01-17-2021, 06:04 PM | #15 | |
Drives: 2017 1SS Hyper Blue Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 478
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Quote:
OP, make sure you have the technology straight. A trickle charger is a regular battery charger that constantly feeds a small current. Not good for an unattended battery. You want a battery tender, also known as an automatic battery charger. It monitors the battery state and only applies a charge when needed. |
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01-17-2021, 06:29 PM | #16 |
Drives: 2017 HBM 2LT RS Convertible V6 A8 Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: NJ
Posts: 654
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My Camaro is not a daily driver and is garaged. I don't take it out when the roads are wet or until all road salt has had a chance to be washed off the roads. So it does sit for weeks at a time this time of the year. I do check the battery condition every 3 weeks or so when sitting, and I find the Fluke meter reads about 12.0 to 12.3 volts after that time. The car would start right up in this condition, but I know the battery is significantly discharged at these voltages, so I hook up my Schumacher smart charger and within an hour or so it's back to 100%.
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01-17-2021, 09:21 PM | #17 |
Drives: 2019 ZL1 Riverside Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,138
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Lead acid is more "forgiving" (li-ion is not) but no battery should discharge <~20% for an extended period. Just because it starts fine doesn't really prove anything, it's the service life, which should be at least 5-6 years. Quite a few members on here reporting 2-3 years which tells the real story
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01-19-2021, 10:12 AM | #18 |
THANK YOU everyone for all of your input. Always can count on multiple ways to look at things on this forum and I LOVE it.
My actual plan is every month on the 1st, 2nd & 4th Saturday there is a CnC I plan to attend...unless it rains ( Rain???...I live in Arizona...actually supposed to rain this whole week ). However. here the summers can be brutal...last summer broke the record for number of days 110 or more. Also the car scene slows WAY down...due to the heat. So usually from May - Sept will only take it out every other week (CnC 2nd & 4th Saturday) to keep things moving. Along with a few trips up north Arizona to escape the heat! So all in all I think I will be good not needing a trickle charger but based on all the responses I will hook one up if I think the car will sit longer than 2 weeks. Now I need to search on the best way to hook on up on our cars in case I need to use mine. Thanks again everyone and be SAFE!!!
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2018 ZLE - M6, Nightfall Gray
GM previously owned: 2014 SS M6 2014 ZL1 M6 2019 ZL1 M6 2016 Z06 M6 |
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01-19-2021, 05:37 PM | #19 |
Drives: 2019 Camaro ZL1 // 1LE Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Posts: 151
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My 19 ZLE is not a daily driver. I bought it in Jan. of 2020. I do use it for occasional HPDE's, and running to the store, every now and then. I put 1700 miles on the car in a year if that is any indication of how often I drive the car. About 6 months ago, went to start the car and the battery was dead, so I jumped it, and it seemed okay. I took it for a long drive to charge the battery and started back up when I got back home. Long story short, if the car sat for any amount of time the battery would die. I initially thought I had an electrical draw, but found nothing. Keep in mind I only had 1700 miles on the car. I ended up putting a new battery in it, and I now keep it on a trickle charger and have no more problems. I have read that once these gel batteries go dead, there is no recovering them. My .02 cents for what its worth. Get a good trickle charger (I have the Optima), and plug it in if the car is going to sit up any longer than a few days.
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01-19-2021, 05:44 PM | #20 |
2019 ZL1 1LE MY GOON
Drives: 1980 Z28 Big Red. Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Stoney Creek
Posts: 2,061
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I don’t know. My ZLE has sat for weeks without being started. Cold and hot weather. And cold as in sitting outside in -10 degree weather. Always starts no problem.
To me it sounds like something is staying energized and drawing the batteries down. I find it interesting that a lot of the cars aren’t even in really cold climates for long periods of time. |
01-19-2021, 11:06 PM | #21 |
Drives: 2018 Camaro 1SS 1LE Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Front Range, CO
Posts: 1,868
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After reading this thread and doing some research it seems like a good idea to use a charger like the CTEK MXS 5.0 periodically or even every time it's parked. I'm going to do that and see if I can prolong my current battery's life. It was about $90. It seems the car's demands shorten the life of the battery, 2-3 years is not optimal. I think a properly maintained battery should see more than double that and nearly 10 years for a Optima type AGM.
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01-20-2021, 02:54 AM | #22 | ||
Drives: 2018 Camaro ZL1 Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,370
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01-20-2021, 12:43 PM | #23 | |
Drives: 2017 1SS Hyper Blue Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 478
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Quote:
Edit: Sorry for kind of repeating myself. I alluded to this in an earlier post, but this is "the rest of the story". |
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01-20-2021, 01:09 PM | #24 | |
Drives: 2018 Camaro ZL1 Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,370
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Quote:
Never was on a battery tender or trickle charger. Never needed to be jumped. This was also when I was in WA so it did get cold. The battery just started to crank slowly and I decided to replace it before it actually died. |
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01-20-2021, 02:10 PM | #25 |
Drives: 2019 ZL1 Riverside Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,138
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01-20-2021, 05:14 PM | #26 | |
Drives: 2019 Camaro ZL1 // 1LE Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Posts: 151
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01-20-2021, 06:07 PM | #27 |
Drives: CTV5 V Blackwing on order Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: East TN
Posts: 431
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I used my trickle charger from day 1. Anytime I know the Z will sit for more than a day it gets connected. Just pop open the hood and connect the charger. Takes less than 30 seconds.
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2022 CT5 V Blackwing with A10
2021 GMC Denali pickup with 6.2 and A10 2017 Ford Expedition Last edited by Snowwolfe; 01-20-2021 at 07:21 PM. |
01-20-2021, 06:34 PM | #28 |
Drives: 2018 Camaro ZL1 Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,370
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135i battery is in the trunk where the spare tire would be and you have to prop up the floor cover.
The Camaro is in the trunk to the right. Same amount of effort to get to 1 terminal. Though the cover should be bigger so you can get it out easier. At least the battery is half the size of the BMW! |
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