Wachuko

For those that have a battery tender attached to your cars when left in the garage for a few days. Does your battery tender ever turns off???

I left mine plugged while I was out (6 days) and the thing never turned off... is this normal?

Car was at service and they replaced the generator/alternator during that service. I thought that was the problem... having the car serviced today (clutch related issues) and will ask them to check the battery...

Thanks!

ltc

2 Porsche Tequipment battery maintainers; one on the 996TT, one on the 964 Euro Cup. 16 month storage on both cars is typical...no, don't ask.

Both will stay on for at most 1 day, then shut off. As soon as you apply an electrical load (open door, etc), it will come back on.

Assuming you don't have a constant electrical load/fault (defective module, etc), then it is most likely your battery.
Standard lead acid electrochemistry batteries don't have a long service life in these applications; most people find that a sealed/spiral/gel/AGM battery (re: Optima or others) have a much longer service life.

Oak

what type of charger do you have? some have an inline 1amp fuse if this blows it will cause the indicator light to stay on the tender. check the charging indicator lights it should be blinking if not you may have a blown inline fuse. hope this helps.

Wachuko

I have the Porsche unit... the big black square tranformer with a long cable. Only one red light. I actually have two of those (one in the 964 and one in the 996TT) and have swap them between cars to make sure they are working correctly. Sure enough after a few hours on the 964 light goes off and if I open the door the light turns on again due to the courtesy light turning on.

I will just get an Optima battery and call it a day... Dealer keeps telling me that at this point is normal for the tender not to go off due to all the electronics and drain the 996TT has...

1AS

Mine never turns off, nor do I think it should. These tenders work thru a very small range of voltage, and the car constantly discharges in that range. Mine will go completely flat in 2-3 weeks if I don't use it or plug it in. AS

Oak

honestly those are junk. get the battery tender/charger with the red and green led lights. it has enough power to get a full charge and kick down to trickle.

if you plan on going with the optima red tops you will have some fabricating to do.

Truckin

When I removed original battery and attached the Porsche maintainer the red light stayed on for more than a week. It's on the floor (insulator) now for more than 2 months and although the red light is off the xfmr is quite warm.

I bought the Optima yellow at first and my stereo installer advised to change to red. I'll be changing out all radio components soon. I mounted the Optima to a polyethelene cutting board that I bought from Lowes.

Boston Duce

I have the Porsche silver charger (about the size and shape of a hot dog bun) and it rarely cycles to "charging" when the car sits for a extended period.

It is however, always "on" as indicated by a pilot light.

Regards
BD

Wachuko

Battery is new and they re-checked everything yesterday. All came out in top shape... so not sure unless I start measuring where the drain is coming from. I will put this to rest now. Seems to be a normal thing in my car and not planning on buying another battery tender at this time.

Thank you!!