I have a newly purchased 2003 911. Right now, it's very cold in Louisville, Kentucky, where I live. I'm not sure if I should be using my battery tender (pic attached), seeing as it'll be at least a week or two between drives for the next couple of months. I don't want a dead battery when I get a break in the weather, but I don't want to be charging and causing any issues as a result, either. Thoughts? Thanks.

Darn winter!

Kyle

 

What issues are you concerned about? I would hook it up, esp in the cold weather.

 

I just didn't want to cause any unforeseen potential electrical issues...ie fuse, stereo, etc. I've tended previous cars with this same tender with zero problems but just wanted to check on this one before I hooked 'er up. First time it's being used on a P-Car.

 

Yes, if you don't intend to drive the car for a couple of weeks, you should plug it in. All you are really doing here is saving your battery - it will have no affect on the rest of the car.

 

definitely do it. I have the exact same model too and works great.

Porsche already doesn't hold a great charge for long periods in warmer weather but way worse in cold weather. Today we're at 5 degrees where I live...

 

Only advise I'd give you is that if you have a battery where you can check the water level, keep an eye on it and keep it topped off.

The battery maintainers seem to have a tendency to slowly cook off the water levels, and the plates will short out.

BOOM!

Do a search about exploding batteries ......ask me how I know.

 

Most modern aftermarket and some of the newer OEM batteries are sealed and I hope no one is still running a non-sealed battery in their 996.

Maybe I should market some battery fluid baffles for those non-sealed owners tracking their cars. Same premises as the oil pan baffles.

 

There are a lot of people running a non-sealed battery in their 996.

 

The ones that have their original batteries still?

 

Modern, decent battery tenders won't damage batteries. Either connect it directly to the battery or through the cigarette lighter on the dash.

For an extra measure of protection for the car, put the charger on a 24hr timer and just have it on for an hour per day. That way, if the tender fails in some way and produces higher than expected charge, it still should not hurt the system.

 

Check out the OEM part, it may be a slightly better choice. Who knows though, but this one has two modes (charging and maintaining), and a couple other features.

http://www.amazon.com/Porsche-Dual-B...2691651&sr=1-2

At least I hope so, because I just left my car plugged in and I won't be back in the US for a couple of months. It would really suck to get back and find a pile of ash.

 

If I am going to leave the car undriven for more than 48 hrs, I make sure I lock the car with the key. that turns off many of the subsystems which drain watts.

and keep the truck unlatched. it is a pain trying to open it in a dead head car. can be done, though, through the fuse box in driver's foot well.

i found out the hard way on both counts.

JB