Battery Maintainer

[Grubbie 0]

Hello Folks.Long time no chat (post).I bought myself a battery maintainer (not a charger) from CTC, it's a CTEK Multi US 3300.I plan on using it back and forth with my smart and my motorcycle, because I more or less keep them both parked for the winter and drive my little Ford Ranger 4X4.The Battery Maintainer comes with I think they call them "eye hooks" which I connect to the battery directly that way I am able to connect and disconnect via a male/female wire harness.The red eye hook will go on to the positive post on the battery and the black eye hook is suggested to ground to metal. And then I plan on running the wires to the outside of the car, where I can easily connent/disconnect with the harness to the Maintainer.If I did this would it void the warranty in anyway?What would be a good way of running the wires from the battery to the outside of the car (preferably to the front of the car).Any suggestions would be appreciated.It's starting to look alot like Christmas!take careGrubbie

[Yeahwhatever 0]

Hey Grubbie! I'm curious to see what responses you get to your post, as I too have parked my Smart car for the winter and have been wondering what type of maintenance, if any I should be doing while it is parked, aside from the obvious.... starting it occassionally so the battery doesn't go completely dead.Guess I'll stay tuned.Merry Christmas fellow Smart car owners!!!!!

[smart142 605]

I have a friend who looks after a large number of vehicles and he swears by the battery tender.

He's been using them for over 2 years now.

[steveyfrac 73]

Battery minders are great for the life of the battery, insuring they don't freeze and that the cells don't deplete and reverse. This won't effect your warantee in any way.

[MightyMouseTech 0]

Battery tenders are really good to preserve the life of batteries. They prevent the plates from sulfating, which happens during exteded periods of non-use.

[martenswd 0]

In my opinion, This will not void your warrenty. In fact, I could see MB voiding warrenty for your battery if you didn't put a battery tender on during storage. This is my opinion only and we all know how MB can handle things like this. It's best to contact your dealer as they all decide warrenty differently.Billy

Edited December 15, 2008 by martenswd

[fairsider 0]

A battery maintainer is a great idea.

I use a Battery Minder purchased from VDC Electronics on my Nissan (which gets stored in the winter). The first battery lasted over ten years, and was still fine when I decided that I should really get a new one. I can't recommend this technology highly enough. Just be careful to buy a unit that desulphinates as well as maintaining. This is a special circuit that reverses the effects of battery discharges and the natural aging of the battery plates.

VDC's web site is here: http://www.batteryminders.com/batterycharger/home.php

[yolanda 0]

I've not heard of a battery tender but I've been recommended to use trickle chargers on the bikes, I presume it's the same thing. On my smart I also installed a trickle charger. just one amp, a little thing from Canadian Tire. In the battery well I found a 110v outlet on a cord, an extension if you will, and folks here told me it's just a pass-through from the block heater plug. So I plugged the trickle charger into that. The charger unfortunately uses cheap little clips so i *hope* it's still attached. Once I jam the styro back in place it's anyone's guess. When I use the block heater, it also charges up the car. The bike batteries are in the house on trickle chargers as I've been told not to keep them in the cold garage.

[Dang 0]

I put a Canadian Tire one on as well.I have an insane amount of electronics in my car, and sometimes park it for a long time, so it's handy to have. I don't see it on their site, but they sell a trickle charger that is I think 1amp. One nice thing about it is it comes with two sets of leads, one of which you connect directly to your battery with a lug that goes under the nut, so no clips that you have to worry about falling off. I leave it there all the time, and just plug in the front connection when I want to use it. Handy.One thing is I've never been all that impressed with the battery that comes in the smart, even when new. I finally replaced it and noticed quite a difference.Cheers! Dang

Edited December 16, 2008 by Dang

[Speedie 4]

Should be fine - they use them in marine applications all the time - I have solar panel hooked up in the camper for the same purpose - keeps the battery just right.What kills batteries is letting them go flat and leaving them that way or charging them with too many amps (i.e. 10 or bigger) and boiling the heck out of them. Interesting factoid - a charged battery won't freeze - a dead one will (and that damages it real fast!).I don't see any issues with warranty - they have to prove it did any damage not the other way round. Since the amperage is low - you can get by with probably a 18 gauge wire or so - I would suggest rigging up a plug in for the cigarette lighter and running the wires out through the bottom of the door and up the fender to the front (you should be able to wiggle the wires through and grab them from the hole where the washer fluid fill is - no cutting or having to take the car apart and it is easily reversed if (heaven forbid) you decide to sell the car.Put a plug on the end of the maintainer and a matching one on each vehicle to keep connection simple (and polarity correct when you are plugging it in when it is dark)Cheers,Cameron

[steveyfrac 73]

I put a Canadian Tire one on as well.I have an insane amount of electronics in my car, and sometimes park it for a long time, so it's handy to have. I don't see it on their site, but they sell a trickle charger that is I think 1amp. One nice thing about it is it comes with two sets of leads, one of which you connect directly to your battery with a lug that goes under the nut, so no clips that you have to worry about falling off. I leave it there all the time, and just plug in the front connection when I want to use it. Handy.One thing is I've never been all that impressed with the battery that comes in the smart, even when new. I finally replaced it and noticed quite a difference.Cheers! Dang

I just had my battery replaced because they thought a low battery might be causing a problem with the traction control system. I've noticed absolutely no difference. Maby the sitting for long periods of time caused problems for you?

