[Jus Cruisin]

It took me maybe 15-20 minutes hooking the Battery Tender harness to the battery. I'm using a Battery Tender Plus that I've used on a number of cars.

[Trochoidal]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

Found the problem! Blown fuse in the Battery Tender harness that I was trying to use!

When connected to the motorcycle, the Battery Tender connects to a harness that I had pre-wired onto the battery terminals. That harness allows me to simply plug in the Battery tender harness to the harness attached to the battery, quickly and simply without gaining access to the hidden battery. It also enables me to power a GPS on the motorcycle's handelbar from the battery, or a heated riding vest. That harness has an inline fuse.

To connect to the Camaro's front terminals, I used a CLAMP type harness, also fused, that I had only ever used once before. But that "once before" was to try to charge a battery that I knew was very weak. The charging attempt failed, but it failed, I now see, because that old motorcycle battery was SO weak that it tried to pull more amps than the 7.5 amp fuse in the clamp harness allowed (because the battery wasinternally shorted?). So, it had blown the fuse. I never realized that it had done so, and so the blown fuse was still in the harness.

The amber blinking light on the Battery Tender begins to blink when EITHER a connected battery is so bad that it won't accept a charge, OR when there is simply no connection. So, in the case of the too-weak motorcycle battery, it had correctly begun blinking because the battery was bad. In the case of the Camaro attempt to charge through a blown fuse, it began blinking because there was no valid connection because of the blown fuse. Two different problems created the same visual signal.

I have a 2nd clamp harness that I have never before used, and so I connected this 2nd clamp harness to the Camaro. Now the Battery tender is happily doing its job.

Jim G

Good job! I looked up your model and was about to ask if the fuse was blown. Also, that’s why I asked what you were using. Sometimes it’s the little things that we don’t notice that end up being the problem.

[grgus73]

I noticed a vampire battery drain on mine. A full charge and tender seems to improve things. My brother in law has to use a tender on his Porsche 911 too.

Mine runs under the hood. No battery issues on my Silverado 6.6 Duramax.

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by grgus73

I noticed a vampire battery drain on mine. A full charge and tender seems to improve things. My brother in law has to use a tender on his Porsche 911 too.

Mine runs under the hood. No battery issues on my Silverado 6.6 Duramax.

The Duramax is of course a diesel engine, so requires a MUCH higher capacity battery to start it. Therefore, given reasonably similar current draws in storage, the diesel's battery will lose a MUCH smaller percentage of its total charge for equal time stored. You might indeed not even notice it.

Jim G

[Zr8000]

Get rid of those stupid clamps and bolt it directly to the battery. When you want to drive the car you can un plug it from the wall and toss the whole thing in the trunk. Shutting the cars computers off will also lessen the voltage draw.

[ember1205]

The one thing that I do differently from you is how I clamp the positive side. Instead of using the larger mouth of that clamp, I slide it further along to use the part that's very near the hinge of the clamp and I get a solid connection.

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by ember1205

The one thing that I do differently from you is how I clamp the positive side. Instead of using the larger mouth of that clamp, I slide it further along to use the part that's very near the hinge of the clamp and I get a solid connection.

That depends upon the specific shape of the clamp and the relative roughness or smoothness of the terminal post. Usually, the geometry of a battery clamp, and the strength of the spring, make it too easy for the clamp to "slide" so that instead of staying in contact with the post near the hinge, the clamp "slides" so that the contact with the post is closer to the END of the clamp. At that point, the clamp's shape often results in only marginal contact pressure with the post if the post is as small in diameter as the one on the Camaro is..

I find that clamping VERTICALLY onto the post works much better. That puts the clamp on in a way that eliminates the tendency to want to slide, and the jaws of the clamp tend to "bite" into the terminal, especially if you jiggle the clamp back and forth a bit before releasing hand pressure on it. The clamp then stays in place and the electrical contact is good.

On the specific post sizes on the Camaro, and the very small clamp size of my Battery tender's clamps, I did not have to take a lot of care however. The clamps are small enough that they grip even the tiny positive post well.

Jim G

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

That depends upon the specific shape of the clamp and the relative roughness or smoothness of the terminal post. Usually, the geometry of a battery clamp, and the strength of the spring, make it too easy for the clamp to "slide" so that instead of staying in contact with the post near the hinge, the clamp "slides" so that the contact with the post is closer to the END of the clamp. At that point, the clamp's shape often results in only marginal contact pressure with the post if the post is as small in diameter as the one on the Camaro is..

I find that clamping VERTICALLY onto the post works much better. That puts the clamp on in a way that eliminates the tendency to want to slide, and the jaws of the clamp tend to "bite" into the terminal, especially if you jiggle the clamp back and forth a bit before releasing hand pressure on it. The clamp then stays in place and the electrical contact is good.

