GT3CAR

What say ye about a good battery tender?

Thanks in advance!

LJ

Jon70

I use the Porsche version. It plugs right into the interior outlet.

peloton

I use the Porsche oem charger too - works great.

Rick in Colorado

You're probably not getting very much response because there was a (clearly titled) robust discussion on this a few weeks back. Look for it and you'll find your input.

GT3CAR

(jerky comment toward Rick removed) - my bad ............................I have been able to tell in this thread that the Porsche tender is a well accepted product. Disparate comments in other threads did not provide clarity around recommendations.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ghlight=tender

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ghlight=tender

....among other threads.............<removed>

Rick in Colorado

The "clearly titled" comment was intended to help you search (i.e. you don't need to search the body of the threads, just scan the titles), not as a dig. You weren't getting much response and I thought that you might have missed the previous thread. If was trying to be a wiseass, I would played Search Police: "use the search button before posting" - something that peeves me as well. Having said that, I'm not sure there is anything new to add to the previous discussion (especially considering how recent is was).

Bottom line: the technology is fairly low-tech and, I would guess that virtually all of the products will do fine. I, and some others, prefer the Battery Tender, while many like the Porsche-branded version. I think the biggest issue is whether you want to attach to your battery (ala Battery Tender) or lighter (ala Porsche). If you look at both, it will be clear that the Porsche brand costs 2-3x more due to the label. If you visit the BT website, you will find that battery maintaining is their core competence.

Hope that helps.

GT3CAR

Can you tell I am a little sensitive about the search police?
Thanks for the information. I read it again and realized I took it wrong. I revised it.

You make a good point about name brands.....Tylenol vs. Acetaminophen......Deka vs. Braille batteries...and the tenders

smlporsche

I have the OEM one for my street car and just boought the CTEK one for my track car.
Bought it through OGRacing

http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/sear...ATTERY-CHARGER

Rick in Colorado

No problemo.

Interesting side-bar: This Winter before I thought to hook up my tender, the battery went dead (leaving the key in the ignition accelerates the drain, duh). I tried the jump-from-the-fusebox that always worked with my previous 996 and no dice. I jumped via the lighter plug and, presto. So...if anyone has problem with the procedure in the manual, try the lighter input approach.

redduck996

i have the black and decker smart tender i think. do a search, i got advice from the board last year

Bluehinder

CTEK is the one to get. They make it for Porsche, and it is half the price with a case, and two different lead sets. I've got several and they are fantastic. Better than the little brick Porsche sells, the maintainer.

jhbrennan

I have 3 BT's - two on my motorcycles and one on the P-car. Some will post that anything made in China will cause you problems but I've been using BT's for years and have never had a problem. I have all three with the BT pigtails permanently attached to the batteries so I just plug the BT into the pigtails and start charging.

leif997

great product..use them on my bikes and jet-ski as well as the RS

wilfred

I have been using a Vector for few years with no problem. Recently bought 2 more under different label - Black & Decker, both were defective out of the box! Other than the different color heatsinks, they are identical units. Even has the same model number.

I have learned CTEK makes the charger for Porsche, but I don't think it comes with the cigarette lighter plug. And they have 3 versions, I was trying to figure out which one is the same as the Porsche but couldn't because the specs i had was limited.

Anyways, ended up buy a Porsche one from Sunset Imports. Porsche makes two different kinds, be sure to get the newer one. Here are their differences per Jeff @ Sunset Imports:

"There are two different styles of maintainers. Both versions plug into a wall socket and have a lighter plug on the other end that goes into the vehicles cigarette lighter socket. The 955-044-900-54 for 106.71 can do motorcycle (m/c) batteries and car batteries, but the 106.71 charger puts out up to 3.3 amps and trickles down from there. This more expensive one fits the 2002 and later Porsche cigarette lighter socket just perfect, but not the older cars. You can use it in the older cars if you buy the newer cigarette lighter (male and female part, comes together) for little under 15.00 dollars. This unit is good for older batteries to help keep them fully charged as older batteries tend to be less apt to hold a charge the older they get in my opinion. What this charger does is cycle it’s charging rate. It charges the battery up, then introduces a small load on the battery to draw it’s charge down somewhat, then charges it back up. This makes the battery think it is in use, and in cycling the battery this way it will stay active. The worst thing for a battery is to be inactive without any charger or maintainer on it at all. The 980-611-981-00 maintainer for 47.10 puts out a max of .5 (half an amp) so it's meant to only keep the battery at the state of charge it was in when put up for winter storage for example. It doesn't even TRY to charge the battery, where as the more expensive one has the capability to put out more than a half an amp it can actually charge a battery if left on for a couple of days. Although it wasn't designed to be a charger it will charge up a dead battery but will take longer than the higher amperage variety sold elsewhere. Any questions please ask, thanks, Jeff."

Geronimo

I use the CTEK Multi US 3300 ($70) -- they sell a cigarette lighter attachment for something like $10. I found it more secure than the battery clips. It works great.