Because I do not often drive my '95 R2 very often the battery will go dead between uses. Even with a trickle charger I only get 2 or 3 years. Anyone suggest a particular battery that has a very long in-car storage life?

 

Why not just disconnect the battery is you know it will be sitting for awhile? Seems like a waste of money to keep feeding it new batteries.

How long does it take your R2 to run its battery from full to dead? Might be wise to check its parasitic draw to make sure it's within spec. IIRC, it should be around 100ma or less.

As far as a battery recommendation, I've had excellent results with my Deka Intimidator

 

What do you mean by "trickle charger"? It could be over-charging.
I bought a (relatively) cheap battery from one of the chain parts stores (business account) and put a GOOD battery tender on it. That was over 5 yrs ago. Car is stored from about November to April every year. And even during the driving season it can be parked for a week or two between drives w/o that tender and it fires up just fine. I also have an antique car with the same brand battery and tender. That battery is (IIRC) a year older and doing fine.
Point is, you can get really spendy on a high dollar battery, but, I think a GOOD quality battery tender is as important.

 

I have a Miata battery from Advanced, have it for a year and a half now and I disconnect it when I park the car (quick disconnect from the breaker), only charged it once after the long winter this year and that was for just in case.

 

I think a lot of variables need to be accounted for. How often is the approximate interval between drives? As well, what temperature is the norm where you live? When you buy your new battery, be sure to check the CCA and other specs. Try checking out Shorai batteries! They seem pretty neat, at only 5 pounds with a trickle charger and comparable specs to an Odyssey PC680. Brother has one and he swears by it. Problem is, it's pricey! Try checking the forums for more information =)

 

Thanks for the Shorai suggestion.

 

A trickle charger connects to the battery like for a jump start, but provides a small constant charge of a few hundred mA to overcome parasitic losses.

 

Do you know what the draw on an FD should be? I have suspected the stereo had been a culprit, but I have removed it's fuse with no difference.

 

Been answered for ya buddy

 

As I understand it a maintainer takes the battery up to capacity and then shuts off...it doesnt constantly "charge". That will kill a battery as you describe. Same thing happens occasionally when the internal voltage regulator goes bad on an alternator.

I don't recall off hand what normal draw is on a FD...but a healthy battery should last dormant a few weeks at least. . Easy enough to isolate with a multimeter at the terminal and pulling fuses if you suspect too much.

 

Problem resolved - it was phantom draw though a partially corroded car stereo connection direct to the battery. There was about 50mA flowing that way. Gone now.
Thanks to everyone.

 

Are you still selling the FD if so please contact me.