Battery Maintainer

[NSX-Tuner]

Anyone have experience with battery maintainers for your NSX?

Last weekend, my battery was almost dead after only a week without driving my car. The battery is an OEM battery but is still fairly new. I'm pretty sure the battery was drained because of my aftermarket alarm system and other aftermarket stuff I've had installed. I know of one member who removed their aftermarket alarm system after having the same kind of problem. However, I'm very happy with the alarm system and want to pursue a different option.

So last weekend I found a solar powered battery maintainer that plugs into the cigarette lighter/accessory jack. It also has overcharge and reverse current protection. Has anyone used this type of device before?


EDIT:
Oops... I meant to post this in general... so if someone can move this, I'd appreciate it... thx...

 

[Forums Nazi]

Anyone have experience with battery maintainers for your NSX?

You can find some information in the FAQ (under Maintenance - Battery) and lots more by doing a search, which should turn up topics like these:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46731
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44018
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24945
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16579
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7153
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6084
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5712
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2969

 

[NSX-Tuner]

You can find some information in the FAQ (under Maintenance - Battery) and lots more by doing a search, which should turn up topics like these:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46731
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44018
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24945
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16579
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7153
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6084
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5712
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2969

Thanks for the info. But I did a search and only found one post about a 'solar powered battery charger' which didn't say much.

Anyway, the one I'm looking at can be mounted outside on a garage roof where direct sunlight is available for at least half the day and plugs into the cigarette lighter/accessory jack.

BatterySAVER PRO5W:

Overview
The BatterySAVER PRO5W prevents deep cycle and larger 12V batteries from self-draining and reduces the need for expensive battery replacement. The BatterySAVER PRO5W compensates for natural battery voltage losses and small electrical drains by sending a constant trickle of energy to the battery.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Great for use with batteries that are seldom used or in storage, such as with antique cars, boats, RV’s or cottages. Also used with deer feeders, farm equipment, electric fences and gate openers.

Features

• 5 watts rated power at 15 volts operating voltage
• Constant maintenance charging for larger batteries
• Weatherproof
• Includes 10 ft (3 m) 16-gauge (1.3 mm) connecting wire
• Built-in reverse current protection; can’t discharge your battery
• Handy battery clamps and mounting screws

Specifications

• Model Number: 10009
• Wattage: 5 watts
• Peak Output: 350 mAmps@15 volts
• Approx. Watt-Hrs / Day *: 20 - 25
• Approx. Amp Hrs / Day *: 1.4 - 1.75
• Dimensions: 13" x 13" x 1" / 330 mm x 330 mm x 25 mm
• Weight: 3.2 lbs / 1.5 kg
• Temperature Range: -40ºF to 176ºF / -40ºC to 80ºC
• Warranty: 5 years @ 80% of output

* Based on 4 to 5 hours of average daily peak sunlight hours.

 

[neuralpathways]

These devices only work if your cigarette lighter works without the key in the ACC or start position. I don't yet own an NSX, so don't know if this will be an issue for you.

VW ships some or all new models with a very similar device that attaches via suction cups to the windshield so that the battery isn't dead during shipping or on the lot. I've got a few of them, and as far as efficiency goes, they work very, very well. You can find them on ebay for as low as $12. They are NOT weatherproof on their own, however, you can probably imagine a hundred ways to make them "almost" fully weatherproof. Ex: seran wrap very tightly. or put it in a ziploc bag, and silicone the exit for the wiring. Just make sure that if you place it on your roof, that it goes on the side facing South.

good luck!

 

[NSX-Tuner]

These devices only work if your cigarette lighter works without the key in the ACC or start position. I don't yet own an NSX, so don't know if this will be an issue for you.

Very good point!!! I better check that out tonight. But if that's a problem, the unit I'm looking at also has battery clamps or can be hard-wired to the battery with a quick-disconnect connector. Either way, I don't think I'll have a problem hooking it up. But the cigarette light is the most convenient for hookup.

VW ships some or all new models with a very similar device that attaches via suction cups to the windshield so that the battery isn't dead during shipping or on the lot. I've got a few of them, and as far as efficiency goes, they work very, very well. You can find them on ebay for as low as $12. They are NOT weatherproof on their own, however, you can probably imagine a hundred ways to make them "almost" fully weatherproof. Ex: seran wrap very tightly. or put it in a ziploc bag, and silicone the exit for the wiring. Just make sure that if you place it on your roof, that it goes on the side facing South.

good luck!

