Keeping batteries charged ...

[trikkonceptz]

A bit off topic here, among my daily drivers I have a 2004 Scion xB. This vehicle is a trailer queen. Meanining, its a showcar used only for that purpose.

As such I have alot of expensive equipment in it plus tons of man hours. Recently I had to move the vehicle from its storage location, to find out that the two batteries I had in the vehicle were dead. So dead they will no longer hold a charge. Now when new these batteries cost almost $180 ea.

I need to replace them in order to be able to move the car around. When I do replace the batteries, what kind of regiment can I put them on in order to keep them charged or at least healthy while the vehicle takes its extended naps. RUnning the car may not be a handy option as it does not have a current license plate and simply running in a sealed garage is not safe either and wastes gas ...

Thanks for the help

[Frank Lee]

I think you know this one already.

Battery tender.

Or put em on the charger once in a while.

Or, don't even have batteries for it if it sits around that much. "Borrow" one from something else you have that gets used more frequently.

[trikkonceptz]

I have to leave batteries in it ... it is way to difficult to interchange batteries whenever I need it, plus reprogramming the stereo is literally a multi hour process.

I had forgotten about the battery tender .... thanks fer the reminder ...

[trikkonceptz]

Just checked out the battery tender and it is exactly what I need. My question is;

One of the configurations brings what looks like a pair of cables with two eyelets on them. Can I wire that directly to my battery with a quick disconnect on the other end to simply plug in after parking the car and not have to worry about the gator clips?

[Ryland]

that pig tail is exactly that, a short cord with a plug, two eyelets and the charger plugs in to it, often used on motorcycles that have batteries in tight places and are stored for months at a time.
you might also be able to get a battery tender that would plug in to the lighter plug if that is live all the time, the battery tender should be around 1/4 to 1/2 an amp as you don't need much if it's pluged in all the time.

[trikkonceptz]

Originally Posted by Ryland

that pig tail is exactly that, a short cord with a plug, two eyelets and the charger plugs in to it, often used on motorcycles that have batteries in tight places and are stored for months at a time.
you might also be able to get a battery tender that would plug in to the lighter plug if that is live all the time, the battery tender should be around 1/4 to 1/2 an amp as you don't need much if it's pluged in all the time.

That almost sounds impossible ...

A battery charger that draws power from the car only to keep the car charged. If it could work I'm in. That means no drain on my electrical bill and the car would never die.

[spoil9]

What Ryland is talking about is not that the tender is powered by the cig lighter adapter, but that it plugs into that in order to charge the battery. This way you don't have to wire anything to the batteries.
All battery tenders still need to be plugged into a standard 120V outlet.

[trikkonceptz]

Ahhh that makes more sense, however, it is not an option as my vehicle does not have a cig lighter. It was deleted during the fabrication of the interior.

[Tango Charlie]

Somewhere in the dusty memory banks I seem to recall hearing negative things about the Battery Tender name, and that the Battery Minder was better.
I installed a couple Battery Minders in aircraft about two years ago, never got any negative feedback from them.