txhoosier

I hope everyone is enjoying Memorial Day weekend and has had the good fortune to be able to thank a veteran in person (my uncle, Marine in Vietnam.)

The topic is battery management. On my older Carrera, we installed a disconnect switch on the positive terminal - see pic below. She only goes out on perfect days, so there are extended periods during summer and winter where she doesn't leave the garage. Sometimes there might be 6 weeks in between drives, and this switch eliminates stress/drain. I never have a problem when its time to fire her up.

On the newer cars, i've seen many threads explaining how to effectively use trickle chargers, as they have the same drain issue as the older cars. I have not (apologies if i've missed and this is a stupid duplicate question) on switches like the one i'm using.

Are there any unintended consequences of using a disconnect switch like this on a modern car?

LexVan

Easier to use a proper battery maintainer like Porsche's or C-Tek and keep the car powered up.

slicky rick

Our cars have clocks that need power all the time. Computers that need power though how small, radio memory, window memory....yadayadayada. Buy a trickle charger and use it when car is stored.

txhoosier

i don't mind resetting the clock. i don't think i ever look at it anyway.

other than possible losing memory settings.......any other pitfalls?

997v2cabrio

The battery last longer if its maintained properly on a smart trickle charger.

terbiumactivated

Not necessarily a consequence, however if you disconnect the battery over and over the computer has to reacquire some of its information from scratch again and again. The maintainers work really well and stop charging once the battery is at peak. They last forever too, essentially a must have for anyone subject to fair weather driving only. The only extra thing I do is make sure the hood / bonnet is vented just in case some acetic gasses should ever be escaping the battery. I saw a lot of cars over the years where that effect has destroyed paint above the battery box. That effect however is minimal to none with a trickle charger and more likely with the snap on quick charger I have from days of yore but hey venting is still free so I do it.

extanker

why not just drive it more often...it is a car....with wipers,heater ,lights etc

Sniff

Personally I would just get a trickle charger and be done with it. I would suspect very few of us here on these forums truly know the electrical/computer systems of these cars inside and out, so why take any chances? I'll be the first to confess I have no idea what the long-term consequences are of repeatedly disconnecting the battery (if there are any). But again I'm not willing to take any chances. In fact if you look at the Porsche Workshop Manual, there are specific procedures you must follow after reconnecting the battery.

FWIW, I purchased a CTEK charger on Amazon for less than $70 and it included the cigarette lighter adapter. These chargers are the EXACT same ones as the OEMs, just without the Porsche label.

Sean

r_32

Sean - can you include a link to the model you purchased? Getting ready to purchase one myself.

terbiumactivated

Speaking for myself, I don't enjoy driving a sports car in the rain on purpose. I like to enjoy a spirited drive and doing that in the rain, IMO is flipping the bird to the hand of fate. Rear vision out of the spyder top up is compromised, add rain and it's lousy. Additionally, in spring I won't go near the roads till the sweepers come and it rains a few times to wash off the incredibly caustic salt they toss around here. I treat the car like an owned piece of art but when it's time to appreciate said art, I get plenty of my ya ya's out.

Sniff

Here is a link to the CTEK Multi US 3300 charger I use, currently $54.00 at Amazon:


Here is a link to the cigarette lighter adapter, currently $12.00 at Amazon (you will need this to pop the "Frunk" if the battery completely dies):


To compare, Amazon also sells the OEM Porsche charger which is the same exact one as the CTEK mentioned above. It sells for $120 on Amazon.


BTW, I have no affiliation with CTEK or Amazon, I'm just passing along the route I decided to go. I can confirm that the quality of the CTEK charger is really good. Best of luck.

Sean

Sniff

This is very interesting, but what does it have to do with battery maintenance?

BTW, I really like your Boxster Spyder. I was very tempted to get one . . . just a bit too tight for my 6'3" / 195 lb frame.

chris.hanle

^^^^^The op says he waits for the "perfect day" to drive his car. I suspect that rain is not a "perfect day" to him, and we know that driving is the best medicine for our batteries. There may be other information in the post that may not pertain to battery maintenance but interesting none the less.

chris.hanle

As for the op, I am not sure if you have to reset the windows, pcm settings (wipers, locks ect) if the battery is disconnected for extended period of time. That would be annoying and take away from the drive. If you have a PDK then it must relearn your tendencies (that may not be too terrible), but I agree with all of the others, trickle charger.

KNS

If you have any stored fault codes you'll lose them when you disconnect the battery. There was an article in Excellence a couple of years ago and they said, in a nutshell, don't disconnect the battery if you don't have to. If you must, plug in an OBDII reader first to see if you have any codes that may need closer examination.