Battery maintainers?

[DL Lawrence]

Hi folks- a quick question on battery maintainers. I have 99 C2; once the bad weather begins to come into VA in a couple months, my car will be driven much less. My question is, at what point of non-use should you utilize a battery maintainer? If you drive the car once a month, is it necessary? Once every 6 weeks? Two months? Or should you use one even if you drive it every week or two? Thanks in advance for all advice!

[fastboydave]

My 2001 TT's battery died when approx 4.5 years old after going on holiday for two weeks and the battery running flat. It 'sounded' on the way out for a while (turning engine over slower) but continued to work until this time when it would not 'accept' charge. I replaced the battery and soon afterwards purchased a battery maintainer.......

I use my TT as an everyday commute as well as weekends (approx 7000mls per annum), but get into the habbit of plugging in the maintainer at the end of play Friday in case i dont use it over the weekend. I have the old maintainer (transformer type into wall) and only charges at 0.5A then switches to pulse trickle when appropriate voltage reached. I think this method keeps the battery in tip top condition (maybe i go over the top a little) but what kills a battery is not the running flat, is the charging up after it has been flat. Normal automotive chargers will rush current into a flat battery and it is this that distorts the plates and crystalises an old battery. So, my theory is if you keep the battery 'up there' whether you drive the car with the alternator charging it or use the maintainer, then little shock to the battery will occur and should get the most (lifetime) out of your battery. If you arent using your car for 1-2 weeks (or more), i would definately suggest that you need to use one.

Hope this has helped?

[White987S]

Always plugged-in if not planning to drive the car for more than 3-4 days. All through winter hybernation too.

[Joe90mmm]

NEVER let a battery go below 12,4 volts because it start sulfate.

Battery prematurely fails due to a build-up of sulfate on the plates.

This sulfate build-up causes the battery to lose performance and eventually will become so bad that the plate(s) will short out.

The build-up also interferes with the charging and discharging of the battery.

So it's a good thing to charge with a AUTOMATIC low amp charger. DO NOT charge permanently, it will boiled.

Remember 12,4 volts.

[wross996TT]

good advice from above...I have a charger that will automatically charges/stops charging when a certain voltage level is reached. If I leave it for more than 3 days...on the charger.