Hey guys, these might be stupid questions, but I've never used a Battery Tender on any vehicle and just want to make sure I'm not about to do anything stupid to my new FE.

I currently have the tender hooked up under the hood as opposed to directly to the battery in the trunk. This seemed best to me as I wasn't comfortable leaving something like that connected inside a closed/carpeted trunk.

1. Is this where you guys do and/or would hook the tender up in these cars?

2. Should I close the hood fully, or latch it but leave it open a bit? I'm not putting a cover on the car, and it will be inside my non-heated garage all winter. The instructions say to use in a well ventilated area... would either position really matter, or is that more of an issue if connecting directly to the battery?

3. I've heard mention of vapors from charging a battery, but I think I've read that's not an issue when using a tender. Is this correct? Should I be worried about venting the trunk at all to dispel them?

Thanks in advance guys, and sorry if these are "dumb" questions... I'm just not finding anything online specific to our cars, battery placement, etc.

 

I have had a tender hooked up directly to my battery in my X for about 8 months now. I used the supplied quick connect harness. I attached the positive lead to the positive battery terminal and attached the negative lead to the bottom of the negative battery cable where it grounds on the body, which is about 10" away from the battery's negative terminal. (You will have to pull the chord apart some to allow it to span those two attach points, but the insulation between the positive and negative leads has a molded in thin section in the middle that allows you to pull them apart and still have proper wire insulation on both leads). This setup works well for me. I keep the trunk lid "cracked" open to run the cable out to the charger, and that provides some venting as well. You could leave the trunk lid completely open if it made you feel better. The key to leaving the trunk open is you have to "close" the latch on the trunk lid to trick the car into thinking it's closed and latched, otherwise your central dash display will stay lit, constantly draining the battery you're trying to keep charged. When you go to drive the car you have to spring the latch to reset it before you close the trunk.

Your way may be better? I never contemplated trying to hook my tender up at the "Jump Start" points under the hood. I'd be a little concerned that you're running a charge through the entire system, perhaps making the charger less efficient? Is that running current through the entire electrical system, or is it just a much longer path to just the battery, is what I do not know? I'm not an electrical guy. All I know is you're in trouble when you let the factory installed smoke out of the wires :-)

 

I think keeping the trunk open a little to vent any potential gasses is probably a good idea regardless of which end of the car you hook up to the charger. Gassing is unlikely with a Battery Tender, but it can happen if something goes wrong with the charger, the battery, or the house circuit the charger is plugged into. I'd at least pop the plastic access cover off the battery and leave the trunk cracked open for the venting issue.

 

I don't think it matters a whole lot where you hook up the battery tender, but you can simply take the battery out of the car. It won't go dead for easily 4 months.

 

Hook it up to the battery not under the hood. Use Battery Tender Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger. This charger charges the battery then shuts off the system when the battery is charged and provides little juice to the battery under "stable mode". Again, i would highly recommend charging the battery directly (in the trunk) then the actual cord from the tender will fit with your trunk closed still. Don't worry about vapors..Their is plenty of area to gas out.

 

I have 4 of my cars on float chargers now. Hooked direct to battery and closed hood. I always use a float charger when the car is not being used within a week; all the computers in the cars drain the battery and it also conditions the battery so it lasts a bit longer.

 

I hooked mine up the same way and I leave the trunk open. The trunk light and dash turn off eventually (within 30 minutes?)

 

I left on a week trip and my 2015 evo x didn't start. Took a lot of cranking, which didn't help. Left it and came back a half hour later and it started. Unsettling...

 

Even though I'm gone from home a lot during the summer, I'm still undecided whether or not I want to use a tender. The fire danger freaks me out.

 

^ I have used a tender now since late October and it is almost February. It freaks me out also when I am not home... but I have done this to a motorcycle and it was fine. I hooked it up directly to the battery in the trunk and have not touched it since.

 

Yea I have one hooked up for a few months now, and its never even crossed my mind that it would burst into flames! I would say its prolly a pretty rare chance this would happen and if it does well.... I do have some good insurance so my toughest decision will be what color I want my new gtr to be!

 

Ive debated getting a battery charger, i have a 2012 Evo X. But for the past 3.5 years I have gone on 3 separate long trips for 90-100 days during the winter months each year and my car fire back up NORMAL each time when i come back! So im not gonna buy a charger

 

Well where I live since it gets pretty cold if it sits for like 2 or 3 weeks the battery is like dead..

 

My car sat for 8 months. Battery was disconnected, but it definitely drained (not dead though) in that time frame. I connected a battery tender/charger to it and let it charge for 2 hours and car cranked right on.

Honestly, if I were you I'd just hook up the battery charger once in a blue moon and re-charge it if you are that worried. I don't see any need to keep it continuously connected. Then you can do it while you are home and just not worry about it.

I should mention I have an optima red-top that dealership replaced my panasonic with when that died after 2 years (evo was my DD, so wasn't a storage issue).

 

It wouldn't matter if it is always connected. The tender gives a charge if it detects a low battery then once the battery gets charged it just stabilizes the battery without overcharging it. They also have fuses in them in case of emergencies.