[Dang 0]

I just had my battery replaced because they thought a low battery might be causing a problem with the traction control system. I've noticed absolutely no difference. Maby the sitting for long periods of time caused problems for you?

...that and I have more electronics in my car than your average Best Buy.I never really had problems starting it, even with the old battery, but I did notice it cranked better below -20c with the new one. A couple people in town replaced theirs and felt it performed better in the cold.Cheers! Dang

[lebikerboy 96]

We replaced our battery this past summer with an Optima Red Top 34/78. Now that the weather has been a lot colder than we're used to (-8 or below) the car starts immediately after 1 cycle of the glow plugs. Still can't believe that smart uses a battery that requires the addition of water and vents hydrogen.

[steveyfrac 73]

...that and I have more electronics in my car than your average Best Buy.I never really had problems starting it, even with the old battery, but I did notice it cranked better below -20c with the new one. A couple people in town replaced theirs and felt it performed better in the cold.Cheers! Dang

Ahh... See, we haven't hit -20 this year yet. Coldest i've had to start her was about -15, and she was starting to crank slower with the dash light dimming and pulsing.

[VRsyncro 0]

I have the Porsche Battery maintainer, that is a rebranded version of the CTEK unit. Works great and is really simple to use. So far so good!

[steveyfrac 73]

I bought my father in law one of the solar units that comes with VW's, as he parks his truck at the airport a LOT. Very handy. Not much of a trickle charge, but it makes up for the parasitic draw of the radio and the ECU.

A 15 W pannel would put out around an amp in idea conditions. Enough to stem the tide in anycase. I've often looked at one of those, but i've never been able to justify the cost.

[steveyfrac 73]

I got it off eBay, I believe it was about $40 after it was all shipped and done. PV panels are not cheap, I wish we could make more advancements in that area.

what wattage is it?

[CruiseMissle 0]

Hi, I've been following the topic regarding battery maintenance

Have developed a problem, < not with the smart >, but with my truck batteries

There are 3, wired in parallel, for the main engine start

Then 2 deep cycle Optima's, with an isolator, for the lift gate/ accessories

When the truck gets used frequently, no problems

But sitting for more than a few weeks results in about 10V on the main batteries & no start

Installed a knife switch disconnect to minimize any draw while parked for more than a week

Have put a charger on the entire system to bring the charge up to 12V

Problem still is a gradual drop in voltage with time, beginning to suspect plate sufination

Have thoroughly cleaned the tops of each battery, as well as all connections

Read about those Ctek charger/ maintainer/ desufinators

Has anybody had experience with the desufination aspect of them

Thanks in advance for any advice

CM

PS: this site seems to have some pretty good info:

http://www.ctek.com/EN-US/Charger-Academy.aspx

[Grubbie 0]

Hi Speedie and VRsyncro,Speedie you suggested to use the plug in for the cigarette lighter.VRsyncro that's the very same ubit that I have (CTEK) I noticed in your picture you have the cigarette lighter plug in type.Does the cigarette plug in type work?How do they work?I seem lerry to use that type.take careGrubbie

[VRsyncro 0]

VRsyncro that's the very same unit that I have (CTEK) I noticed in your picture you have the cigarette lighter plug in type.Does the cigarette plug in type work?

Hey Grubbie, I used this on my Boxster last winter and this winter and so far so good. The car started up no problem after sitting for 6 months. This unit sends a consistent pulse to the battery and what I like best is that you can stay updated as to the status of the charge, etc...I pulled this from the website that I bought the unit:

You can select from a standard charging mode, or a pulse maintaining mode for while the car is in storage. This can be used to charge any battery, fron 2-120 amps. Plug it in, and forget about it!!NOTE: Adapter Clamps can be purchased also, they help when you are charging the battery outside the car. They can also be used to open your front trunk if you have a dead battery.

[smart65 28]

Since the auxiliary power (aka cigarette lighter) socket is only live when the "ignition" key is set in the run position, a specially wired socket connected directly to the battery would be required in the smart. Correct me if I'm wrong.