Winter Storage

[jsullboy]

Got my Mach 1 just in time for winter storage. I have the ford performance battery maintainer, the floor in my garage is rubber tiles and have the tank full and tires fully inflated. I used fuel stabilizer with my GT any reason why I should not use this with the Mach 1? It will only really be stored for 3 months. Usually end or March start or April we are good to go. For my Porsche they used to have me overinflate the tires. In the Ford manual its says just to make sure they are fully inflated. Don't want a flat spot in those brand new Pilot Sport 4s.

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[Atlas1]

I just got that same battery maintainer, haven’t hooked it up yet. One thing I noticed in the manual was it says to connect positive to battery terminal and negative to chassis. But it includes a quick connector that looks like it attaches to both terminals. I wonder why I cant just connect the maintainer to both terminals without the quick connect?

 

[bozack]

I just got that same battery maintainer, haven’t hooked it up yet. One thing I noticed in the manual was it says to connect positive to battery terminal and negative to chassis. But it includes a quick connector that looks like it attaches to both terminals. I wonder why I cant just connect the maintainer to both terminals without the quick connect?

do you need a maintainer, or can you just fire it up every now and then?

 

[cheeser]

I never used a maintainer on mine while it was put away for 3-4 months as mine was in an offsite storage unit without electricity.…probably a good idea though.

I took mine out a couple of times during that time when weather allowed for a 30 minute highway drive to get every hot (getting rid of moistur) before parking. From my understanding, you never just want to fire it up for a few minutes as that’s worse than not starting it up.

 

[Atlas1]

do you need a maintainer, or can you just fire it up every now and then?

I could yeah but I figured it was better to just keep the battery hooked up. I haven’t actually connected it yet because I’m still unsure how to.

 

[cheeser]

I just got that same battery maintainer, haven’t hooked it up yet. One thing I noticed in the manual was it says to connect positive to battery terminal and negative to chassis. But it includes a quick connector that looks like it attaches to both terminals. I wonder why I cant just connect the maintainer to both terminals without the quick connect?

Probably to keep “sparks” away from the battery during initial hookup...batteries can emit some level of flammable gas. Same process when using jumper cables…always final connect to a chassis ground. If using the quick connect, you wouldn’t have the same concern as there wouldn’t be a potential spark when hooking up the quick connect to the terminals…only when hooking up the connector but that would be away from the battery.

 

[Atlas1]

Probably to keep “sparks” away from the battery during initial hookup...batteries can emit some level of flammable gas. Same process when using jumper cables…always final connect to a chassis ground. If using the quick connect, you wouldn’t have the same concern as there wouldn’t be a potential spark when hooking up the quick connect to the terminals…only when hooking up the connector but that would be away from the battery.

Ah that makes a lot of sense! Thank you!!

 

[murick]

What is the point of connecting the ground to the chassis instead of to the battery pin? It does not make sense from the electrical point of view. If you shorten the battery accidentally you are not only frying the cable (and/or the battery terminal) but also the complete ground path along the chassis.

 

[Zelek]

It was 80 degrees on Christmas. I don't know how to winter.

..... Until I lose power for 2 weeks from Snowmageddon 2021 in February.

 

[KeyLime]

What is the point of connecting the ground to the chassis instead of to the battery pin? It does not make sense from the electrical point of view. If you shorten the battery accidentally you are not only frying the cable (and/or the battery terminal) but also the complete ground path along the chassis.

There have been several threads about this. Connecting directly to the negative terminal bypasses the BMS. The BMS will not know the state of charge and can overcharge the battery. Connecting to a ground point keeps the BMS in the loop when the battery tender is in use.

 

[Atlas1]

There have been several threads about this. Connecting directly to the negative terminal bypasses the BMS. The BMS will not know the state of charge and can overcharge the battery. Connecting to a ground point keeps the BMS in the loop when the battery tender is in use.

How is that resolved when using the quick connect that’s always hooked to the battery?

 

[KeyLime]

How is that resolved when using the quick connect that’s always hooked to the battery?

Don’t use the quick connect hooked to the battery. The negative should be connected to a ground point not the negative battery terminal. The BMS monitors current flow on the negative battery lead. If you use a ground point the charger current flow will be through the negative battery lead and the BMS will be happy.

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