Battery Maintainer

[356to966]

Is if acceptable to use my lighter plug in, two amp battery maintainer to keep some power on in my 996 when while I’m changing out the battery? I’m thinking that would save various settings.

Thanks

[porschedude]

Perfectly acceptable to charge at two amps. A battery maintainer is best rather than a simple two amp charger.

[Porschedane]

Would you also daily use the lighter plug to maintain the battery if you don't drive the car daily? Could it harm any of the sensitive electronics?


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[Orient Express]

Using the cigarette lighter is perfectly safe.  I have a 996 that has been on a maintainer connected through the lighter for several years now.

[Porschedane]

Thanks for answer.

[JFP in PA]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 9:22 AM, Porschedane said:

Would you also daily use the lighter plug to maintain the battery if you don't drive the car daily? Could it harm any of the sensitive electronics?


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Porsche designed the cars to be able to use the cigarette lighter for this purpose; we also have used the lighter connection on cars for years without problems.

[judgejon]

I think it's actually important to use the maintainer for lengthy periods when you are not driving the car.

These cars are battery hogs.  Electricity is drawing all the time.  Notice how the interior lights stay on and on and on.

I often park my car for over a week at a time when on the road without a maintainer and that's always been ok.  Of course I'll start the car and let it run about 5-10 min every now and then.  If I'm away from home for a longer trip, not driving, I'll always put the maintainer on the car.  Cheap insurance against a dead battery and messed up electronic system.

And, as an aside, you can get a good maintainer on line, or from Sunset, or elsewhere.  Check out the manufacturer.  Mine has the name Porsche on it, so it costs about twice as much as the same one that doesn't say Porsche on it.  Your choice.

[Schnell Gelb]

The generic version(+upgraded) of the "Porsche" maintainer has been mentioned by JFP and others many times. It is the Cteck MUS 4.3. No 100% Porsche tax. Based on JFP's suggestions I bought the entire kit over a year ago - works perfectly on any car.There is a much cheaper version w/o all the extras also.

https://www.amazon.com/LIMITED-CTEK-BATTERY-CHARGER-EXTENSION/dp/B00D8DTG6U

 

Edited April 8, 2017 by Schnell Gelb

[BufordTJustice]

The generic version(+upgraded) of the "Porsche" maintainer has been mentioned by JFP and others many times. It is the Cteck MUS 4.3. No 100% Porsche tax. Based on JFP's suggestions I bought the entire kit over a year ago - works perfectly on any car.There is a much cheaper version w/o all the extras also.
https://www.amazon.com/LIMITED-CTEK-BATTERY-CHARGER-EXTENSION/dp/B00D8DTG6U
 

I actually already had a CTEK 7002 kit prior to buying my '99 996 C2 Cab. Have used it on many different vehicles with great success.... And now on my 996 as well.

The previous owner installed an Optima red top before selling it to me. I use the "AGM" setting on the CTEK 7002. The cig lighter adapter works great.

It's also impossible to overcharge because it automatically switches to trickle charge. The original Porsche wall-wart trickle charger was included as well, but it's not designed for the slightly higher charging voltage that AGM batteries benefit from.

I have transitioned all interior bulbs to canbus friendly LED bulbs. Also put an LED festoon bulb in the frunk. That actually helped slow battery drain a lot. I can now go a full 7 days without the charger connected (and zero run time) and the car turns over just as if I had the charger plugged in. Before the LED bulbs, it was observably more sluggish during cranking.

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[Schnell Gelb]

The LED bulb replacement is a great project. Somone should write up a Tutorial with all the part numbers and a good source for the new bulbs?

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Long Islander]

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 10:21 AM, BufordTJustice said:

I can now go a full 7 days without the charger connected (and zero run time) and the car turns over just as if I had the charger plugged in.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2017 by Long Islander

[Long Islander]

My Autozone Duralast Platinum AGM H7 battery (now 4-1/2 years old) must be much stronger than your.  Last weekend, after not having driven the car for 3 weeks, the voltmeter still showed 12.7 volts.  I didn't event bother to plug in the battery maintainer.

[BufordTJustice]

26 minutes ago, Long Islander said:

My Autozone Duralast Platinum AGM H7 battery (now 4-1/2 years old) must be much stronger than your.  Last weekend, after not having driven the car for 3 weeks, the voltmeter still showed 12.7 volts.  I didn't event bother to plug in the battery maintainer.

 

I use a lot of AGM style deep cycle batteries at  my work place (Odyssey, Optima, Exide Edge, etc.) and I have had a few yellow top (light grey body) and blue top (light grey body) batteries that had to be returned to Optima after virtually no use. Not bad mouthing Optima, but their QC may have been slipping. I do know that the prior owner, while they meticulously maintained the car, they did not drive it much at all. Additionally, they only used the original "wall wart" charger sparingly, even after installing the Optima Red Top.

 

I suspect that, because I wasn't taking advantage of the "AGM mode" on the CTEK charger until 4 weeks ago, that the battery was very weak when I got it and wasn't getting the input charging voltage it wanted to see. Going into AGM/Arctic mode has caused the battery to turn the engine over much more vigorously and quickly than prior to using that mode.

 

The Red top may, in fact, be weaker than your Duralast Platinum AGM (see QC comments above). But it'll be difficult to know until I conduct a test like yours and leave it unplugged for three weeks. I'll do so and report back.

[just1n7]

I also have a ctek that works great. Bought it on ebay.