Porsche Battery Maintainer

[Brett Dikeman]

On Apr 11, 2006, at 6:18 PM, Michael McLaughlin wrote:

> This may be a dumb question, but is there any reason Porsche's
> battery maintainer that hooks into the cigarette lighter wouldn't
> work on other cars?
>
> http://tinyurl.com/rclam

Nope, but a Battery Tender,  Yuasa maintenance charger, or similar  
(there are a bunch of companies that sell essentially the same unit)  
would probably be cheaper than Porsche's gizmo (which does look nice,  
but probably does the same thing as everyone else's gizmos).  Cut the  
cord off a cigarette adapter or pick one up at Rat Shack for a few  
bucks, and you've got exactly the same thing for your non-Porsche  
maintenance charger.  I think Battery Tender offers an accessory cig  
adapter.   Mine came with a quick-disconnect adapter for hard-wiring  
to the car (with fuse) and a set of jumper leads that are also quick- 
disconnect (looks like a two-pin version of those old trailer harness  
connectors.)

FYI, the small rectangular solar panels don't do much except  
offsetting self-discharge and some of the parasitic load from the  
car.  Mark Chang tried one on my recommendation for his S4tt and the  
battery was dead within a month; I think the S4 has too many gizmos  
drawing too much juice.  I think we also determined his battery was  
on the way out anyway.

My Yuasa does a multi-state charging profile (bulk, absorption,  
float) and every 30 days will re-run the charge cycle...though I have  
never left it on the charger for 30 days. Vector makes a bunch of  
chargers, but they're strictly "charge the battery" chargers, not  
maintenance chargers, no matter what they claim; they don't have a  
float stage, and actually discharge the battery slightly when left  
connected.

Before storage, even with a maintenance charger:

-clean the terminals and case
-disconnect one clamp if you're leaving the battery for an extended  
time (over a month with charger, over a two weeks without, especially  
in the summer when batteries self-discharge faster)
-top off any cells with distilled or deionized water if they're in  
need (usually, just at the bottom of a "collar" in each inspection  
port.  Check with the battery manufacturer.  No plate material should  
be exposed.)  Do NOT use tap water under any circumstances.  Check  
the plate color- they should be roughly uniform.
-fully charge the battery using a proper multi-stage charger with at  
least several amps charging current and re-check levels.

Best place to store a battery is in a cool location, again with a  
regulated maintenance charger.  The old myth about concrete floors  
does not apply to modern batteries with plastic cases.

Brett