exhaust. If you start the car, drive it for 15-20 minutes until everything is up to normal operating temperature, then put it back into storage (driveable storage).

djantlive

A genuine battery tender can be plugged all the time. It's around $60.

I have a Schmacher (i think that's the brand), which sits next to the battery and has a 3 prong plug that cann be plugged into the wall. Does anyone know if this can be plugged into the wall all the time when not driven?

Robin 993DX

I have been using the battery maintainer from Walmart... $24? it clips right now to the battery and does the job well. If you want to get fancy they come with an extra connector so you can mount them to the terminal.