orclean1

I plan on using a battery tender plus with a cigarette lighter adapter to keep battery fully charged . does anyone know if the cigarette lighter is hot at all times without the ignition turned on

jphughan

According to P9, all power outlets on the 981 are hot even with the ignition off so that you can connect battery tenders to them. This is different from the 987 that powered them off either immediately or a certain period of time after the key was removed and the doors closed (can't remember which). I can't imagine the GT4 would be different in this regard.

PistolPete

The sockets on the 987 are always live as well. The car goes into a deeper sleep mode after a week of no activity to draw even less power. At this point your keyfob remote won't open the car remotely anymore. You'll need to insert the key into the door lock and twist to wake all the systems up. Again this is for the 987.

One more gotcha with the 987, if you use a 12V air compressor (like the one that comes with the car) to inflate tires, only use the 12v jack in the center console. You'll blow the fuse if you us any of the outer 12v outlets (i.e. footwell)

I'm sure for the GT4 whatever applies to the standard 981 system will apply to the GT4.

jphughan

Hmm, looks like there's some conflicting information about this on the 981 and 997, possibly complicated by the fact that not all power outlets behave the same way in this regard? Here's some light reading for the OP, but it appears some experimentation may be in order:

http://www.planet-9.com/981-cayman-b...estions-2.html

http://www.planet-9.com/981-cayman-b...g-lighter.html

http://www.planet-9.com/981-cayman-b...aintainer.html

soupy

12V outlets stay live until it goes into sleep mode 20 minutes after the doors are closed. I had a super capacitor-based dashcam running on my GTS that would record for that long after parking it and then cutting off after the time expired. The only exception is when it senses power being sent through the outlet from a charger (I used a CTEK 4.3 through the smokers package outlet) where it'll keep it live to take the charge. The catch might be if you experience a power outage where the charger shuts off temporarily and turns back on. Not sure if it'll wake up the car from sleep mode and open up the outlets again.

Maverick1

I use a CTEK to charge my Boxster and I use the permanently attached clamps directly on the battery and run the wire out of the popped up front hood.
Just curious, if you run the CTEK into the cigarette outlet where do you run the power cord...under the open drivers door or out the open window?
Is there any benefit to using the cigarette outlet vs directly on the battery?
P.S. I have tried the "Battery Tender" brand chargers and they crapped out on me after the second year, so not recommended.

soupy

I do occasional charging with a crazy long extension cord in my condo community garage so I need to charge it with the car still mostly secured/locked, so I run it through the cigarette outlet. On the output end of the CTEK, the cable is thin enough that you can run it under the door and close it shut without snagging or damaging the wire.

Simon Templar

I feel sorry for all of you that will have your GT4 sit for such a long period of dormancy, is this because you live in an area that has bad winter weather?
I am sure you could find some eager Rennlisters that would be more than happy to charge your battery every couple weeks with a spirited drive!!

Da Hapa

I used the Porsche branded charger (which I believe is the same as the CTEK) on my 997s through the cigarette lighter. I ran the power cord through the passenger side window (as that was closest to my power outlet). The window closed over the power cord with no problems for many years.