Question on the socket location: The owners manual shows it being plugged in to the slot below the battery load shed button but I can't get mine to fit in properly- it's like it doesnt bite when I plug the socket in.. I've been using the auxillary port up and to the right and was wondering if this is ok? will sending voltage through this port actually charge the battery? I never had a problem with a dead/dying battery- car always starts right up- so I assume it's working but the light on the tender never shows fully charged. any insight would be much appreciated. thanks

 

Mine has the usual 12V cigarette lighter connection and I've never had an issue plugging it in in the trunk. You have the 3 prong plug correct?

 

I am not looking at it right now so I can not say with certainty if it has 3 prongs- but it is just like a cigarette lighter/phone charger connection but with a red plastic tip- might be 3 prong... will confirm when I get off work.

Good, glad to hear that you are plugging it into the same slot I am...thanks for the response. makes me feel more comfortable about plugging it in there- do you notice the indicator LED going to "fully charged" on the tender? mine always stays amber with the middle one lit "charging"...
-Tim

 

If you keep the battery tender plugged-in in the trunk with the lid closed, you will probably never see the "Fully Charged" light come on. As soon as you open the trunk, the courtesy lights come on and put a small drain in the system which makes it immediately switch back to "Charging".

 

Good thinking but not the case- that exact scenario used to happen with my Lotus (as I suspect it happened to you with yours as well) I ended up unplugging the light harness in the Esprit- On the Vantage, the factory tender has a long enough wire that it sits on the front passenger side seat- I can see the LEDs easily. trunk stays closed. I suppose I could put a meter on the battery and turn the lights on then off and see if the battery quickly recoups the charge... just wondering if other owners tender plugs into the spot that the manual indicates... thanks

 

You can actually close the hatch on the cable if you lay the cable out correctly. I have been doing this since I bought my first Vantage (on my 2nd one now) and the cable and weather stripping are both fine.

If you want to come up with a better permanent solution, take a look at www.ctek.com under the accessories. They have a few options with indicator lights that can be strategically placed so you can see at a glance what the battery condition is like.

 

i plug the AM battery conditioner in the trunk and l do not shut the trunk completely. the indicator light on my conditioner does turn green (fully charged) after a while and stays that way until i unlock the car.

 

you could also purchase a digital voltage reader (really cheap) and test out the condition of your battery. if you do a search, there are threads about this....I might have started one in fact.

 

I've only used it when my car is in winter storage and unfortunately during the winter was in a turn by turn war with some guy who insisted on unplugging all the extension cords leading to the outlets in the garage so every time I would arrive I'd have to replug the car . As a result I would never see it read 'fully charged', I was just trying to keep it the battery from going below the safe level. Will double check but I don't think that I have that red cap on mine. I thought that was for the 3 prong plugs but might be wrong.

 

I have seen some maintainers go out. They say they are working, but not doing anything.

 

How often are you guys letting your cars sit for when you plan to plug it in?

 

I plug it in if I'm going to be leaving the car for at least 2 weeks. But IIRC, you're pretty safe up to a month (without disabling the non essential electrical systems). I've since been able to confirm that for my (standard cigarette lighter-style) tender that there is no 'catch' when you plug it in in the trunk. It just slides in and the light activate. As others have noted above, it's not a problem to close the trunk completely on a standard extension cord while it is plugged in.

 

I was thinking about getting a ctek for my db9, which one should I get for the Aston and where/how do I hook it onto the db9? On my sl55 Amg merc and bmw race car I use a ctek 3300 units run Into battery terminals in the rear, simple. The Porsche gt2 gets a ctek 4300 hooked to the odyssey dry cell up front. But on the Aston dn9 the battery is under the passenger rear seat bottom. So what to do with he db9? I'd like to be able to run a ctek to the trunk area or somewhere in the engine bay if possible and where easiest so I can store the car with the indoor Aston car cover on her. It's a very fitting cover so just want to have a setup where I can close (or nearly close) the trunk/boot or hood/bonnet without having to worry about the charger wire... I prefer the permanent (bolt upto battery terminals) setup ctek offers to attach so the charger can be plugged in to that directly instead of using the alligator clamps on the battery terminals...thanks for any help

 

If I remember correctly you have a 2009?

There's a port in the trunk for the battery conditioner connection (see your owner's manual for location and usage).

 

It plugs into a cigar lighter socket in the trunk and has a quick disconnect in the harness. You leave the plug and disconnect haness in the trunk and the CTEK unit outside. You can completely close the trunk lid without any problem. You can use the either CTEK unit, but the smaller one is the same as the OEM AM unit.