Winter Storage - Battery Maintenance

[goodkid]

Guys - Looking for opinions regarding winter storage.

My preference would be to use a battery tender somehow in combination with a car cover. However, I think most battery tenders suggest good ventilation, so I guess having the hood closed and car covered could generate heat and present a fire hazard?

Better to cover care and just disconnect the battery (skip the tender/charger)?

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[chief135smitty]

If it is going to sit for extended periods best to remove the battery and keep it on a good battery minder. Ideally inside with room temps if possible

 

[GTA Mustang]

Removing or disconnecting the battery may not be good for the ECM, and you will loose all the adoptive control data, emission control data, the clock, and all the pre-sets. Some cars may not even recognize your keys after going without power for a long period of time.

Battery tender like CTEK has a long enough lead that allows the unit to be far enough away from the car. So if your car has an always on cigarette lighter socket, get an adopter and plug it into the lighter socket. Just leave a half inch opening in one window to put the lead through, put the car cover on and have the charger unit sit outside the cover. If it doesn't, just clip it into battery poles under the hood (if your car's battery is in the trunk, there should be battery connection posts under the hood), close the hood without latching to allow the lead to pass through, and do the same as above.

I use CTEK for all my cars and love them. (BMW and Audi sell versions with their own logos on, call them their own and charge double the price.)

 

[chief135smitty]

Removing or disconnecting the battery may not be good for the ECM, and you will loose all the adoptive control data, emission control data, the clock, and all the pre-sets. Some cars may not even recognize your keys after going without power for a long period of time.

Battery tender like CTEK has a long enough lead that allows the unit to be far enough away from the car. So if your car has an always on cigarette lighter socket, get an adopter and plug it into the lighter socket. Just leave a half inch opening in one window to put the lead through, put the car cover on and have the charger unit sit outside the cover. If it doesn't, just clip it into battery poles under the hood (if your car's battery is in the trunk, there should be battery connection posts under the hood), close the hood without latching to allow the lead to pass through, and do the same as above.

I use CTEK for all my cars and love them. (BMW and Audi sell versions with their own logos on, call them their own and charge double the price.)

Did not even consider the electronic memory loss senario. My experince with lead acid battery maintenance and storage except my lawn mower is from an airplane perspective. Not much to worry about with removing and storing a battery on most GA aircract

 

[GTA Mustang]

If you store your car over a cold concrete floor, best is to put a sheet of insulation foam under the car to act as a condensation barrier. Also putting insulation foam sheets under the wheels may help to minimize flat spotting.

Don't forget to use rodent control.

 

[combustor]

The reason ventilation is required is not for heat, it's the hydrogen gas produced while the battery is charging. With no place for hydrogen to dissipate you might have a Hindenburg scenario.

 

[jasonstang]

Battery tender.

 

[GTA Mustang]

The reason ventilation is required is not for heat, it's the hydrogen gas produced while the battery is charging. With no place for hydrogen to dissipate you might have a Hindenburg scenario.

Use a breathable cover then there will be no issue. You should always use a breathable cover indoors anyways.

Besides, some cars have the battery mounted in the trunk and there never seem to be an issue.

 

[treynor]

As a fellow with a few cars in storage: CTEK 3300 battery tender, and no need to worry about hydrogen buildup under a car cover with a maintenance-free battery.

 

[GTA Mustang]

As a fellow with a few cars in storage: CTEK 3300 battery tender, and no need to worry about hydrogen buildup under a car cover with a maintenance-free battery.

I agree. It takes water to make hydrogen. If your battery doesn't require topping up with water, then there should be no concern about hydrogen.

I use CTEK 3300 too!

 

[Twenty15]

I tried plugging a battery tender into the PPT(cig lighter) and it said "please connect" I does not like either one in the Mustang.

 

[Cloak]

What would you recommend for us with no garage. I would like to use a car cover to store my stang through winter, and it will be at a parking lot outdoors in front of my townhouse. I can't leave a wire running across my yard and to the car without HOA getting pissed off.

 

[GTA Mustang]

What would you recommend for us with no garage. I would like to use a car cover to store my stang through winter, and it will be at a parking lot outdoors in front of my townhouse. I can't leave a wire running across my yard and to the car without HOA getting pissed off.

I will rent a secure indoor storage space such as pubic storage. I store one of my cars in one of them every winter, and I tap power from the ceiling light socket to run my battery tender. I put fuel stabilizer in the tank, cover it with a light weight breathable cover to keep the dust off, and leave it in peace.

It is a no win situation for storing the car outside. You will want a water proof cover but yet you don't want condensation inside. You will have no way to stop rodents from building a nest inside your engine bay and chew up half the wires. What about securing it against theft and vandalism?

 

[stshoo]

If you store your car over a cold concrete floor, best is to put a sheet of insulation foam under the car to act as a condensation barrier. Also putting insulation foam sheets under the wheels may help to minimize flat spotting.

Don't forget to use rodent control.

Use landscaping plastic. A lot of foam is made to breathe and moisture can still get thru. Using a good landscape plastic or even the heavier painters drop cloth plastic is easier to work with, much cheaper and easier to dispose of come spring. Put drier sheets throughtout the car, engine bay included. Mice hate theses for some reason and they make your car smell fresh - just make sure to pick a scent you like. I would also try to make sure you have non-ethanol gas in the tank too. We stored all of my dads classic cars this way, never even used fuel stabilizer and when we went to replace the original gas tank, it was spotless even though it had been stored like this for 20+ seasons and in the car since it was built in Dearborn in '66. We've never used it, but I know a lot of people that swear by it.

 

[GTA Mustang]

Thanks for the input. That dryer sheets sound like a good idea.

Regarding old fuel, in my engineering school days I was taught that the problem is with polymerization, in which long chain molecules in the gasoline start to link up to form even longer chains, resulting in thickening of the fuel that can gum up the fuel system and the interiors of the engine. Apparently in the Heat Engine Lab they had an old engine that was gummed up so badly by old fuel that they had to throw it away.

Using non-ethanol fuel is a good idea too, even just for the comfort that nothing will separate out from fuel standing around in your fuel system to do damage. Up here in Canada Shell 91 is advertized as ethanol free.

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