Can a battery maintainer ruin your battery? (Page 1/4)
sjmaye MAY 31, 07:13 AM
One of my Fiero's is virtually never driven. I start it maybe 2x per year. I keep the battery connected to a battery maintainer. I went to start it for the first time this year and the battery was too weak to start it. This is exactly what happened to my other Fiero a few years ago.

I thought the battery maintainers were designed to maintain a battery properly. Can they kill a battery?
Dukesterpro MAY 31, 08:24 AM
Have you ever actually verified the battery maintainer is doing anything? Like actually taking a multimeter and checking the leads.

I could imagine a cheapo-depot battery maintainer overcharging a battery and destroying it. But quite honestly it just sounds like your battery is low and needs a jump.
reinhart MAY 31, 08:33 AM
Assuming you have one that won't overcharge (has an auto shutoff when fully charged), it shouldn't.
sjmaye MAY 31, 08:43 AM
I have not checked with a multimeter. I can say this has now happened with a Black and Decker and Schumacher. These are not dedicated battery maintainers, but chargers with a battery maintainer function.
Vintage-Nut MAY 31, 10:09 AM
What is the battery's age? Any extreme heat or cold in your location?
The average lifespan expectancy of a car battery is between three to seven years.
However, I normally get eight to ten years in California by keeping them charged.


quote
by sjmaye
One of my Fiero's is virtually never driven. I start it maybe 2x per year. / These are not dedicated battery maintainers, but chargers with a battery maintainer function.



To me, if you don't drive the car, disconnect the negative battery cable and charge it around two months.
Secondly, buy a battery maintainer (a.k.a. smart trickle charger) to float the voltage plus a multimeter to check on the health of your batteries.
VN
theogre MAY 31, 11:59 AM
Long term is Disconnect and store the battery in space about "Room temp" everyday.
Battery hate over and low charge and hot and cold places.

Do Not use Chargers w/ "maintainer" features or even "wall wart" Battery Tender for months and expect the battery will last.

See "Best "float charger" or trickle charger?" http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/146657.html
search "battery tender" for more.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

82-T/A [At Work] MAY 31, 01:09 PM

quote
Originally posted by sjmaye:

One of my Fiero's is virtually never driven. I start it maybe 2x per year. I keep the battery connected to a battery maintainer. I went to start it for the first time this year and the battery was too weak to start it. This is exactly what happened to my other Fiero a few years ago.

I thought the battery maintainers were designed to maintain a battery properly. Can they kill a battery?



Man, I have had the exact same problem with my 2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX. For probably the greater part of 10 years, I've not been driving it at all. I've put maybe 1,000 miles on it in 10 years, and I've had to change the battery about 6 times. Before that... It had the ORIGINAL Motorcraft battery in it from 2002 that lasted until 2012. Only reason I changed it is because it was taking a little longer to start, and figured at some point it would go out.

Only thing I've done differently is not drive it, and have a battery tender on it. Same as you, I start the car maybe ~4 times a year.

I went to start the car a few weeks ago, almost completely dead, just clicks from the starter. It's so dead that even when I put it on an old-school charger, I cannot get the battery to recharge enough to start the car. This battery is only a year old... so once again, I'm going to have to bring it back and swap it out at the auto parts store.

I'm starting to think, the best thing to do is just have a quick disconnect on it.
sjmaye MAY 31, 02:10 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:


Man, I have had the exact same problem with my 2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX. For probably the greater part of 10 years, I've not been driving it at all. I've put maybe 1,000 miles on it in 10 years, and I've had to change the battery about 6 times. Before that... It had the ORIGINAL Motorcraft battery in it from 2002 that lasted until 2012. Only reason I changed it is because it was taking a little longer to start, and figured at some point it would go out.

Only thing I've done differently is not drive it, and have a battery tender on it. Same as you, I start the car maybe ~4 times a year.

I went to start the car a few weeks ago, almost completely dead, just clicks from the starter. It's so dead that even when I put it on an old-school charger, I cannot get the battery to recharge enough to start the car. This battery is only a year old... so once again, I'm going to have to bring it back and swap it out at the auto parts store.

I'm starting to think, the best thing to do is just have a quick disconnect on it.



I have had pretty good results with a cut off. In this case I had a cutoff on the battery, but left it connected with the battery maintainer on it.
82-T/A [At Work] MAY 31, 04:24 PM

quote
Originally posted by sjmaye:

I have had pretty good results with a cut off. In this case I had a cutoff on the battery, but left it connected with the battery maintainer on it.




I've learned a lot from this thread, haha... I think we both just realized that a battery maintainer is basically garbage for a vehicle that isn't driven at least a couple of times a month.
LornesGT MAY 31, 05:19 PM
I have used one for 5 years with no trouble keeping battery charged. Car hasn’t moved much at all but I do run it from time to time. I hope to go home in a couple of days and find out that I didn’t jinx myself.