Battery charging

[galaxy]

Funny enough...I have used an Optima Digital 400 charger on my car since new. For the second time now, my charger has kicked off due to "Battery out of range Voltage >17v".

I've always used this same charger religiously since the car was new, and this has never happened...that is until I moved my charger pigtail negative from the battery post to the ground on the strut tower.

If I disconnect the charger and check the batt voltage, it's at a healthy nominal 13.Xv.

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[svttim]

Used a Battery Tender last year hooked directly to the posts. Buy spring I had a bad battery. Cant say this is why but Ill be going to the chassis ground this time

 

[galaxy]

Used a Battery Tender last year hooked directly to the posts. Buy spring I had a bad battery. Cant say this is why but Ill be going to the chassis ground this time

Odd for sure! But we know these batteries suck at best. I’d venture to guess yours was coincidence. After literal years of charging mine directly to the post, my gremlins are too far fetched to be coincidental. Maybe. In the interest of science backed by years of charging with no issue, I’m swapping back to direct post to see what happens.

But, I’m also smart enough to admit I don’t know, and something could just be funny going on with this battery. I use this same charger on other cars (admittedly with not as smart/complex a charging system) and I’ve never seen voltages as high as I see on this car lately.

I figure worst case, this battery craps out and I get to go buy an AntiGravity!

 

[galaxy]

OK, now I’m suspecting my charger. I just hooked it up to my other mustang (2012 GT) and within a couple minutes, it ran up to “out of range, greater than 17v”. Odd. On the 350, after it had stabilized and was “maintaining” it was sitting around 15.8 - 16.3v (no, or very low amps). Had never seen numbers that high before. Not using this thing again.

 

[Bitten in '69]

Deltran makes a good product, I've used them for years. But, recently (last 10 years) I've been using the CTek products. I like that they will charge a dead battery which the Deltran will not do.

 

[Voodoo_350]

When using a CTEK battery charger/maintainer do y’all recommend leaving the hood open?

 

[Postal Bob]

Never do, even in the winter with a cover on the car. The charger is very low current, and charge rate, so there's really no heat buildup up like in a rapid charge. And it's basically maintaining the battery, not bringing a dead battery back to life.
When you're driving your car, and the alternator is also charging your battery, is your hood open? Ever see pictures of all those warehouse full of collector cars hooked up to battery maintainers? All the hoods are down.

 

[m3incorp]

I would also keep in mind that having the hood open makes it easy for something to climb in vs having to come up from the bottom.

 

[neat0]

I use a body ground, or in my case I have a cable that attaches to the Pos and the Neg grounded to the body of the car. If your car has BMS and most newer cars do have it then yes you can charge directly to the battery terminals, but the BMS won't know what is going on. The battery will still charge, but you will get that message about power lowered to conserve battery.

 

[NPTR]

I just did the fuse box (pos) and ground near the strut top that many suggested here before - working perfectly, and I can even close the hood! Very happy to ditch the alligator clamps and just have a permanent quick disconnect setup.

 

[Skeptic14]

I just did the fuse box (pos) and ground near the strut top that many suggested here before - working perfectly, and I can even close the hood! Very happy to ditch the alligator clamps and just have a permanent quick disconnect setup.

Any pictures of the fuse box connection, I want to setup a quick disconnect this winter.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

My 20 350, my R, and my 500 have all been hooked up to the terminals directly. The quick connect/disconnect is zip tied cleanly to the harness and when the chargers in use it comes out the front like NPTR did his. Mine have been set up like this going back to 2020, and I’ve never had that message on any of them. I use the Battery Tender Costco has for sale a few times a year on special.

I use a body ground, or in my case I have a cable that attaches to the Pos and the Neg grounded to the body of the car. If your car has BMS and most newer cars do have it then yes you can charge directly to the battery terminals, but the BMS won't know what is going on. The battery will still charge, but you will get that message about power lowered to conserve battery.

 

[wingnutt]

lol, been using an old Deltran for almost 5 years on my GT350…

directly to the posts

 

[WildHorse]

So long term (over winter, 4-5 months), is it better to disconnect the battery ?

 

[Inthehighdesert]

My experience with the oem Ford batteries over the years has been typically they’re 3-4 years on a gas engine here. On my deisels its like clock work at about 3 years. Thats them needing to be replaced. On my shelbys with the tenders it seems to have really extended that life. Me personally I just don’t see a downside to spending the 50$ on a tender. I’ve never had much luck with longevity on batteries that sit dormant. My equipment trailers(dumps and flatdecks) the deep cycles(interstates) last a few years. But to be fair they’re not taken care of greatly(sporadic use), and the box’s they sit in have massive tempertature swings.

So long term (over winter, 4-5 months), is it better to disconnect the battery ?

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