Battery Maintainer - where do most people connect it?

[barlowdo]

What is the procedure to hook up your 996 battery to maintain it for say a week while you are out of town?

1. Should I hook it up in the engine bay and leave the engine lid open? - Run it out underneath?

2. In the front trunk, take the dust cover over the battery off and hook it up there - and leave front trunk open for the cables to pass through?

3. Roll a window down, replace the existing ROW Cigar lighter plug with a USA version, and plug in a Cig power plug there which is wired to the maintainer?

Probably no brainer questions and obvious to you long time owners but I am only going on about a month of ownership with my 996 2001 Cab.

I got concerned with draining the battery when I had the pass door open for extended times while trying to get the CDR-220 loose that you may have seen my post on elsewhere.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[JFP in PA]

The car is designed to use the cigarette lighter for the maintainer; there is even a notch in the bottom edge of the driver’s door to allow the cord to come out with the car locked up and the alarm on.

[barlowdo]

Thanks Mr PA. that should help me. DO I have to buy a maintainer that fits the ROW charging plug in my car? I noticed as other have noticed that a US plug sure does not fit well.

[JFP in PA]

Thanks Mr PA. that should help me. DO I have to buy a maintainer that fits the ROW charging plug in my car? I noticed as other have noticed that a US plug sure does not fit well.

Contact Jeff at Sunset Porsche, there is a $20 retrofit kit to change the lighter over to US specs in about 10 min.; then anything you want to plug in (phone charger, GPS, etc.) will fit. If you have not purchased a maintainer yet, seriously consider the Ctek line (buy it online from a place like Amazon rather than from Porsche). Ctek make one of the best systems out there, much better than $20 Walmart stuff or Battery Tenders. Well worth the money....

"Mr. Pa"..................? Yikes, I must be showing my age! :eek:

Edited May 4, 2012 by JFP in PA

[barlowdo]

Thanks for the additional info. And I wont call you "PA" either. And no I did not buy a tender yet. I have a Charger Tender Sears Die hard brand but that is overkill and probably not even up to Ctek standards.

My Sears Die hard battery jumper/charger with built in battery broke the first day I used it :)

-Don

[Richard Hamilton]

I have a CTek XS3600 conditioner. I have a permanent connection to the battery on both my cars, and swap it over to whichever car I'm not using. I run the charger cable between the front lid and windscreen, and plug it in to the socket, which it cable-tied to the plastic cover.

[Orient Express]

I use the cigarette lighter and have a Save-A-Battery maintainer. I've had this maintainer for about 4 years, and it is fantastic. These guys are the OEM supplier for many of the "factory" chargers including some Porsche models. This maintainer is about $87 on Amazon.

[wross996TT]

I use the interstate one, also hardwire connection to the battery and it has a plug-in adapter to the cable that plugs into the wall. I just unplug from the front and go.

[barlowdo]

This maintain charge has raised a few more questions:

1. What does someone do that lives in an apartment do with keeping these cars charged when gone for long periods of time?

2. I need to read up on the "Orientation Led" apparently is stays lit when car is not locked and armed. Then eventually the car switches to armed state - is this when top is up or down?

I honestly did not even know that there was a LED glowing away in my garage other then the Becker 220 radio flashing LED that seems to flash regardless of car being armed.

This morning I checked and found that the car had switched to locked alarm mode on its own. I think I read that it will do this in the manual but did not think I found it switching in the past and thought it was some other default setting after I disconnected the battery over the weekend while swapping the climate control around.

I guess there are more ways to drain the battery than I would ever think possible.

Edit:

"This morning I checked and found that the car had switched to locked alarm mode on its own" I may have been wrong about this.

Edited May 8, 2012 by barlowdo

[barlowdo]

So say I go with the Porsche one "http://www.amazon.com/Porsche-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B001684X76/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_2" as opposed to a CTEK., and suppose I already did the Cig lighter retrofit."Contact Jeff at Sunset Porsche, there is a $20 retrofit kit to change the lighter over to US specs in about 10 min"

Will the Porsche maintainer still fit in the retrofit plug?

-Don

[Richard Hamilton]

The Porsche Charge-O-Mat: http://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/personalisation/tequipment/911-996/carcare/?focus=porschecharge-o-matii-911-996-pflege&hideintro=true

Is a rebranded CTek: http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ctek-mxs-3.6.php

Can't help with the Cig lighter mod, I'm afraid.

[JFP in PA]

So say I go with the Porsche one "http://www.amazon.com/Porsche-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B001684X76/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_2" as opposed to a CTEK., and suppose I already did the Cig lighter retrofit."Contact Jeff at Sunset Porsche, there is a $20 retrofit kit to change the lighter over to US specs in about 10 min"

Will the Porsche maintainer still fit in the retrofit plug?

-Don

Yes, I just tried it in the shop. The old style Porsche maintainer (small black box style) has a stepped lighter plug that works after the retrofit; the Porsche branded Ctek units were sold after Porsche stopped bringing in the cars with the European DIN lighter and went to the "US spec" lighter, so they will fit also.

That said, I would go with a non-Porsche branded Ctek unit long before I would use the older style Porsche unit; the Ctek is a much more sophisticated system that is superior to the old style Porsche "charge-o-mat", which is probably why even Porsche stopped using it.

Edited May 10, 2012 by JFP in PA

[barlowdo]

"There is a $20 retrofit kit to change the lighter over to US specs in about 10 min"

JFP in PA, I got the lighter adapter for my Birthday. It came in two small boxes. I thought you stated it would take 20 minutes to change out and I see you say only ten minutes. So obviously I am missing something as I looked at the existing one for over ten minutes and did not see any obvious way to remove it.

Mine is in the right side lower portion of the "Three Part Horseshoe." It is on the right side lower section of the one piece side trim that also houses the switches for the convertible top up/down and so on.

Does this trim piece just pop off?

-Don

[JFP in PA]

Yes, it just pops off. If you need to "help it" come loose, try sliding something like a tongue depressor under the edge to get it started. Once you have the trim off, it works like this:

Don't be concerned if you need to snap off the old bits as you will not be using them again...........

Edited May 30, 2012 by JFP in PA

[barlowdo]

JFP in PA,

Thanks !! That brightens up my day,.

I got the trim piece off. Always a challenge worrying about nicking the leather covered piece

I got the cable plug running to the lighter disconnected.

I got A off.

I got B off - You need to slightly lift it along its lower long side. This helps pop it loose from the snap rail it is connected to . Basically you rotate it clockwise. I thought I would break it but I guess this is how it is made.

Now I can't get the new lighter installed ! It looks like I need to hog out the circular hole that the old one was in. It is very close to snapping in but it feels like I will break the trim piece if I push any harder.

I got the hole enlarged and now have the lighter installed.

Thanks to JFP in PA for all the help !

Don

Edited June 4, 2012 by barlowdo