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I finally was able to get enclosed storage for the race car so it does not consume a garage spot at home. One wrinkle, the storage garage does not have power and I have a small battery (snowmobile) in the M3 that needs a trickle charger.
I suppose I could remove the battery for the car and keep it at home, but I wonder if there is such a beast as a cordless trickle charger? Perhaps just get a big battery and parallel it - or maybe just go back to a stock full size battery. I do generally use the car at least once a month.
I finally was able to get enclosed storage for the race car so it does not consume a garage spot at home. One wrinkle, the storage garage does not have power and I have a small battery (snowmobile) in the M3 that needs a trickle charger.
I suppose I could remove the battery for the car and keep it at home, but I wonder if there is such a beast as a cordless trickle charger? Perhaps just get a big battery and parallel it - or maybe just go back to a stock full size battery. I do generally use the car at least once a month.
Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
-Mike
Disconnect the battery. Bring it home. Even just sitting there is likely to self discharge.
How well does this work? I occasionally leave my car on the trailer for weeks or months even, this would be a great solution if it keeps the battery charged well enough.
Hey, he's the one with the Miata. I've got six rodents to his four.
Solar charger may work, but I'd have to thread the wire out door and throw it up on the roof. In addition to attracting unwanted attention, someone will likely steal it. Hell, someone stole the 50 cent carabiner for my trailer breakaway cable. From the parking lot the storage spot doesn't even look like it's 10x20 - I want it to blend in.
Thanks for the replies, will likely just take the battery home as it also makes the car slightly harder to steal.
How well does this work? I occasionally leave my car on the trailer for weeks or months even, this would be a great solution if it keeps the battery charged well enough.
I have a solar charger made by a different brand and it works really well for my trailer battery. Always keeps it charged up and ready to use. My storage gets just enough light to keep it charged all the time.
My race car has a 2# lithium iron motorcycle battery and if I turn off the shutoff switch it will sit for months with no need for charging. Easy way if no shutoff just remove the ground cable from the battery.
Hey, he's the one with the Miata. I've got six rodents to his four.
Solar charger may work, but I'd have to thread the wire out door and throw it up on the roof. In addition to attracting unwanted attention, someone will likely steal it. Hell, someone stole the 50 cent carabiner for my trailer breakaway cable. From the parking lot the storage spot doesn't even look like it's 10x20 - I want it to blend in.
Thanks for the replies, will likely just take the battery home as it also makes the car slightly harder to steal.
-Mike
I had one of the small batteries for a number of years. I left it in the car and disconnected it when not in use. Most of the time it did not have enough juice to start the car especially on a cold morning. I invested in a jumper box to get it kicked off initially on a track weekend, the first run on the track was usually sufficient to recharge it for the rest of the week end.
I eventually got rid of it and bought an Optima red top. You don't race it and while it may represent better weight distribution you can get the car re-corner balanced.
if you get an Odyssey Battery , even the small ones like i use, you just disconnect and there is no discernible discharge. PC680 is what i use... 14Amp hr capacity
13lbs
mines about 5 years old and still firiing up the ole big V8.
i have only seen bad things with trickle chargers. they tend to over voltage the battery and cook it.
500 HCA... stores for 2 years with little , if any discharge
lightweight
AGM battery
Mark, I have to admit that is a tempting solution to the problem. I didn't realize that AGM batteries were all that different with respect to charge retention. 2 years without charging is pretty incredible and the price is reasonable - not all that much more than a good trickle charger itself.
Mark, I have to admit that is a tempting solution to the problem. I didn't realize that AGM batteries were all that different with respect to charge retention. 2 years without charging is pretty incredible and the price is reasonable - not all that much more than a good trickle charger itself.
-Mike
They do work exceptionally well. i killed mine by leaving it connected after a race weekend and left a draw connected. it recharged back and never had an issue. very surprised about the deep discharge resiliency . the fact that you can just disconnect i and not worry about discharge is a great feature vs some other batteries ive used, is a good thing. (and certainly was the best battery ive bought for the least money as well! ) as far as a cordless charger. if you put a larger battery and wire it in parallel with a large value resistor between them, that would certainly work to keep the smaller battery charged. Again, i think most batteries dont like to be constantly trickle charged. think it hurts most lead acid batteries over time and also the AGMs, but i dont have solid proof on that conclusion.
03-10-2017, 02:37 PM
Cordless Storage Trickle Charger?