The unit I'm looking at is already fully weatherproofed. One of the reasons I want a solar powered battery charger is that I built (from a kit) a garage for my car. Since this is an all metal garage, I didn't wire it for 110 VAC. Instead, I installed a solar powered security light for the inside, as well as a solar powered roof vent fan.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

At $69 it's pretty expensive for what it is. The peak output is 5 watts and I'm sure that's in direct sunlight. 25 watts a day, hmm, I wonder if that will even keep your battery charged if you're draining your battery in just a week.

D'Ecosse and myself both use the Battery Tender product with great success. Following some instruction on this thread you can make it ultra convenient to keep your car charged -- It takes me about 10 seconds to plug my car in. The starter cranks like I put in a brand new fully charged battery each time. It is one of the best investments I've made on my car (and I've made quite a few ). Only drawback is you need power in your garage (just read your post about not having AC).

 

[NSX-Tuner]

At $69 it's pretty expensive for what it is. The peak output is 5 watts and I'm sure that's in direct sunlight. 25 watts a day, hmm, I wonder if that will even keep your battery charged if you're draining your battery in just a week.

D'Ecosse and myself both use the Battery Tender product with great success. Following some instruction on this thread you can make it ultra convenient to keep your car charged -- It takes me about 10 seconds to plug my car in. The starter cranks like I put in a brand new fully charged battery each time. It is one of the best investments I've made on my car (and I've made quite a few ). Only drawback is you need power in your garage (just read your post about not having AC).

Yeah, it's a little pricey, but it's also solar powered which sets it apart from 110 VAC powered chargers. I really do need solar power since I don't want to wire my all-metal garage for 110 VAC nor do I want to run a long extension cord.

I think 25 watts/day should maintain the battery OK for longer periods. At least it should extend the battery's charge several times longer than 7-10 days. But you do bring up a good point. I should do some measurements on my car to see how much off-key power is being consumed.

 

[neuralpathways]

I love these little VW units! The unit you're looking at is based on amorphous PV technology and is about 1/2 the efficiency and life of the polycrystalline VW panels.

I'm sure that whatever you decide to purchase will work to whatever degree. Mono or Polycrystalline units are by far the best, but I can't find a small, cheap outdoor unit that includes the blocking diode. If it were me, I'd go with a modified version of the VW model, just because I have an aversion to any amorphous unit. "It's built to sell!" If there was a small mono/polycrystalline weatherproof unit, that would be ideal. I googled around a bit, but couldn't find a perfect fit for you.

BTW, I see you have a solar powered fan on the garage.......did you buy it from me by chance? That would be cool. I own www.tubularskylight.com Please don't flame me, folks. That will be the last slight spammage you'll get from me. Now, if I sold subwoofer boxes and had over 50,000 satisfied customers, we might have an issue! :biggrin:

 

[The Kid]

I bought a trickle charger from sears on sale for like, $30 bucks I think. Never had a dead battery yet and sometimes Ill go 2 or 3 months without driving my car.

 

[Cairo94507]

OK you guys that want to maintain your batteries - here is the real deal.

D'Ecosse just installed one in my car; he has one in his and it is too cool. It is from the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse, 5555 Glenwood Street, Boise, ID 83714, 1-208-914-2001. It is called the Battery Tender Junior 12 volt Waterproof 21-2116. It cost me $33.95/$44.79 delivered.

It is very small and there is a small harness that attatches to the battery terminals and then can be routed to the front air dam area where it is tucked out of the way until you need/want to plug it in. The actual tender never goes in the car. You sit it in the floor and plug it into the wall and then plug the small harness into the tender and it maintains your battery. It automatically turns off and on as needed.

This is the cleanest way to do this without having to drag the battery charger out and open the hood and maybe remove the spare tire. Since I really only drive my car on the weekends and depending upon my schedule my car can sit for 3 weeks w/o being driven, this is the ideal system for me.

I have to thank Ken (D'Ecosse) for finding this and sharing it with me, not to mention putting it in for me. He is the tired and true NSX man. I feel sorry for all you guys around the world that haven't met Ken and seen what he can do and knows about our cars. He must have been an NSX technician in some other life.

Good luck and check this item out.

 

[The Kid]

OK you guys that want to maintain your batteries - here is the real deal.

D'Ecosse just installed one in my car; he has one in his and it is too cool. It is from the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse, 5555 Glenwood Street, Boise, ID 83714, 1-208-914-2001. It is called the Battery Tender Junior 12 volt Waterproof 21-2116. It cost me $33.95/$44.79 delivered.

