And it is very common for batteries to be run-down at the dealership. In fact, mine wouldn't start when they were trying to move it out of the showroom for delivery.

However, in the majority cases there's still enough voltage left to preserve the memory of various car systems.

 

Costco.com was out of the battery tenders I posted but I was able to pick up 2 at my local store on Friday...woo hoo!

 

Thanks once again for your timely tip. I was able to score a couple 3.0 BT's myself on Friday (a day I usually try to avoid if at all possible).

I've used 1.25 Amp BT's for years, and have a fairly good idea how long it takes for them to fully charge my car and marine batteries. After hooking up the 3.0 Amp BT to my Jag, I found it charged up in a few hours instead of overnight (given a similar approximate state of discharge). Even though I expected a quicker charge, I was still pleasantly surprised. (Having a less scratch-inducing plastic housing is a plus too!)

 

We went in on Friday too right before lunch and were in and out in 10 minutes, no one in line yet the lot was jam packed...weird...but we weren't complaining,lol.

 

Thanks for the tip on this sale. My local Costco still had tenders stacked to the ceiling today when I stopped in to get one. That just goes to show that hardly anyone in this area would know what to do with one.

 

+1
After seeing the note about the 3A battery tenders at Costco in one of the threads, I planned to go there over the weekend, but never made it. My wife called today at lunch to say she's at Costco, do I need anything. I said, "Do you know what a battery tender is?" She said "No, but there's a pile of them right in front of me." Woo-hoo, get me two of them!

 

I went to hook up my tender and thought I'd tack onto to this thread for a confirmation. My 16 looks close to "2015Coupe's" photo. If I read the previous info correctly, red is connected on the terminal to right of yellow and black is on connector with thick black wire on nut just visible at top of photo (rear of car). Please note rear of car is up in this photo.

Foosh or others please advise. Thanks.

Also, if correct, then what is the odd roundish buckle connector to left of yellow wire and what is green wire for (far left)?

 

Hook the red to the yellow (use the post directly across which has nothing hooked to it) and the ground to the chassis (with the green wire)... I hooked mine up yesterday. Works great... WJ

 

Based on my house electrical knowledge I thought green (ground) was the correct location for black but the Foosh thread seems to indicate to connect to black I indicated. Maybe it doesn't matter which?

 

A ground is a ground. You can connect the black (negative) lead of the tender to any of the grounding studs sticking out from the bodywork. Just make certain there is bare metal just below the nut.

 

North American household wiring practices don't apply to cars of any origin. On cars, red is almost always positive, black is almost always negative, except when they aren't. In the latter case, the smoke might be let out and you will need to start again with a different car.

 

To add to the confusion, Japanese cars often use blue for hot, except when they don't.

 

Just took my F-type out of winter storage, it was sitting since October with disconnected battery. Re-connected battery (alarm start blaring), fired it up without any issues. It even recognized the key without having to synch it. Date and time will have to be reset. Was less hassle than my SL, where I have to go through a procedure of re-synching windows, top, turning wheel each way to stop position to clear warnings.

I don't think battery tender is needed.

 

Needed? maybe not this time but using a battery tender is better for your battery and it will last longer.....I fail to see much of a downside. I use them on my RV, both sportscars, boat, motorcycles, etc. etc.


Dave

 

Agree, maybe you can get away with but for $50-60 on Amazon you can get the CTek tender and do not have to worry about it. Unplug it in the spring and go.

 

As the owner of a winter car storage facility, here is my experience with folks who are Penny wise and pound foolish.

we have 150 cars and Motor Homes stored with us each winter. We offer a battery Tedder service where for $20 we will hook your car up to a battery tender. We hand out a flyer that explains the risks of just leaving your battery to sit for the winter whether disconnected or not.

Every season a bunch of folks try to save the $20 and when spring comes around and try to remove their car from storage ......well here comes the foolish part.

Mr Porsche disconnected his battery and closed his frunk.

well Mr Porsche you need power to unlock your frunk. so Mr Porsche ended up with a $300 tow to the dealer then a $250 service Bill for labour to get into the Frunk and his battery was shot so add another $300 Porsche battery.

then we have Mr Volvo who when jump starting his dead battery fried his Computer.... $300 tow then $2800 dealer charge for service.

yup you really outsmarted me wanting to charge $20 for saving your battery.

then we have the dozen or so that we have to jump start every season

and this is just from one season......every year we warn the perils of not using a battery maintainer.

and every year we have folks who end up spending 60 years worth of battery maintainer service.

so good luck to you all who saved $20.

just my opinion......

 

I've never seen a battery that was at adequate charge after sitting disconnected for several months. Takes at least day or two on a battery tender to bring them up.

As Zach says, penny wise pound foolish even though we have neither in Canada

 

My winter storage place doesn't offer power outlets, so tender is not an option. However, it is underground, heated and dry storage that offers reasonable price. So I store my numerous cars there. I disconnect batteries, because this is the best available option.

My concern was that completely disconnecting battery would lead to hassles (for example, having to re-synch keys). This was not the case, as process to get car going was rather painless (I blocked trunk latch with cardboard) re-connect. Since nobody to best of my knowledge reported on this, I made a post to help others.

You don't need battery tender. Disconnecting and re-connecting battery does not cause issues, given that you don't latch the trunk. In my case it started right up and no "low battery" warning was seen.

Is it good idea to use it, if you can? Yes.

 

As usual, you are exaggerating.

I store 4 cars off site for 4 to 8 months at the time by disconnecting batteries. Yet to see fresh battery fail. Now, this is in temperature controlled storage and it never gets below freezing.

I don't know how long it would take for a battery sitting like that to fail to crank, but I'd hazard to guess more than a year.

However, if your battery fails to crank, boosting is dangerous for electronics. The best approach at that time is to take it out, charge it elsewhere, and/or come back with fresh/new battery.

 

If power outlets n/a, then you got to do what you got do, and if it's working then good, thanks for providing the info. Appreciate the contribution.