Connecting a Battery Tender pigtail to jumper terminal box for long term charging

[carlg]

Last summer we came home from a two week cruise to find our 2012 Genesis 3.8L had a dead battery. The dealer service dept confirmed that this is a common problem with this car - in fact they have the same problem with cars they have parked on their dealer lot for too long without driving them. There is a fuse that can be pulled on the drivers side door frame but then you lose all your GPS and cell phone customizations, etc. I have had great success using a Del Tran Battery Tender (usually used for motorcycle batteries) to keep the battery charged on an old F150 pickup that I drive once every other month or so. I would like to make the same type of pigtail connector for the 2012 Hyundai Genesis, so I can keep its battery topped off while we are on another long cruise this spring. I have learned that I should connect either a trickle charger or jumper cable to the battery jumper terminals under the hood on passenger side instead of directly to the battery terminals in the trunk under the trunk liner. However I am not sure which threaded terminals to loosen and use to connect the (+) and (-) pigtail wires on the battery jumper terminal box. (See attached picture). Any suggestions on which threaded terminals to use for the pigtail connectors would be appreciated.

 

[Gurkha]

I can't answer your question directly, but usually these types of battery tenders come with multiple attachments, not just the pigtail type.
The one I have on right now for the last month on the car has a clamp option that I connected to the + terminal and the other to the frame of the car for -

 

[EXBMWGUY]

I have two Battery Tenders (one of them is BMW branded) both came with alligator clamps. It's 30 seconds.

 

[ghicks99]

I have the battery minder. Had it a couple years and love it since it has a few more goodies built in. Like nearly all others it came with a alligator clip end and also an end with ring terminals that you leave in the car which is probably best. That way if you need it for someting else you have the alligator clips availabe or get the additional stuf to charge more than one thing at a time

 

[T_E]

Has anyone come up with a permanent solution allowing for connection of the pigtail to the jumper terminals? (Either by a connector that will slip onto the terminals, or by drilling a hole in the center of them and using a small bolt/nut to connect?)

I left my Equus sit for 5 weeks and decided it would be good to check the battery charge. It was at 15%. To get to the battery jumpers is 4 nylon connectors, lifting the panel, then lifting a second panel. Would be great to simply plug in a trickle charger, instead.

 

[ComputerBudda]

BTW, when I was looking for my Genny, I missed a very low mileage one and two weeks later it was back. Turns out the battery kept dying. They finally figured out it was the trunk light switch being bad and leaving the trunk light on. If it happened once, it may be worth while checking out. The trunk is big, just ask your wife......

 

[carlg]

Hi TE,
I am the guy that started this thread, and yes I did find a permanent way to connect the Battery Tender pigtails to the proper connections under the jumper box in the engine compartment. It turns out that the ground wire needs to be connected under one of the two nuts on the left side of the box (the smaller black ones), and the + wire can be connected under any of the three larger bolts on the right side (turns out they are all hot). I leave the pigtail permanently attached, and just connect it when we are gone for more than a week or so. It worked great when we were gone for two months on a cruise last spring.

 

[T_E]

Great, thanks. Will do that!

Regarding have my wife climb into the trunk to check the light operation, haven't convinced her yet to do that, so I may have to start my cell phone video camera and put it in the trunk to check operation....

 

[DEPOTDaddy]

Just open the ski port door behind the rear seat arm rest.

 

[T_E]

Battery Tender to cigarette lighter plug

Not sure what opening the ski port door would do to help connect to the battery, but here's a thought: how about rewiring one of the cigarette lighter plugs directly to be hot at all times instead of being hooked to the ignition switch.

Then, you could hook up a battery tender via the socket....leaving the window open slightly to allow the cable to run to the outlet.

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[DEPOTDaddy]

No, no, that was just to check the trunk light switch is working properly.

 

[T_E]

My dealer replaced my failing battery last weekend. No charge, just before the 2 year in service date. Very pleased with their service!