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Trickle Charger

12K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  Pinhead 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I'm buying the Deltran Battery Plus charger. I've noticed the voltage before starting the car is around 11.0 to 11.6 and rarely have I seen it at 12.4. The alternator is fine as I can see it fluctuating at 13.6 to 14.1. I got the tech package so I can only imagine after not running the car for a week that it's a bit drained.

My question is do you guys leave the quick connect extension attached to the car? Do you have any issues with the hood crimping it when closed? Anyone routed it differently so you can leave it plugged it outside or in the garage without having to open the hood to charge?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Don't know about that brand. But my Battery Tender is connected directly to the battery posts. And runs out under the battery cover and has a quick connect I can unplug when not in use. And the cord from charger is fed easily up through the edge of the right headlight.
 
#5 ·
X2. This is exactly what I do. I have a long extension to use, but I'm still snooping around for a cool spot to route it so that I don't have to open the hood to plug it up. 1st world problems. Leaving the lead permanently attached to the battery full time will not hurt a thing. I do it to every car/bike I've ever owned.
 
#4 ·
I don’t use a tender and my car is not driven daily. It has even set for up to 3 weeks and still started. Static voltage is 12.1v to 12.6v. If your battery is sub 12v, I would push back on the dealer for a new one. When I purchased my car it was a Showroom Trophy (with a 30K ADM). At 3 months (showroom) old I demanded the replacement of the battery (no jump and charge). I knew that showroom battery was toast.
From what I’ve read, the Tender you bought is a good one. Good luck.
 
#8 ·
Oh, you can close the hood on the cable. Tuck in under the corner of the headlight there around/under the front fascia and close the hood all the way.

All things considered, mine starts pretty darn strong and fast regardless of what numbers are printed on the battery.
 
#7 ·
The factory battery is a puny 390 CCA and the replacement battery is 470 CCA which isn't much better on the 2017 any way. In winter car is in carport and I only drive it when streets are clear. I keep a Battery Tender on it then and no matter how long it sits it starts right up. Without the tender after about a week in winter when I start it will get a screen message on my Sync 3 saying some zones shut down because battery has low voltage.
 
#9 ·
I suppose you could route something out thru the passenger side wheel well but you would need to be sure the cap was watertight. If I’m not going to drive for a few days I drop a weighted line down between the inner fender and the suspension on the pass side and pull an extension cord up that way. It kind of a pain but that lets me shut the hood all the way. Otherwise I just run the extension cord out near the headlight and gently lay the hood down.
 
#11 ·
I might add I still have to open the hood to plug or unplug the quick connect even though run through the headlight. I forgot to unplug it one time and started car and backed up and remembered it was plugged in and thought oh no! I've messed up the paint for sure on car. Nope it pulled straight even though ran through the headlight and unplugged the disconnect and did no harm any where whew!
 
#12 ·
Here's some pix that might help explain. First, I was incorrect in that the battery tenders come with ring connectors on the quick connect cord so its really simple. To install it: Remove the battery cover and run the ring connector ends thru the wiring harness. Attach the ring connectors to the accessory screws on the battery terminals and then tape the quick connect end to the wiring harness.
Motor vehicle Trunk Bumper Gas Auto part

Note this pix is upside down and I cant figure out how to flip it, sorry. Notice I put a towel under the charger.
Bag Automotive exterior Auto part Automotive design Electrical wiring

You can either just run an extension cord out under the hood near the headlight and close the hood gently tape a screwdriver to an cord and drop it down through the small opening near the front of the engine and the suspension and then swap the plug on the estension cord for the screwdriver and carefully pull it up through the opening. Yes, there is a way to do this and the first time its a pain but I can be done, as long as the everything has cooled down. Again these pix uploaded upside down. If anyone knows how to prevent this please enlighten me.
Light Automotive design Motor vehicle Auto part Automotive exterior

Motor vehicle Automotive design Automotive tire Automotive fuel system Hood

Hope these help.
 
#13 ·
Re upside-down pics. If you're using an iPhone, apparently, they started encoding which direction is "UP" in the EXIF metadata. Now, the phone knows to rotate the photo no matter how you're holding it, so that it looks right; however, apparently the forum software doesn't know that, so it takes whatever the phone's canonical "UP" is, and uses that. So, if you're like me, left-handed, and holding the phone in landscape mode so that it's easy to tap the shutter button using your left forefinger, the photo will look upside down. The workaround is to flip the phone 180 degrees and use it right-handed.

It's dumb, but it works.
 
#14 ·
Thank for the detailed explanation extrachripsy. It makes perfect sense and a did use an iPhone to take the pix. Strange thing is that they were upside down when I previewed the post but now that I’m viewing the post on my iPad they’re fine. Go figure. Maybe in the posting process the software gets it sorted out.
 
#15 ·
I've used the same "Battery Tender" with several cars now. First thing I bought for the GT350. I haven't had to use it throughout the summer despite the car being a garage queen, but I do store the car all winter. I plug it in using the supplied quick connect cord, leave it all winter, and life is good. FYI
 
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