Hello All!

So the evil snow is starting to fall here and it is time to prep for winter storage

The new issue for me to consider this year is the fact that my car is now running a fancy *** alarm system that I am sure will cause me endless headaches if I lose battery power.....

So my question is; can I (or should I) hook up a float charger over winter to keep my battery alive? Will this damage the ECU, or gauges etc that I have installed?

I pretty much know nothing about electronics so wondered who has done this and what should I avoid doing? I was planning to use something like the Battery Tender Plus:



Thanks for all and any advice!

Tom

FYI this is for my FD if it matters.

 

i am using one of the NOCO Genius chargers (or similar) to keep my battery charged. I remember Jay Leno talked about CTEK and how much better it was than the one you had listed (used by Ferrari, etc.). Went with NOCO cause it was slightly cheaper.

 

If losing battery power causes you endless headaches...I don't know if an FD is right for you --- Anyway you'll be fine with a battery tender, any brand works, even a cheap $10 one from Harbor Freight works. I've done that with my car every winter with no problems.

 

Maybe endless headaches was the wrong phrase.

Winter is long here with ~8 months where the car is parked. I want to avoid the alarm system complaining every two weeks that the battery is low.

If it did not have the alarm system I would just pull the battery out and be done. But I have a lot of $$$ into this build and I need the alarm to help me sleep at night when I am on vacation!

Thanks for the advice though!

 

CTEK and NOCO....I will look into those.

Thank you!

 

Hmmm, so after some reading I am liking the look of the CTEK products.

Anyone have experience with these?

 

I use a cheapy Canadian Tire unit..I stick it under the car..under the tarp..done this for 3 or 4 years now.

 

I have some cheap/no-name battery trickle charger that I use.
From motorcycles, lawn mower, the FD.... works just fine.
I doubt the thing cost $30.

I've never had an issue with computers or other electronics and the trickle charger.

 

That's what I was hoping to hear! Thank you!

 

I have two 4-bank Battery Tenders and several single units. So yeah, I definitely say use them. Never a single issue.

 

Excellent - thank you!

 

I have a CTEK Polar. Think they are made in Sweden, so a lot of us here in norway use them.
http://www.ctek.com/products/vehicle/mxs-5-0-polar

A real nice thing with them is that they offer wires-in connectors so that you dont need to use the clamps. You just mount them to your battery cables and use the plug when you need to charge.
This means you can have the connector somewhere easy to reach, not needing to open the hood to charge.

 

I also bought my Battery tender from Canadian tire years ago. I forgot the price but it wasn't expensive. I remove the battery place it on the tender from November 1st to May1st. No issues

 

Yeah I have an El Cheapo for my other vehicle as I take the battery out of that one.

However, due to my alarm I need to leave the battery hooked up to this vehicle. So I am after a charger that is safe to use all winter while the battery is still connected.

 

CTEK chargers are great and yes, they are OEM providers for Porsche/Ferrari/etc.

I have this one that I use on my 987S. I don't know if a battery tender is 100% necessary for the older cars like FDs, but for the newer ones with all the electronics, you definitely will want something! If I don't drive the 987S often enough, the battery definitely loses voltage.

 

Thanks for your input!

I definitely need one - my alarm system drains the battery in 14 days to the point where the car just barely cranks over and starts

 

Thanks for all the input guys, I ended up purchasing a CTEK MUS 4.3.

Arrived in the mail today and looks to be of excellent quality. Will let you all know how I get on with it over the long winter!

 

Here in Vermont I just take the battery out and store it in the house... on really dry road days I'll put it back in the car and go for a decent drive, come back, remove it again..not a big deal.

 

Yep that's exactly what I do with my other car, except the driving it around bit, the snow doesn't let up here at all :-(

However for this vehicle I need to keep the battery topped up all winter while it is still in the car due to the alarm system.

 

I'm also here in Alberta and use a CTEK MUS 4.3.... you cannot beat CTEK - absolute best in the industry. You'll be nothing but pleased with it.

 

So a quick update for anyone looking at this in the future:

As mentioned I purchased a CTEK MUS 4.3. I hooked it up directly to my battery terminal clamps using the supplied cables. Made for a nice clean install as per the picture below.

I have been using the unit for a couple of months now and am very happy with it. It seems to do a great job and all my fancy electronics including the alarm seem to be functioning as per normal.

Thanks to the snap in connector it is super easy to plug in/remove the unit and it does not seem to get hot at all. Therefore I have no concerns leaving it hooked into my car until the spring

if i have any issues in the future, I will let you all know!

CTEK MUS 4.3.cable hook up

 

Fancy.
Enjoy!

 

That doesn't sound right to me, but if you contact the manufacturer of the alarm and they agree that is normal drain then I would proceed as you have planned.

What I am implying here is make sure that you don't have some other load/leakage from the battery with the ignition off before you put the car on a trickle charger with the battery connected to the vehicle.
I did not do this and I found corrosion build up after a winter on one of the connectors from the charging harness to the front harness (I forget if it was X11 or X12 connector). I obviously have a drain that I have to find and fix and I am lucky I just got some corrosion- this could lead to an electrical fire.

 

Hey, thanks for sharing - I definitely do not want a fire!

However, this actually is normal drain due to the type of alarm system I have. Plus the car was fully rewired as part of my engine build so I should be all good.