Porsche tenders are known to do this after a few years. I have a dozen PCA registry stories that are similar to yours. I use the battery tender plus and leave mine on for several weeks at a time.

 

Thanks everybody for the insight & comments.From now on I will open the hood & remove the Battery cover for venting prior to starting.

 

Robertp just posted what I was going to mention... Do a search on Renntech and Rennlist about the Porsche tricklecharger and you'll find a ton of issues with it. The one Robert links is a well known brand endorsed by most of the collectorcar crowd. Whatever you use, make sure that it does not trickle above 2AMPs (from what I've read 1.5 amps is optimal but 2 works).

I use trickle chargers on the trailer battery (for my winch) and on my motorcycle, and lawn tractor, as well as my Optima Redtop that will eventually end up in the Zcar project.

And of course, nothing beats just driving the damned thing!

Mike

 

+1 on that. Battery Tender was the motorcycle industry standard before I got involved in the industry (+15 yrs ago). Also, motorcycle batteries (Yuasa brand, specifically) is a sealed unit battery. Once you mix the chemicals for the battery, you seal the unit, and never open it again, even when you charge it.

A motorcycle battery is a gel unit. Those chemicals you mix into it turn into a gel, that never needs venting. The reason is the gel handles the electrical charge differently than the standard car battery. Those batteries need ventilation (removing the individual caps) to charge. Otherwise, they explode, like in Paulie's situation.

Also, the Battery Tender brand of "trickle" charger has a number of elements to that make it superior to other brands:

1. All testing shows the Battery Tender to produce EXACTLY 1.8 amps of
current under all conditions! That is a very high quality product.

2. It has a very effective device that is able to detect when the battery
is at full charge and turns itself off until it detects the battery starting
to discharge. Then it turns on the charge, again.

3. Add in the exceptionally low price (so cheap motorcycle owners will buy it.)
and you have one of the most amazing product for sale in America!

So, to keep your battery from blowing up under charge, you need two things:

1. A high quality GEL battery for your car, and
2. A Battery Tender brand trickle charger attached whenever you are not
driving.

Good Luck, and Merry Christmas!

 

Crap Paulie. Sorry to hear this. This is really gonna hurt resale. I'll give you $30k for her right now.

 

Here is my program: If the weather is good and I am not too busy I will drive the car 2-3 times a week so no need for charging.

However many times we will get lots of rain around here and I will be slammed w/ work. Nonetheless I usually do not let the car sit for more than 7 days.

I never charge if car sits only for 2-3 days. However after day 3 I will put her on the charger. But I (instinctively) never leave her on the charger for more than 1.5-2 days straight.

This system has worked well for me, but of course I live in an area that rarely gets snow.

 

Sorry it has 3 pedals not sure you would know what to do.You should just stick to the wife grocery getter.

 

nice one!!

 

Mine blew up big time back in August.

It had been on the Porsche lighter plug trickle charger.

Scared the crap out of me.

 

Interesting, I have left my charger on for up to three weeks and no issues. I am now 2+ year into the charger and PC680 battery.

 

.....I'm still thinking the Mexican food Paulie had for lunch contributed to the explosive atmophere......

 

I use a CTEK US3300 charger and believe it's the one also Porsche re-brands and sells. This seems to also be a pulse charger. I fail to see how a smart charger that uses a ucontroller to monitor the Voltage vs. Current can be any better or worse. Car batteries are chemical processes in action, so I do not understand every reaction that happens, but blaming the charger somehow w/ over driving the battery (too much current) would cause immediate reactions/problems with the battery and it would not take 2 or 3 years. If you exceed the charge rate you could blow up a capacitor (recall nature does not appreciate sudden changes and for those w/ an engineering degree i= c. dv/dt). However, my understanding is that most mishaps do happen upon start up after removal of the charger.

I am inclined to believe the gas accumulation theory personally, but for sake of completeness, I am going to ask some of our guys at work to better explain the inner working of lead based batteries to me ( Yep we do have battery experts at work).

Happy Holidays,

 

Paulie, go for the Optima Red top battery. I've got one and they work great. You won't have this problem again. I'm glad you and (more importantly ) your car are OK.

 

This has been enlightening. I never put a charger on the TT and it sometimes sits for ten days or so between drives....HOWEVER the 87 930 may sit for weeks with a Battery Tender (same one as Robert uses) and I have never given any thought to the potential for an explosion. I think from now on before I fire it up, I may take the leaf blower and blow fresh air into the front battery compartment to dispel any hydrogen gas that might be lurking in there. I know that with my boat, I always vent the bilge for several minutes before starting....maybe the same protocol should apply to a car that's left for long periods on a tender. I know guys on the 930 forum that leave their cars on tenders for the entire winter or months at a time (930s are noted for electrical gremlins that discharge a battery in a couple days...like mine does)...and I've never heard of any of the 930s blowing up. Is it possible that the charger itself may have been defective and overcharged the battery causing gassing and an explosive atmosphere? Most of the attention seems focused on the battery and not the charger???? Dunno...just a thought. BTW...the Battery Tender costs around $40 thru Amazon...and the Porsche one (with the fancy Porsche logo) costs $130...and the Battery Tender comes with all the accessories, whereas others charge extra for the lighter plug, the terminal harness, and the alligator clips.

 

guys i have had the tender on the car for 4 months last winter, started no issues and it was fine all summer. I have also had it on for 2-3 weeks at a time when i go away in the summer or fall. Ii don't know what the real answer is here.
But i have opted for a gel battery since my Pcar batter went for a bath 3 weeks ago.
I have installed the Braille battery.