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FishAR

By FishAR
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FishAR

FishAR

Posted
Posted

Leaving for florida in less than a month for 6 months. I bought a 2018 GMC Terrain recently just to get me to the golf course and back when we're home in the summer.  I should have waited until we got home next summer but I didn't. so since I'm going to be pulling the Silverado the Terrain will be parked inside my shop the whole time we're gone. Last year when we had the dually and fifth wheel the Silverado stayed parked in the shop for 6 months, came home and the battery was deader than a doornail.

 

So I obviously need to do something. I figure I can

Unhook the battery, but don't know what that would do to all the computer stuff being unhooked for 6 months.

or Buy a battery maintainer and leave it plugged in the whole time. A maintainer like the one I put on my Camelot to keep the chassis battery when we're parked, NOCO GENIUS1, 1-Amp Fully-Automatic Smart Charger, 6V and 12V Battery Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, and Battery Desulfator with Temperature Compensation

It kind of bothers me to leave something like that plugged in and unattended for 6 months.

What would you all do?

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Rikadoo

Rikadoo

Posted
Posted

So when you do your homework on the “battery tenders” and you realize it is “not charging” as much as its cycling the state of charge. Honestly ask ANY motorcyclest or snomobiler or jet skier they/we put them on an leave them on, its a long term event! I even put one on a model “T” 6vdc that stayed plugged in for over a year at a time. Even if you disconnect the car, leave the tender on the battery, it keeps the plates from sulphating.

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seawayvm

seawayvm

Posted
Posted
42 minutes ago, FishAR said:

Leaving for florida in less than a month for 6 months. I bought a 2018 GMC Terrain recently just to get me to the golf course and back when we're home in the summer.  I should have waited until we got home next summer but I didn't. so since I'm going to be pulling the Silverado the Terrain will be parked inside my shop the whole time we're gone. Last year when we had the dually and fifth wheel the Silverado stayed parked in the shop for 6 months, came home and the battery was deader than a doornail.

 

So I obviously need to do something. I figure I can

Unhook the battery, but don't know what that would do to all the computer stuff being unhooked for 6 months.

or Buy a battery maintainer and leave it plugged in the whole time. A maintainer like the one I put on my Camelot to keep the chassis battery when we're parked, NOCO GENIUS1, 1-Amp Fully-Automatic Smart Charger, 6V and 12V Battery Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, and Battery Desulfator with Temperature Compensation

It kind of bothers me to leave something like that plugged in and unattended for 6 months.

What would you all do?

unhook the battery

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JDCrow

JDCrow

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Rikadoo said:

So when you do your homework on the “battery tenders” and you realize it is “not charging” as much as its cycling the state of charge. Honestly ask ANY motorcyclest or snomobiler or jet skier they/we put them on an leave them on, its a long term event! I even put one on a model “T” 6vdc that stayed plugged in for over a year at a time. Even if you disconnect the car, leave the tender on the battery, it keeps the plates from sulphating.

Yep, leave the boat, and jet skis hooked to tenders all year. 

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Idoc57

Idoc57

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Not that you don't already have enough evidence that battery maintainers are great, but here's one more testimony for good measure.  I have had extremely good luck with the Battery Minder products for the last 20 years.  My 2002 Goldwing factory Yuasa battery lasted 2 months shy of 10 years.  The next one lasted a little over 8 years and would have have gone longer if I had not blown a fuse and not realized it for a long time.  As soon as I get home from a ride, I plug it in.  I have them on my boat, Sea-doos, side-by-side and lawnmower.  Try using one, you won't be sorry.

Carey

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Jdw12345

Jdw12345

Posted
Posted (edited)

We have Snowmobile’s and motorcycles, in the summer the sleds are on the maintainers and in the winter the lawnmower and the bikes and are on the maintainers! I believe you could go either way as far as disconnecting the battery or put it on a maintainer. 

