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I have a 2000 C5 that I drive only 2-3 weeks at a time and it is stored for 4-6 months at a time, so I need a longer-term charging solution. I’ve read about trickle charging, battery, maintainers, and battery tenders and I’m still not sure what is the best option given the car will sit idle for so long. Would be grateful for any tips and specific charger recommendations.
Last edited by C5Dad!; 01-12-2023 at 01:43 AM.
Reason: Spellcheck correction
Trickle chargers, maintainers, tenders all the same thing. Battery Tender and Battery Tender Jr. are both quality chargers that will do the trick. As will many others. I had a C5 battery go 12 years on a Battery Tender Jr.. I keep 4 inactive vehicles and my lawn tractor on these tenders and they wake up (start) without issue every Spring.
I have had good luck with C-TEK Chargers on both my C5 and C7Z. These are the same brand of chargers that GM rebrands with the Corvette logo as part of their Battery Protection option.
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When I had my C5s I had them attached to a Deltran Battery Tender Plus whenever I was not driving the car, which was only sporadically. I usually stored the cars for winter from around December 1st to at least the middle of March. The device always kept the battery in a full state of charge.
. It is installed on the battery shroud, next to the battery, and always stays in the car. I ran an extension cord under the wiper cowls to the NOCO, and the cord's other plug end is accessible from the driver-side fender cove. Then I just plug in some other extension cord to the fender cove cord. Little bit of work, but now the car is super easy to trickle charge. Also, I have a retractable extension cord mounted to the ceiling above my C5.
NOCO Genius 2D mounted next to battery, and hardwired to fuse box. You can see the extension cord which plugs into the NOCO, and snakes into/under the wiper cowl.
End of extension cord accessible from driver-side fender cove. I just plug in some other extension cord to this to charge the car.
i have a ctek.. charge it up, then i have quick disconnect / immobilizer on the battery, don t need to keep the charger on it all the time.. nothing draining the battery so stays good for weeks at a time..
I also got a battery tender Jr and long extension cable so I can quick disconnect it and move the car to either side of the garage facing either direction and plug it back in easily.
I have had a few different units and now use a NOCO Genius. The others (a Schumacher and a Battery Tender) both gave up after some use.
One of them gave up during use. The battery went dead, and I had to get both a new battery and a new charger.
I've had 3 NOCO's for a few years now, using them on the C5, the lawn tractor and a van that we use only occasionally. Good results to date.
The C5 battery is on its last legs. This past year, if I did not use it for a couple of weeks (without using the charger) it was a no-start. I hooked up the NOCO and it was able to start in a few hours. The same thing happened with the van. I think what was a pretty good test.
Regardless, I think it's necessary to start the car every couple of weeks during storage. Best not to find things didn't go well come April.
I went a little different route, bought a NOCO Genius 2D. It is installed on the battery shroud, next to the battery, and always stays in the car. I ran an extension cord under the wiper cowls to the NOCO, and the cord's other plug end is accessible from the driver-side fender cove. Then I just plug in some other extension cord to the fender cove cord. Little bit of work, but now the car is super easy to trickle charge. Also, I have a retractable extension cord mounted to the ceiling above my C5.
NOCO Genius 2D mounted next to battery, and hardwired to fuse box. You can see the extension cord which plugs into the NOCO, and snakes into/under the wiper cowl.
End of extension cord accessible from driver-side fender cove. I just plug in some other extension cord to this to charge the car.
I use the same one. Nice having it permanently in the car, just pull out the plug and hook it up and you can keep it under a cover since the hood is not opened.
Did the Battery Tender install to the battery terminal posts and ran to the passenger side opening this weekend. Now just a simple disconnect/connect when not driving it. Have done the same to my other vehicles.
01-08-2023, 01:01 AM
Longer Term Charge of C5
