Battery Life in Storage

[A60827]

Fellow Members. I will be in Florida this winter and will leave my 2012 V6 w/tech & premium in garage in IL. for two months. Will I need to trickle charge it while it sits or will battery stay charged enough to start when I get back?

Thanks for your input.

 

[GJEMD]

I would disconnect the battery. If you use a battery tender and leave for 2 months and your home has a temporary power outage the tender then becomes an external ground that drains the battery. Once power resumes the 1 amp trickle tender is insufficient to recharge the battery. Battery tenders are great if your around but not using the vehicle or motorcycle.

 

[sandy]

I also spend winters in Florida and for the past 15 years have disconnected negative cable on vehicles left behind with no problems. First thing upon return is re-connect and charge. Enjoy your winter.

 

[A60827]

I thought about disconnecting the negative cable but do not want to lose all presets etc. Any ideas?

 

[topspeed]

If you have someone watching your place while you are gone then I recommend the battery tender. I used one for years when I stored my Corvette for the winter. It's great to just hop in your car after an being gone for awhile and firing it right up.

 

[Southern Boy]

My son who is in the Navy and frequently puts his cars in storage for months at a time has used both methods with success. He mostly prefers the trickle charge when power is available.
I have a 15KW stand by generator set that has a maintenance free battery (the same type as in the Genesis) and always have the trickle charger hooked up to it. The battery is 8 years old and cranks the engine once a month with ease. It cost $10 at Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html

 

[Mark_888]

My son who is in the Navy and frequently puts his cars in storage for months at a time has used both methods with success. He mostly prefers the trickle charge when power is available.
I have a 15KW stand by generator set that has a maintenance free battery (the same type as in the Genesis) and always have the trickle charger hooked up to it. The battery is 8 years old and cranks the engine once a month with ease. It cost $10 at Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html

Some of the customer reviews of that product on the Harbor Freight website are brutal.

 

[sandy]

Another good source for a charger is Batterystuff.com.

Re the maintenance free battery, when I bought my trickle charger I was cautioned to only use it on a maintenance-free battery if the vehicle was to be left unattended for a period of time. It seems if you leave a trickle charger hooked up to a "serviceable" battery it will eventually ruin it.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Fellow Members. I will be in Florida this winter and will leave my 2012 V6 w/tech & premium in garage in IL. for two months. Will I need to trickle charge it while it sits or will battery stay charged enough to start when I get back?

Thanks for your input.

I also winter in Florida for two months. I leave my Lexus GS350 in the Garage in Minneapolis for 2 months. It fires right up after returning. I don't do anything to it at all!

I drive the Genesis to FLorida....Why aren't you driving yours?

 

[Happy1]

Fellow Members. I will be in Florida this winter and will leave my 2012 V6 w/tech & premium in garage in IL. for two months. Will I need to trickle charge it while it sits or will battery stay charged enough to start when I get back?

Thanks for your input.

I have been spending at least 4 months in Florida for the last 15 years and when I get home my vehicles have always started right up. No charger or trickle charger needed. The newer vehicle was always with me in Florida and the other in an unheated garage under an unheated house in New York.
The best though is my run around toy, a 2000 Chevy Silverado that I bought new in May of 2000, it gets parked outside, still has the original battery (now 12 years old) and this last May, 2012 on my return from Florida was the first time I had to jump it to get it started. Now you know as well as I do that after saying this I will be buying a new battery when I get back next May. There is more life in those batteries than you think!

PS: Don't forget to put 40 pounds of air in those tires while in storage and if you are parking on concrete makes sure the tires are resting on wooden boards or plywood.

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[Southern Boy]

Some of the customer reviews of that product on the Harbor Freight website are brutal.

Never had a problem with any of these trickle chargers, some are 8 years old. Just lucky or following instructions works I guess.

 

[EXBMWGUY]

My BMW wanted/needed a Battery Tender for its overpriced AGM battery. I don't leave home without connecting my Genny during two yearly trips totaling six weeks each year.

 

[blasterguam]

School of hard knocks fellas: I have a 2009 with only 15K miles on it because I do a lot of work overseas. The car had recently sat for just a bit under 2 months. Deader than a door nail!! I was lucky in that I trickle charged it for about 30 hours and had it tested to 750 cca. The above testimonies may be good for fairly new batteries, but with all the electronics on our cars they put a big drain on the battery. The next time I leave I will disconnect the battery. You may get away with it a couple times but leaving the battery with no charging for an extended period of time WILL bite you eventually.

BTW - in case anyone is interested I researched the possibility of getting a new battery and found that Advanced Auto Parts has an identical size/shape battery that even has the drain hole in it to connect the tubing. It listed for $136.00 and is manufactured by Johnson Control. Since it's less than a mile from my house that will be my replacement whenever needed.

 

[Cut-Throat]

For the last 25 years, I replace my Car battery every 4 years. I keep my car 8 years, so I buy 1 battery for each car at the 4 year mark.

I used to wait for the battery to die and it always happened at the wrong time. Here in Minnesota, the battery would usually die at around 6 years and I would have to buy 1 per car anyway.

One of the better things I have done. I usually pick a nice warm day in the fall and do it myself, when I have nothing else going on. I have avoided all battery problems following this procedure. Well worth the price of a battery to avoid the hassle.

 

[scottdk]

FYI to anyone who wants to disconnect the battery, there is no actual need to do this, because you can "trip" the master fuse (yellow) in the drivers side door jam.

I believe this is covered in the OM somewhere, but I'd have to look. No messing around in the trunk then.

 

[Rey]

Tripping the master fuse is comparatively easy, but, in my opinion, it is far easier to just disconnect the negative ground on the battery, particularly in the dark. It requires a 10mm wrench (as do most batteries).

As for presets, most are retained by the capacitors in your system. You will have to reset your clock, which is not a big deal.

 

[scottdk]

Tripping the master fuse is comparatively easy, but, in my opinion, it is far easier to just disconnect the negative ground on the battery, particularly in the dark. It requires a 10mm wrench (as do most batteries).

Good point, but not having to use any tool at all seems simplified for me at least, plus no digging in trunk pulling up the floor panel to get to the battery

 

[Holdercj]

I had a 2003 Hyundai Sonata that I bought in-between deployments when I was in the service. I stored the car rather hastily on the base’s outdoor car lot and didn't have a chance to disconnect the battery. 7 months later when I returned I was ready to deal with a dead car. To my amazement my car fired right up.

 

[A60827]

Driving my wife's Lexus LS 460 to Florida. Need the extra room and really like this car as well as my Genny.