Does anyone use a battery maintainer and if so how are you connecting the pigtail since the battery is inside the car?

 

The back of the alternator.

 

Same way you hook up a timing light.
Lars

 

Mine is connected at the battery and I just open the door and pull it out when I need to connect it. The exposed end of the connector is the negative so I made sure the positive terminal of the battery is well insulated. I check the battery voltage about once a month with a plug-in type voltmeter in the cigarette lighter and if it reads less than 12.3V, do an overnight charge. Fortunately on my car there is not much long term drain on the battery and I also can drive it year round. It can go a month without a problem. Edit: Added more info...my battery lugs have bolts that the ring lugs connect to, I did have to add a couple of extra nuts to hold them on.


Battery Connector

 

I connected mine to washers that I soldered the tender's wires to and connected to the battery and ran it down through one of the holes in the battery compartment floor. I plug the charger wire end into it from outside the car. Been working great that way. I believe I had to buy an adapter to add the washers to.

 

I have mine setup the same way.

 

I use this.

 

I prefer to pull the battery and give it some necessary maintenance while it is waiting for spring. If the battery has liquid electrolyte it really helps the battery to get a good hard charge every so often or the electrolyte can stratify. I also like opening up the cells and adding distilled water to each one to make the battery last even longer. Cleaning the terminals and just doing a good cleaning once a year never hurts them either. Flooded Lead Acid Batteries NEED maintenance despite what companies tell us. Every battery needs to be kept clean and free of any dust or dirt as certain types of dust can short out a battery.

I have a charger connected to a timer that charges it one day a week and that also tapers so I am not overcharging it. Before the battery goes back in the car I charge it up to 2.50 Volts Per Cell (15.0 volts) to ensure that it is de-stratified and ready for another summer of fun. At this voltage the battery should gas off and really mix the electrolyte up helping the battery last longer. If the car sits long during any time but especially the driving season charge it up with a more powerful battery charger to ensure that it is fully charged and de-stratified. Stratified electrolyte will reduce the functional capacity of the battery if ignored for long. Small output chargers make stratified batteries. This is why you need to be sure that it tapers and turns off as needed or it will damage your battery by overcharging.

If you do use a battery tender do not buy the less expensive units at Harbor Freight as they do not taper the charge. I tried one and ended up having to buy a new battery in the spring after learning the 900 Ma charger actually boiled the battery dry over the brief winter months. Be sure to spend a bit more and buy one that can turn Off and On as needed over the time. It is mostly the cheaper units that don't taper the charge and they are made and sold under many names.

If you are using anything other than a typical Flooded Lead Acid battery be really sure that the charger has settings to control the technology you are using. You don't want to charge a AGM battery as if it was a FLA battery or the battery can be damaged.

 

Mine is connected to the starter battery cable and ground. I hang the other end out the side vent to connect the charger. Then just tuck it into the fender when I drive the car.

 

Easy, never in 45 years have I needed to put a trickle charger on my C3. No drain, ever.
I do try to drive it twice a month or so. Last battery only lasted 13 years, must be doing something wrong.

 

Not a big fan of alligator clips that come with the charger.
So. I always thought a guy could snip off those too small of eyelets on the cord and solder two new bigger eyelets in place. Then remove the side post bolts and slip the eyelets in there permanently. Must be a 3/8 battery bolt? 3/8 eyelets?

Then the hard part. Figuring out how to run about ten feet of cord out of the car, under, around, through, without it being a obstacle.
A lot of the planning depends on where the wall outlet is in your garage. I have a wall outlet within two feet of the passenger door.
(so for now, the cord goes out that window)

For what it's worth, EBay sells Deltran battery tender extension cords. (harness)
I believe they are 3ft, with a female / male connectors at each end.

 

Find the battery draw and fix it. Long term storage take the battery out.

 

I bought a weather proof connector from an RV place and installed it on the passenger side of the wiper tray.

 

I guess I'm just old - fashioned:

 

If I was to use a tender I would buy one of these. BATTERY TENDER® QUICK DISCONNECT CIGARETTE PLUG ADAPTOR CABLE

 

I like it....that seems like a real convenient way since the lighter socket is always live on my car. Would really be cool if there was also a built in voltmeter to see the status of the charge.

 

I hard wired mine to the back License Plate. This has the huge benefit of auto disconnect if You forget about it and just drive off. I use this feature twice a year.

 

A lot of overthinking going into this. I just use the supplied clips on my battery, it's 14 years old now and still ticking. I've never pulled it from the car or have done ANY maintenance to it in any way.
my vetted sees Temps of 30* below zero F. So ya , I definitely use a tender.
I suppose in Australia you don't get that.
I've always used the Schumacher tenders, none have failed me yet.

 

That's how I have done mine for years, easy connect and go. The only issue I can was one year there was a power spike and burned out the charger. The cost of a new one with free shipping was about the same as the warranty replacement that you had to pay for shipping, so I just bought a new one.