It is very small and there is a small harness that attatches to the battery terminals and then can be routed to the front air dam area where it is tucked out of the way until you need/want to plug it in. The actual tender never goes in the car. You sit it in the floor and plug it into the wall and then plug the small harness into the tender and it maintains your battery. It automatically turns off and on as needed.

This is the cleanest way to do this without having to drag the battery charger out and open the hood and maybe remove the spare tire. Since I really only drive my car on the weekends and depending upon my schedule my car can sit for 3 weeks w/o being driven, this is the ideal system for me.

I have to thank Ken (D'Ecosse) for finding this and sharing it with me, not to mention putting it in for me. He is the tired and true NSX man. I feel sorry for all you guys around the world that haven't met Ken and seen what he can do and knows about our cars. He must have been an NSX technician in some other life.

Good luck and check this item out.

Michael, but you still need to plug it in.... Manual labor :biggrin:

 

[neuralpathways]

OK you guys that want to maintain your batteries - here is the real deal.

D'Ecosse just installed one in my car; he has one in his and it is too cool. It is from the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse, 5555 Glenwood Street, Boise, ID 83714, 1-208-914-2001. It is called the Battery Tender Junior 12 volt Waterproof 21-2116. It cost me $33.95/$44.79 delivered................I have to thank Ken (D'Ecosse) for finding this and sharing it with me, not to mention putting it in for me. He is the tired and true NSX man.........

That sounds like a great product for most all NSX owners. You might have missed that the originator of this thread, NSX-Tuner, has a metal garage, and didn't want to supply AC, so........all the talk about the solar solutions. Now we've got an answer to both problems. :smile:

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

OK it seems the main obstacle here is that he does not want to have to run 110v AC into his garage. So lets stop trying to plug the battery tender here !
I have a battery tender also and its great and if he had household current in his garage I would advise him on getting one as well. You obviously would like to go all solar so what about getting a spare battery and leaving it in the garage and with the solar panel / charger hooked up to it. Then you can just connect the two batteries with jumper cables when you get home. this would give you twice the stored power of a single battery and the one in the garage would be plugged in constantly. I also have one more alternative, you can get one or two of those battery booster packs. Cost for two is still less then $100 and im sure if you look you can get two for under $50. You charge them in your house and then you can connect it to your car battery under the hood. Every day or two you switch out for the other fully charged one. Yes you will have to take out the spare tire to do this thou. I hope this helps good luck with your choice.



Bailey

 

[Malibu Rapper]

If his whole garage is metal, couldn't he just electrify the whole thing and have power everywhere he wanted? Would that be dangerous?

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

If his whole garage is metal, couldn't he just electrify the whole thing and have power everywhere he wanted? Would that be dangerous?

Only if your the least path of resistance to ground.

 

[D'Ecosse]

These devices only work if your cigarette lighter works without the key in the ACC or start position. I don't yet own an NSX, so don't know if this will be an issue for you.

The cigarette lighter in the NSX is unfortunately (for this application) powered via a relay off the Igntion Switch ACC position (or Ign of course)

However - If I was in NSX-Tuner's situation I would create a hybrid with wiring similar to that Malibu & I utilized for the BT: Just get rid of the cigarette plug & wire up an extension directly from the battery to the front bumper cavity & use a quick disconnect plug/socket so you can use the same approach - drive in, reach into the bumper & pull out the pigtail & plug it into your power source.
You can even just buy the harness directly from BT - it's a nice waterproof connector so ideal for the application.

You would need this & this
I've actually suggested to them that they make the waterproof battery connector longer but it doesn't appear to be available. This means you have to splice in a section of the second extension piece to make it long enough to reach the front of the car. Then use the remainder of the extension with the complementary plug to join onto your solar power source.

There are other connectors I am sure you could find, but ideally you want something compact & waterproof - the BT parts fit the bill perfectly.

 

[neuralpathways]

Great! I like the BT connector.

So now let's find our friend a suitable weatherproof mono/polycrystalline solar unit with blocking diode. There's got to be one available.

-Tuner, do you really want some old brown amorphous thing on your roof?

I'm kidding, but if we could find a good outdoor panel at a reasonable price, then you would, wouldn't you.......for the X?

 

[NSX-Tuner]

If his whole garage is metal, couldn't he just electrify the whole thing and have power everywhere he wanted? Would that be dangerous?

Only if your the least path of resistance to ground.