Jim G

Yes, the shape of the clamp does matter. The clamps for my tenders have a contour to them closer to the hinge that allows it to remain in place correctly. Additionally, vertically orienting the clamp for the positive terminal "forces" the hood to remain open so that it doesn't inadvertently knock the clamp off. If you route the wires appropriately, you can fully close the hood with the tender connected which is what I prefer to do for longer term.

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by ember1205

Yes, the shape of the clamp does matter. The clamps for my tenders have a contour to them closer to the hinge that allows it to remain in place correctly. Additionally, vertically orienting the clamp for the positive terminal "forces" the hood to remain open so that it doesn't inadvertently knock the clamp off. If you route the wires appropriately, you can fully close the hood with the tender connected which is what I prefer to do for longer term.

Oh, so you leave the Battery tender connected fulltime. I have just the ONE Batteyr tender right now, so I leave it on almost fulltime on the motorcycle, because that will likely not be ridden at all for the winter months. I'll take the Battery tender off the motorcycle to charge the Camaro only when it has been sitting for a couple of weeks undriven.

Does anyone know how long our Camaros can sit undriven before the battery has discharged enough to warrant a top-up charge? I want to ensure I don't let it get TOO weak, which could hurt the battery or some of the onboard settings or systems.

Jim G

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

Oh, so you leave the Battery tender connected fulltime. I have just the ONE Batteyr tender right now, so I leave it on almost fulltime on the motorcycle, because that will likely not be ridden at all for the winter months. I'll take the Battery tender off the motorcycle to charge the Camaro only when it has been sitting for a couple of weeks undriven.

Does anyone know how long our Camaros can sit undriven before the battery has discharged enough to warrant a top-up charge? I want to ensure I don't let it get TOO weak, which could hurt the battery or some of the onboard settings or systems.

Jim G

I have left it connected long-term in the past, yes. I can't currently because my car is in a storage location without power. Last year, I stored the car around the end of October and the battery was dead sometime in March. This year, with a brand new battery in it, I just put it away on Saturday (mid-November) and put the car in Transport Mode to see what that might do for the long-term viability of the charge on the battery.

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by ember1205

I have left it connected long-term in the past, yes. I can't currently because my car is in a storage location without power. Last year, I stored the car around the end of October and the battery was dead sometime in March. This year, with a brand new battery in it, I just put it away on Saturday (mid-November) and put the car in Transport Mode to see what that might do for the long-term viability of the charge on the battery.

There may be a better solution than allowing the battery to weaken over time: Buy and use one of the "rechargeable jump starters"?

A rechargeable jump starter is typically a standalone device about 3" wide x 1" deep x 10" long approximately. You precharge it by conencting to a 120 volt wall socket. You then take it to the car which can be ANYWHERE, attach its (included) harness to your battery terminals, and start the car instantly. Even a big V-8. Even a big DIESEL. Then you can run the car for a "nice day" drive, get it fully warmed up and the battery fully charged, and re-park it.

But you might not even have to start the engine. i THINK if you simply connect the jump starter to the car's terminals, I think it MIGHT charge the battery? I don't know that for sure, but maybe someone else reading this thread does know.

Jim G

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

There may be a better solution than allowing the battery to weaken over time: Buy and use one of the "rechargeable jump starters"?

A rechargeable jump starter is typically a standalone device about 3" wide x 1" deep x 10" long approximately. You precharge it by conencting to a 120 volt wall socket. You then take it to the car which can be ANYWHERE, attach its (included) harness to your battery terminals, and start the car instantly. Even a big V-8. Even a big DIESEL. Then you can run the car for a "nice day" drive, get it fully warmed up and the battery fully charged, and re-park it.

But you might not even have to start the engine. i THINK if you simply connect the jump starter to the car's terminals, I think it MIGHT charge the battery? I don't know that for sure, but maybe someone else reading this thread does know.

Jim G

When the battery went dead this past spring, I jumped it from my truck without any issue.

Once stored for the winter, it doesn't come back out until spring because of road salt and other chemicals. That makes it impossible for the "day drive" sort of thing you're mentioning.

I have taken rechargeable UPS devices (Uninterruptable Power Supply) to the storage unit and plugged in my small tender to see how much charge boost I could add that way. It was not significant and ultimately didn't really help. I have a solar-powered Battery Tender that I intend to ask my storage company about hanging on the outside of the overhead door this winter as it may be a viable option to keep the battery charged up over the cold months.

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by ember1205

. . . I have a solar-powered Battery Tender that I intend to ask my storage company about hanging on the outside of the overhead door this winter as it may be a viable option to keep the battery charged up over the cold months.

That sounds like a good idea, provided that some desperate druggie doesn't steal the solar panel. Mounting it HIGH might help deter the lazier druggies.

Jim G

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

That sounds like a good idea, provided that some desperate druggie doesn't steal the solar panel. Mounting it HIGH might help deter the lazier druggies.

Jim G

There's always risk like that. I would hope that the risk for this facility would be low given location and the security controls they have in place (code-controlled gate for off-hours access when office is closed, no overnight access through gate due to time limits for access, well-lit area overall, security cameras).