Trickle charging for 4 to 6 months

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J

J

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Feb 2, 2003
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Hey guys,

It's been years since I've been here. This is not an oil related topic, but I like the people on this site and people here are always very helpful.

I now drive an E89 BMW Z4. I have to leave on a business trip for 4 to 6 months. I do have a nice trickle charger and a garage. However, I’m concerned about coming home to a burned out garage and car due to a hydrogen explosion. Is my fear overblown? Will leaving my car connected to a trickle charger un-attended for that long be safe?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Cheers,
Jae
 
Originally Posted By: J
Hey guys,

It's been years since I've been here. This is not an oil related topic, but I like the people on this site and people here are always very helpful.

I now drive an E89 BMW Z4. I have to leave on a business trip for 4 to 6 months. I do have a nice trickle charger and a garage. However, I’m concerned about coming home to a burned out garage and car due to a hydrogen explosion. Is my fear overblown? Will leaving my car connected to a trickle charger un-attended for that long be safe?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Cheers,
Jae


Yes, your fear is overblown. No pun intended.

Any CTEK and you can literally leave it plugged in for that long. Literally.

CTEK 3300
CTEK 7800
CTEK MUS4.3

^^ All of those can do this.

90% of the time, it WON'T be charging, so whatever normal ventilation your garage has.. is fine.
 
Quote:

90% of the time, it WON'T be charging, so whatever normal ventilation your garage has.. is fine.


The garage is not ventilated. I live in an apartment. My garage is very small and no ventilation (that I know of).
 
Originally Posted By: J
Quote:

90% of the time, it WON'T be charging, so whatever normal ventilation your garage has.. is fine.


The garage is not ventilated. I live in an apartment. My garage is very small and no ventilation (that I know of).


Oh...

Still, though. IMHO, there is NO WAY a large enough amount of gasses can accumulate on a true smart charger, such as a CTEK.

A normal charger? No way.
 
Originally Posted By: GearHeadTool

Still, though. IMHO, there is NO WAY a large enough amount of gasses can accumulate on a true smart charger, such as a CTEK.

A normal charger? No way.


I do have a smart charger. It's a Schumacher SC-6500A. Is the CTEK much better? I'm willing to buy a new charger if that'll keep my garage from exploding.
 
You don't want to use a trickle charger. It's always charging, albeit at a low level.

A float charger would be better. It keeps the battery topped up, that's all.
 
Originally Posted By: AandPDan
You don't want to use a trickle charger. It's always charging, albeit at a low level.

A float charger would be better. It keeps the battery topped up, that's all.


That's what a smart charger does .
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Should be ok of you have a smart charger. Another option is to put the charger on a timer. Have it run 30 minutes every other day or an hr a week?

+1
 
A float or smart charger on a simple hardware store programmable timer normally used to cycle on and off lights, set up for being on a short time each day such as a half hour on a day, would work fine.

One of the things to consider is that every car battery eventually someday will go bad. What if that battery normal end of life occurs during the time you have it stored away for the few months?

Some chargers get hot if connected to a dead battery and ran.

So if you really want to play it safe, put the charger on an extension cord and place the charger in some kind of a non-flammable container that is open to allow venting of heat, such as an open steel tool box, an open steel bucket, or even something made of glass that is big enough to contain the charger. Imagine a piece of plastic the size of the charger going up in flames while sitting in the container. If the container is large enough to contain the fire and let it burn itself out the you are OK.
 
I placed an order for a CTEK. I thought about just having BMW pay for a new battery when I got back, but that felt a little unethical (almost as unethical as the amount of money BMW made off of me
eek.gif
)

Say Hey to Eiron for me (if he's still around)
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA

One of the things to consider is that every car battery eventually someday will go bad. What if that battery normal end of life occurs during the time you have it stored away for the few months?

Some chargers get hot if connected to a dead battery and ran.

So if you really want to play it safe, put the charger on an extension cord and place the charger in some kind of a non-flammable container that is open to allow venting of heat, such as an open steel tool box, an open steel bucket, or even something made of glass that is big enough to contain the charger. Imagine a piece of plastic the size of the charger going up in flames while sitting in the container. If the container is large enough to contain the fire and let it burn itself out the you are OK.


I knew it was a good idea to ask on this forum. That rules out having the charger sit in the engine compartment.
 
Nothing unethical about it. If the battery dies naturally they will give you a new one. If the battery dies on the CTEK/smart charger they will blame it on that and say no.

My 90yo grandmother asked that her 87 Regal be ready for her when she got out of the hospital. Its been waiting for her since 1996 when she passed away. 2nd battery. 2nd charger. None of us can disconnect it. Or sell the car. You can smart charge for years.
 
IMHO any switching type trickle charger should be able to "pulse" it when the battery is about 95% full, so the likeliness of overcharging, or excessive hydrogen gas generation should be minimised.

Also: if possible: crack the garage door gap or window gap a bit for ventilation if it worries you that much.

Q.
 
Use a temperature compensated charger. Many/most trickle chargers are not, and will overcharge when the temperature rises. Optimum is an at the battery sensor.

I'd recommend the battery minder 12248 first, and the battery minder 2012 second.

Both can be fit with an at the battery thermistor. 12248 is better as you can use the gel cell setting for a slightly lower voltage which will also help prevent dryout.
 
Undo the negative terminal on the battery and your battery will be fine when you come back.

My father did this over periods of 4-6 months on his 4runner when he went abroad to work. It always started fine whether dead of cold winter or normal temps. Adds a security layer also.

If I were not home I would not leave a setup going like this if others live in the building.
 
The battery vents hydrogen and the car is designed for it. If it's in the trunk or under a seat or something there'll be a tube going off to fresh air, able to vent hydrogen under a worst case scenario of your alt going nuts and pumping 140 unwanted amps into it.

A trickle charger can't do this; it'll burn up its skinny wires first.
 
Forget the trickle charger. Buy a battery tender. It senses when the voltage of the battery drops,then charges the battery. I bought mine for 30 bucks at Walmart. It's made for extended periods of sitting.
Trickle charging will fry your battery for that long.
To be honest why not just unhook the battery for the time you are gone,then just hook it back up once you get home.
 
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