Pete Lech

The Schumacher Batter Tenders only get warmish when they are charging, as they are only 1-1/2 amps. Mine are mounted next to the batteries. Others have a remote transformer at the 110V plug end.

I always have the mantainers plugged in on both the 993 & 997 when parked for more than a couple of days. However the 997 sat in Virginia for several weeks after the Parade waiting for pickup, and then 8 days on the road, and it started strongly when it arrived here last Sunday.

Without putting a meter on it, I think the 993 drain is a lot worse. With consistant maintainer use, the 993 Optima Red Top is now 7 years old and works great.

THPorsche

I hope my cteck battery maintainer works as my car hasn't been driven since July 2 (out of the country).

MUSSBERGER

Wow I sometimes go 3, 4, 5 days or more without driving the 997 and have never put a trickle charger on it. I didn't realize I was living so dangerously.

agdamis

I have not driven the car since July 18th, so it will be interesting to see how this works.

I leave the car in a garage spot I rent and I do not have access to a plug so I am not sure what the best course of action is while it sits all winter (4 months). I think I will have to pull the battery out and store it at home.

sandwedge

Update: Brought the car in for annual oil change yesterday and mentioned the weak battery. Tech hooked up the charger, didn't like what he saw and put a new battery in - under warranty. And it got better. With 16K miles on the car I expected both air filters were finished but instead both were declared in like new condition and left alone. So the often talked about $700 oil change cost me $259 and they gave me a Boxster to drive instead of waiting. Best car dealership I ever did business with. http://www.suncoastporschesarasota.com/default.aspx

MUSSBERGER

Nice

OCBen

Hey Pete.

I don't think Schumacher makes them here in the US anymore. I picked one up at Kragen's over the weekend after my Sears unit crapped out on me after almost 3 yrs of service. I noticed the Schumacher unit is made in China and had the same plastic housing as the Sears unit. Only difference appeared to be the stick-on labels on the front, though the back label was identical in every way to the Sears unit, where it has the Made in China stamp.

Luckily I had kept my receipt in the box of the Sears unit, which I kept because of the other attachments that might be useful, and which I happened to notice along the back wall of my garage as I was about to set up the Schumacher. On the outside of the box it states plainly that should the unit fail in any way within 3 yrs of ownership to take it to any Sears store to get a free replacement unit. So I did.

Now I need to return the Schumacher unit back to Kragen's. But I lucked out that I had kept my receipt and that the unit failed just before the warranty expired. I'll see how this one holds up. If this one craps out too I might just want to switch to another brand.

jhbrennan

Any idea on what causes the failures? I use one on my 997 about 3 days a month but I have one on my motorcycle for 3-4 months every winter and have had no problems...yet.

OCBen

Only one failure that I know of. Don't know about other units failing on the field, unless you know something I don't.

Could have been a bad solder joint that, after several cycles of expansion and contraction from the heat inducing current flow, metal fatigue set in, thus causing a break in the circuit. Or it could have been a solid state component that failed internally and shorted out. Who knows?

All I know is that it was dead when I got back from Seattle - no lights, no warmth - dead cold. It had only been a week at the most that my car would have been without the trickle charger working, so I felt confident the battery was unfazed by the unit going out. I had to turn it in to get the replacement unit so I didn't get a chance to take it apart to examine it, not sure if I would have if I hadn't returned it.

So you have a Sears Diehard unit too? No problems so far? I'm sure they're well built, at least well built enough to last the unconditional 3 yr warranty. I probably just had a fluke defective unit. Good thing they honor the warranty at any store without requiring you to send to the manufacturer.

jhbrennan

Thanks - I have the Deltran Battery Tender and also an H-D battery maintainer (looks like a Deltran too but with H-D labels). So far so good.

OCBen

I'll probably try the Deltran next if this one craps out on me. I just checked out their website. How long have you been using the one you have?

What brand is the H-D?

jhbrennan

My Deltran is the Battery Tender Plus (bought at Pep Boys) and it's been going for 3 years. The H-D (Harley Davidson) looks exactly like the Deltran but there are no markings ID'ing the manufacturer - I've had this one about 4.5 years. Interestingly the Deltran has a small white sticker on the rear of the device saying "Made in China" while the H-D has no markings at all on the device but the shipping box said "Made in USA".

9974G

I had mine on a battery tender during the month-long trip I took last summer, but not since then. I regularly leave the car un-driven for 10-11 days at a time with no battery tender connected. Am I really living dangerously?

Wouldn't it suffice if I made sure that I drove it at least once a week? Perhaps it's a question of how old the battery is.

ADias

The only bat maintainers I use are the Porsche unit or the "Battery Tender" brand. Those have proper current limiting and are foolproof.

If one parks a car for a long time, beyond maintaining the battery, one should also pump the tires to 50PSI, or so, to avoid flat-spotting Do not forget to adjust the pressure when you drive it next though.