No shortage of posts on this topic but I am still confused about connecting it. All posts indicate positive tender lead to positive battery terminal. However it seems some posts indicate negative tender lead to spare tire bolt, while others state negative tender lead to negative battery terminal (possibly as part of a permanent installation using ring attachment, not alligator clips).

Tender instructions also seem to recommend good ventilation. So boot lid open or closed?

All the talk of exploding batteries has me concerned. Just looking for some clarity.

Thanks
Pat
2006 XK8 Convertible

If a person has gone to the trouble of buying and using the battery tender, then by all means connect the optional quick-connect lead permanently to the battery and use it from then on. On my car the 18" quick connect lead that came with the battery tender wasn't long enough to pass thru the opening towards the rear of the trunk I wanted to use. So I bought a 15' extension and left most of it coiled up adjacent to the battery with only a few inches protruding above and into the trunk proper. If I was motivated I could run it out to the front of the car, or the battery vent hole I'm reading about or some other opening so I could use the tender without having to open the trunk (that's sooooo much work, like changing TV channels without a remote).

Z

So, it sounds like the tender cable is not permanently hanging out of the closed trunk lid. But rather, when you are wanting to hook up the tender, the trunk is opened, then the tender cables are connected, then the lid is shut on the now protruding cable. Do I have that right ?

If so, what is the benefit of shutting the trunk ? After all, the trunk light will go out after a few minutes anyway.

Z

around here those would be coyotes.

z

for me it's just a personal preference. I don't want to have the end of the tender cable hanging out the grill snout permanently, and I'd rather have to open the trunk vs. opening the hood.

Admittedly 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of another type thing.

Z

i wonder what the non-sleep mode drain on the battery is in milliamperes ? I know some of you obsessive-compulsive types must know that by heart . It must not be much, as my battery tender + goes into its "float"or "rest mode" after the first 3 or 4 minutes.

But that is a good point nevertheless.


Any old electrical lineman will always teach that the safest way to connect to A/C power source is to work backwards toward that A/C source.

Start from the "dead cable", in this case, the battery tender eyelet cable that is already permanently attached to a 12v source, (be it it the battery itself, or an under the hood 12v terminal set). at the eyelet end, and then make the connection between the cables opposite end, which has the 2 pin connector) , and the mirror image 2 pin connector coming from the tender charging unit.

There will not be a spark because the tender is not energized yet by an A/C source. I.e., no complete circuit.

Making these connections, moving backwards from the battery to the A/C plug, until the last thing you do is plug into a live A/C power source. That will eliminate sparking anywhere close to the engine or close to the battery if that's the end you are working from.

......the old power lineman knows, because when you're up on the top of a high voltage pole, the last thing you want is a 20,000 volt spark.

Z