I have Battery Minder

https://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-Model-1500-SmarTECHnology-Motorcycles/dp/B00D7HZ6FC/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8p2MBhCiARIsADDUFVGXRRffrBp7O_sBoqaxawb3ivtccdlLVOD9pEYg0liw0-nG2-eWWjUaAnTyEALw_wcB&hvadid=174248873945&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1020126&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4315557064240761141&hvtargid=kwd-3690103414&hydadcr=15254_9600106&keywords=batteryminder+plus&qid=1636329599&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=AR8XJJ19SNPNX&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE2NU41RjZGNVBGSTkmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5MjM4NjQyRjMyTzVYS05SWEFWJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwMjA5NTYzS0Y5VjhCUDdXRzAxJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

and Battery Tender brands, 

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_10?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8p2MBhCiARIsADDUFVGRFNnOgRIQwkDTo5-H4pHGas0MkL4HXZyv-Mtqh3O3TIj6B7eXI8UaAtUpEALw_wcB&hvadid=174286269297&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9019490&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7855227933240324067&hvtargid=kwd-1980565061&hydadcr=7470_9322236&keywords=battery+tender+jr&qid=1636329711&sr=8-10

Edited by Jdw12345
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Cubflyer

Cubflyer

Posted
Posted

I have a car in a garage in Denver that due to Covid I did not see for about a year and a half.... I have this plugged into it...https://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-Model-12117-Maintainer-Desulfator/dp/B000P23HZS/ref=sr_1_7?crid=J9IO6JZHLHS&keywords=batteryminder+plus&qid=1636331862&qsid=133-9439811-4759332&sprefix=batteryminder%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-7&sres=B00Q3CM2QY%2CB01L0HTX72%2CB07W46BX31%2CB000P23HZS%2CB005EKY1EM%2CB07W8KJH44%2CB07W6B987F%2CB07MCTXFC7%2CB010NRKERI%2CB01D3SWXUA%2CB01KMFMEVU%2CB0742J2BLX%2CB06XWDZ2KQ%2CB0742FTCKY%2CB01MZ6GI98%2CB005EKY20K%2CB0000CEWWB%2CB01ERZ0CC4%2CB001DZJX6I%2CB01GVSWXT0

When I got to it last June the car started right up, drove it around for two weeks, then put back on charge.... that car has been there 3 years, being used once a year on average.  The battery is at least 5 years old... 

I might add the proper amount of Stabil for the quantity of gas in the tank and shake it up a bit also...

Ken

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Dr4Film

Dr4Film

Posted
Posted

When we owned the wife's 1999 Saturn SW I would open the hood, close up the car, lock the doors and set the passive alarm with the key-fob, then disconnect the positive cable from the battery and close the hood. In the fall when we returned, I would unlock the car door with the key to get the hood opened up. Hook up the positive cable to the battery, close the doors and reset the passive alarm with the key-fob by cycling the lock/unlock. The car would start right up and run like a champ.

My motorcycle has a Re-Start Li-PO battery so it has a special battery minder which is always hooked to the battery while we are away.

When leaving for any extended period of time all of my equipment with small engines, motorcycle and any cars are left with non-ethanol fuel plus stabilizer in the fuel tanks. Making sure to run them for a spell to get the mixture well throughout the engine.

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Rich Cutler

Rich Cutler

Posted
Posted

I'll throw my 2 cents in.  I have 6 maintainer chargers.  One on my boat, one on each of three jet skis.  On on the Motor Scooter and one on the riding mower.   I hardly ever replace batteries  and I do not unhook the batteries in the winter.   I used to replace the jet ski batteries yearly ($40 ea), now I get 4 years out of them.   I keep a plug hanging loose on each of the 6 items, so during season after each use, they are plugged back in.  I use the Schumacher 1.5amp.  The older chargers are heavy, the newer are the same size and light as a feather, must be all electronic (cost around $25ea).   Yes, I have had to replace a couple of the chargers over the years for various reasons, mainly they do not like water and we live on the water with a few oops.   

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Hypoxia

Hypoxia

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9 hours ago, Tom Wallis said:

It's a matter of preference or convenience. Either method will work for you. I prefer the battery maintainer because if anything it will have a positive effect on your battery.

Agree, I use a battery tender brand & wouldn't trust most off brand maintainers.  Only downside of disconnecting the battery is resetting all of the vehicle radio settings etc..  It's not uncommon for an old style golf car charger to burn the house down.

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dl_racing427

dl_racing427

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Posted

I have about a dozen of these on various batteries, and have had excellent results over the past 25 years or so.

I even have 2 of them installed in my coach.  They work great, at least double my typical battery life, and are on sale for a great price right now.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200332201_200332201?cm_mmc=Google-LIA&utm_source=Google_LIA&utm_medium=Automotive > Batteries %26 Chargers %2B Jump Starters > Battery Maintainers&utm_campaign=BatteryMINDer&utm_content=167981&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8sHszb6J9AIVh4zICh1FcAZAEAQYAiABEgI4yvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

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