Hey, you guys gave me another great idea for an anti-theft device to be added to my garage...

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Hey, you guys gave me another great idea for an anti-theft device to be added to my garage...

Thats been discussed here also ..... its not a good idea

 

[NSX-Tuner]

The cigarette lighter in the NSX is unfortunately (for this application) powered via a relay off the Igntion Switch ACC position (or Ign of course)

However - If I was in NSX-Tuner's situation I would create a hybrid with wiring similar to that Malibu & I utilized for the BT: Just get rid of the cigarette plug & wire up an extension directly from the battery to the front bumper cavity & use a quick disconnect plug/socket so you can use the same approach - drive in, reach into the bumper & pull out the pigtail & plug it into your power source.
You can even just buy the harness directly from BT - it's a nice waterproof connector so ideal for the application.

You would need this & this
I've actually suggested to them that they make the waterproof battery connector longer but it doesn't appear to be available. This means you have to splice in a section of the second extension piece to make it long enough to reach the front of the car. Then use the remainder of the extension with the complementary plug to join onto your solar power source.

There are other connectors I am sure you could find, but ideally you want something compact & waterproof - the BT parts fit the bill perfectly.

Yep... I just checked the cigarette lighter out tonight... oh well... back to the drawing board...

Actually, I really like your suggestion for cables for the direct connect to the battery. What I think I'll do is use the same or similar cable, install a bracket just inside the front bumper vent and mount the quick-disconnect cable. I just bought a similar unit to the one I posted earlier which will do exactly what I need which the addition of the direct connect cabling. Alternatively, I may want to wire into the fuse block under the dash and have a fused cable extend to where the cigarette light is. This way I won't forget to disconnect the charger when backing out of the garage...

 

[NSX-Tuner]

Thats been discussed here also ..... its not a good idea

I was joking... if I did do something like that, it would be my luck to forget to disarm the thing when entering the garage...

 

[D'Ecosse]

Yep... I just checked the cigarette lighter out tonight... oh well... back to the drawing board...

Actually, I really like your suggestion for cables for the direct connect to the battery. What I think I'll do is use the same or similar cable, install a bracket just inside the front bumper vent and mount the quick-disconnect cable. I just bought a similar unit to the one I posted earlier which will do exactly what I need which the addition of the direct connect cabling. Alternatively, I may want to wire into the fuse block under the dash and have a fused cable extend to where the cigarette light is. This way I won't forget to disconnect the charger when backing out of the garage...

If you really want to connect it onto the fuse panel on the drivers kickpanel, there is a set of terminals there that are connected directly to battery power - just connect it there with same quick disconnect plug/socket (or anything really, since it no longer has to be waterproof) & be done with it - forget the cig lighter!!!! Of course you'll need to crack your window to feed cord in ....
On the front connection, no need for a bracket. I see you're going to Stockton - you can check out mine & Cairo's wiring over there. I can give you some other ideas if you prefer something different.

 

[NSX-Tuner]

If you really want to connect it onto the fuse panel on the drivers kickpanel, there is a set of terminals there that are connected directly to battery power - just connect it there with same quick disconnect plug/socket (or anything really, since it no longer has to be waterproof) & be done with it - forget the cig lighter!!!!
I see you're going to Stockton - you can check out mine & Cairo's wiring over there. I can give you some other ideas if you prefer something different.

I'm definitely interested in various options. thx... So I'll see you at the meet which should be a great one...

Also, thx to everyone else for their input too...

 

[NSX-Tuner]

Great! I like the BT connector.

So now let's find our friend a suitable weatherproof mono/polycrystalline solar unit with blocking diode. There's got to be one available.

-Tuner, do you really want some old brown amorphous thing on your roof?

I'm kidding, but if we could find a good outdoor panel at a reasonable price, then you would, wouldn't you.......for the X?

Yeap... besides, where the garage is located, I wouldn't see the ugly amorphous panel anyway... I already bought a panel for $69 +tax.

Also, I have a DVM that has a 10AMP built in shunt so I can measure what the actual off-key drain on the battery is. I'll let you guys know for a reference point.

 

[NSX-Tuner]

BTW, I see you have a solar powered fan on the garage.......did you buy it from me by chance? That would be cool. I own www.tubularskylight.com Please don't flame me, folks. That will be the last slight spammage you'll get from me. Now, if I sold subwoofer boxes and had over 50,000 satisfied customers, we might have an issue! :biggrin:

I got the solar powered fan (the Smart Solar Ventilator) from Creative Energy Technologies...