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Battery Tender Advice

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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 12:34 AM
  #21  
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Do a search on Ebay,type in battery tender ,12 volt, for $45.95 buy it now. I have four of them.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 12:47 AM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by MagneticRed1977
Anyone know what is causing the discharge?

I had charged mine up a month ago and then yesterday it was dead, dead, dead. When I hooked up the charger the first thing I heard was a loud clicking somewhere in the neighborhood of the radiator. I ended up pulling the cables and then pulled the battery. On my charger it would only take 2 amps for a while and after 5 hrs it was fully charged. I then did a load test and it was fine.

Someone told me that the C5's should be left in reverse when parked over time and my owner's manual also states to do this (although it doesn't say why). I was told this turns off all the electrical except the alarm and prevents drain on the battery but other Vette buddies have told me this isn't true. I've heard stories of people going through batteries until they started to do this and then their problems ended. I don't know if there's any merit to it but I still leave mine parked in reverse if it's going to sit for more than a few hrs. I figure it can't hurt.

Can anyone confirm this for sure?
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 01:15 AM
  #23  
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Used the battery tender plus this year and it's some of the best money ever spent. After 5 months the car fired right up without a hitch.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 09:06 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by vettesplus
harbor frieght carries a tender for less than 10 bucks. i use them in all my cars, trucks,atv's and toy hauler. they work great...dont pay for a brand name, they all work the same way.....
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 10:25 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by C5lady
Someone told me that the C5's should be left in reverse when parked over time and my owner's manual also states to do this (although it doesn't say why). I was told this turns off all the electrical except the alarm and prevents drain on the battery but other Vette buddies have told me this isn't true. I've heard stories of people going through batteries until they started to do this and then their problems ended. I don't know if there's any merit to it but I still leave mine parked in reverse if it's going to sit for more than a few hrs. I figure it can't hurt.

Can anyone confirm this for sure?
That only applies to C6, and I think it was only the 2005 model at that.

Leaving it in reverse can't hurt anything, but it isn't required...unless you're parked on an incline, of coarse.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 10:56 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by hotwheels57
That only applies to C6, and I think it was only the 2005 model at that.

Leaving it in reverse can't hurt anything, but it isn't required...unless you're parked on an incline, of coarse.
'05 C6 only.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 11:02 AM
  #27  
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damn, if i paid $45-$75 bones for my tenders i would have over $500.00 in tenders. i use 9harbor freight tenders in my garage during the winter at $10.00 each. i have never had a dead battery in the spring.....
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 01:08 PM
  #28  
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I too use the Battery Tender Plus on my car. Used it on my previous C5 too and it worked great to keep the battery fully charged up between driving times.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by C5lady
Someone told me that the C5's should be left in reverse when parked over time and my owner's manual also states to do this (although it doesn't say why). I was told this turns off all the electrical except the alarm and prevents drain on the battery but other Vette buddies have told me this isn't true. I've heard stories of people going through batteries until they started to do this and then their problems ended. I don't know if there's any merit to it but I still leave mine parked in reverse if it's going to sit for more than a few hrs. I figure it can't hurt.

Can anyone confirm this for sure?
I don't know about any other vettes, but the C5 shuts down in three stages, once you turn off the key there's still a constant drain for ten minutes of 125 milliamps, then it shuts down to one more stage (I think it's about 75 milliamps) but after fifteen minutes it kicks down to 25 milliamps draw, that's were it stays. 25 milliamps is a really tiny draw, just enought to keep the PCM alert. It does this so it will respond to your key fob. to the best of my knowledge.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 07:12 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by vettesplus
damn, if i paid $45-$75 bones for my tenders i would have over $500.00 in tenders. i use 9harbor freight tenders in my garage during the winter at $10.00 each. i have never had a dead battery in the spring.....
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 07:53 PM
  #31  
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I've got the Schumacher float charger from Wal Mart, something like $25 or $30 but pretty much only for my boat batteries for which it works great.
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Old Mar 25, 2010 | 07:55 PM
  #32  
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Thabks for all the info. I just order a tender.
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