[Scheide]

I don't use my SSR for daily trips. It's my special toy and it does a lot of sitting in my garage. I want to set up a trickle charger system. Do I use the underhood connections or set up connections under the rear at the battery? I know, most are going to tell my to drive it but I don't. Advise, Scheide

 

[FUZZY]

charger

Schiede,

My freinds have that set up on their show truck that they don't drive too often. It is recommended that it be installed as close to the battery as possible. If need be put it ina sealed compsrtment monted to the frame.

Just don't forget to unplug it before you head out of the garage for a road trip.

 

[KY ultraviolet]

I use a 2 amp (motorcycle) trickle charger on my Miata (can't use a regular charger on the little baby battery). Never left it on continuously. Are you talking about leaving the charger on all the time, or charging it up occasionally after periods of non-use?

 

[bcbear10]

I have left my trickle charger on for 8-9 months at a time with no problem on many types of vehicles. A good quality trickle charger is all you need.

Under the hood of the SSR on the passenger side of the vehicle is a Red box mounted to the fender well. Open the lid. Mount the positive side of your charger cord to this post. Mount the other end of the charger cord to ground. Plug the unit into 110v and you are all set.

Remember to unplug everything when you use the vehicel. Having this set-up, I have never been disappointed when I go to use a vehicle and I have not had to replace a battery.

bcbear
:thumbs :thumbs :thumbs

 

[evoluzione]

on motorcycles, this is a very common item. the ones we sell are considered the industry standard ("battery tender") and have an electronic circuit to monitor the battery. as the battery charges, the tender will shut off at a certain voltage and then turn back on when the voltage drops below a minimum. you can leave the unit hooked up indefinitely without concerns of overcharging the battery. these units run only about $60.

hope this helps.


regards,

ken zeller

 

[rj5620]

Battery Tender is a good unit

I have the Battery Tender with the cigarette lighter adapter. I have power to my Prowler cigarette lighter all of the time, so I just plug the Battery Tender into the lighter and have none of the hard wiring problems. Works great and has lights that tell you when the battery is charged or charging. I drive my SSR daily so I do not need the tender for it.

http://www.accwhse.com/batteryt.htm

 

[Al Corelli]

I have seven battery Tenders for all of the cars around here, including a 6V one for my Model A.
Great devices that keep me from having to buy batteries every two years.

 

[Scheide]

Fanatic Website the greatest:

I don't use my SSR for daily trips. It's my special toy and it does a lot of sitting in my garage. I want to set up a trickle charger system. Do I use the underhood connections or set up connections under the rear at the battery? I know, most are going to tell my to drive it but I don't. Advise, Scheide

Once again, I ask a question and received five very good responses! Proves this is one of the best sites in computerland. Thanks again. :thumbs

 

[Mike in AZ]

Battery Trickle Chargers

Let me add my 2 cents from the Phoenix side.....

Battery life in this environment is 2 years.... No matter what type of standard battery you have. The typical failure mode is a swelling of the case and a cell going dead. Battery voltage ends up at about 10.5 in the failed mode and the internal resistance of the cell is so high that it limits the cranking current to spin the engine.

This is the result of several contributing factors... the worst are:
1) The weather never gets cold enough here to properly exercise the battery and it tends to have a "shallow" charge that does not use all of the plate surfaces.
2) Underhood temps (I'M sure the rear mounted is only slightly better) are high enough to cause battery overheating during the charge cycle and thus plate warpage.

I know this doesn't have much to do with trickle charging, but here is my connection..... In hot weather climates... If you maintain a trickle charge on the battery without exercising it regularly it can create a surface "float" charge that has little depth for serious cranking. My recommendation is that you use an "automatic" charger of a conventional type that will put as much as 10 amps into the battery and then taper off to a trickle when fully charged. Sears sells a nice one. Put this charger on a pool timer or any type of timer that will handle the watts required. Home Depot has some that will work too. Let it charge for only one hour a day. This will provide some exercise for the battery and still maintain a full charge.

If you ask the guys in the cart barn at your local golf course, you will find out that they hit the batteries with a hard charge every night and they love it. Yes, they are deep cycle batteries, but the theory is still valid. They have 30 amp chargers on a huge timer.

Bottom line..... There is usually more than one way to solve almost any problem.....

Best of Luck,

MIke

 

[JimGnitecki]

If you are going to trickle charge nder the hood, be sure to use the BIG red terminal on the PASSENGER side of the vehicle near the front, NOT the small terminal right at the end of the fuse box.

If you use the one by the fuse box, you can fry many components, including your engine colling fan circuity. This is a known hazrad that Chevy mechanics discovered.

Jim G

 

[beer100]

Is this another instance of "You should connect the positive first, then the ground."?

 

[KY ultraviolet]

Let me add my 2 cents from the Phoenix side.....

If you ask the guys in the cart barn at your local golf course, you will find out that they hit the batteries with a hard charge every night and they love it. Yes, they are deep cycle batteries, but the theory is still valid. They have 30 amp chargers on a huge timer.

Bottom line..... There is usually more than one way to solve almost any problem.....

Best of Luck,

MIke

Ditto: Lights for horse-drawn carriages run on car battery mounted in back - we charge them on standard chargers every night. Need 5-7 hours of lights each evening, depending on time of year, and batteries last 2-3 years being hard charged each dayand 50-100% drained each night. (If your community has horse-drawn carriages, be kind to them, especially if a driver is unfortunate enough to get caught a couple of miles from the barn with a dead battery and no running lights. No fun at all.)

 

[Pretzel]

Hey rj5620
Thanks for the tip on the cigarette lighter adapter. I have a bettery tender I use on my motorcycles. This adapter will make things much easyer now.

This is where I orederd mine if anyone wants one too.
http://www.halonmarketing.com/mall/Battery Tender.htm

Cheers !
Pretzel~

 

[Mike in AZ]

You might consider using the aux power connector in the right rear of the cargo area. It is directly connected to the main buss through a fuse in the main electrical box on the left side of the engine compartment. It is the only thing on that circuit.

Mike

 

[Al Corelli]

I bought all of mine through them. The shipping is superfast, and the people are very nice.

Hey rj5620
Thanks for the tip on the cigarette lighter adapter. I have a bettery tender I use on my motorcycles. This adapter will make things much easyer now.

This is where I orederd mine if anyone wants one too.
http://www.halonmarketing.com/mall/Battery Tender.htm

Cheers !
Pretzel~

 

[Doug Adkins]

Battery Tender

Well i installed one the first month on mine as i didn't drive it much and the battery went dead boy was i mad at my truck lol.But i went to napa auto bought a two sided bolt.Took off battery box cover then removed battery terminals.Took old bolts off replaced with two sided bolt the first side tightens it to battery the second side is smaller for battery tender terminal wires put them on pos and neg then tighten run wire thru hole in battery box cover.Put cover back on done deal.Wrap remaining wire around back bottom side so when not going to drive for awhile just plug in when driving remove plug.Get tender at any Bike shop its called a floating battery tender when it reaches 80% of charge it shuts off automatic anyway for a few bucks no hassle hope this helps.Doug. :seeya