New Battery, CTEK charging
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,422
Likes: 118
From: San Gabriel Valley California
St. Jude Donor '14-'15
New Battery, CTEK charging
I just replaced a 6 year old die hard Gold with a new Die Hard Platinum on my 2003 C5.
Of course the sales person at Sears said that the battery is 'fully' charged. But I wonder of the benefits of putting my CTEK charger/maintainer on it (the new battery). How does one know how long it has sat at the store, or on a shelf somewhere? Any thoughts, or advice will be appreciated.
ps; the battery lists at the Sears store, for $219.00. However, it is on sale on-line at Sears.com, and the store matched the price ($175.99, four year total replacement, large capacity). This is the top line of Die Hard batteries. Pretty good deal, i think.
Of course the sales person at Sears said that the battery is 'fully' charged. But I wonder of the benefits of putting my CTEK charger/maintainer on it (the new battery). How does one know how long it has sat at the store, or on a shelf somewhere? Any thoughts, or advice will be appreciated.
ps; the battery lists at the Sears store, for $219.00. However, it is on sale on-line at Sears.com, and the store matched the price ($175.99, four year total replacement, large capacity). This is the top line of Die Hard batteries. Pretty good deal, i think.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,872
Likes: 333
From: Olmsted Falls Ohio
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '24
Putting the CTEK on it will do no harm and may help it if the battery has sat so long it is starting to sulphate the plates a bit (had to be sitting quite a while in a discharged/semi-discharged state for that to happen - but you never really know do you?).
I always put the CTEK on any new battery I buy, whether installed in the car or carried home.
I always put the CTEK on any new battery I buy, whether installed in the car or carried home.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,640
Likes: 83
From: . New York
Just make sure they gave you the correct size :
And yup, Id put it on the Ctek 
For those thinking of going with a Die Hard Platinum, be advised that if you walk into Sears and tell them you have a 97-04 Corvette their computer may say that you need a
P3 75/86DT CCA 710 RC 90
The correct Die Hard Platinum battery for the C5 is a
P4 34/78DT CCA 880 RC 135
Regarding the P3
This battery is smaller than your tray, and when they first gave me this one I installed it, tourqued the terminals and cranked the hold down bracket as tight as it would go. Ive been using a Ctek Battery charger for some time now so the lower RC did not effect me at first. What did affect me was in testing the car after doing C6Z51 sways, shocks and endlinks I kept getting a "thunk" on hard cornering. We went over and over the suspension work looking for the cause of that thunk.
As a last resort I grabbed the battery and pushed on it.......yup.....thunk
OMG, it was sliding back and forth in the tray, how embarrasing 
At any rate, this battery is small for the tray and IMO has too low an RC for a C5.
Regarding the P4
Fits the tray, and has more CCA and the better RC.
Yup, they are heavy but they wont leak and I no longer have to worry about it not starting if Im away on vacation.
Works for me
P3 75/86DT CCA 710 RC 90
The correct Die Hard Platinum battery for the C5 is a
P4 34/78DT CCA 880 RC 135
Regarding the P3
This battery is smaller than your tray, and when they first gave me this one I installed it, tourqued the terminals and cranked the hold down bracket as tight as it would go. Ive been using a Ctek Battery charger for some time now so the lower RC did not effect me at first. What did affect me was in testing the car after doing C6Z51 sways, shocks and endlinks I kept getting a "thunk" on hard cornering. We went over and over the suspension work looking for the cause of that thunk.
As a last resort I grabbed the battery and pushed on it.......yup.....thunk
OMG, it was sliding back and forth in the tray, how embarrasing At any rate, this battery is small for the tray and IMO has too low an RC for a C5.
Regarding the P4
Fits the tray, and has more CCA and the better RC.
Yup, they are heavy but they wont leak and I no longer have to worry about it not starting if Im away on vacation.
Works for me
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
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From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
This car eats batteries and there's a 20MA drain even when dormant. Putting it on the CTEK regularly is always a good idea both for an initial top up and then in use. Optima for example, suggest topping off a Red Top every 6 months but I bet most Red Top owners don't do that. I think a lot of the problems C5 owners have is because they hammer the battery with regular short hops and the car does the rest. JMHO.
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Go ahead and put the CTEK on the battery - it won't do any harm. I have the exact same battery and have used a Battery Tender Plus on it since it was new.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,028
Likes: 33
From: GRAYSLAKE IL
Oldtimer
St. Jude Donor '13
I've been using the CTEK3300 on my '99 FRC "garage queen" for yrs now w/no issues & I got 7 yrs out of the last Red Top I had. I hook-up the CTEK all the time when not driving.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,011
Likes: 2
From: Greenville SC
St. Jude Donor '10
I mounted the quick disconnect right to the battery so I can plug in the CTEK every time I come back from driving it. I should just mount the whole charger to the Vette and leave the power cord hanging out underneath, stupid car.
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Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,422
Likes: 118
From: San Gabriel Valley California
St. Jude Donor '14-'15
Also, I showed them that the larger group 78 battery was 'on sale' at Sears .com, but not in the store. The lady there, was very pleasant and understanding. She simply warranteed out the first battery she had sold me. Then gave me the new, larger Die Hard Platinum you reccomended, at NO charge to me.
So, thanks again to you. And a tip of the hat to Sears for doing the right thing.
Last edited by donald4972; Dec 12, 2012 at 12:14 PM. Reason: typo error