I do not think I would be concerned with lightening striking again. As for vacation I head South for 10 weeks and leave the Battery Tender connected with no worries.
Battery Tender/ lightning question
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
From: Allentown Pa.
Battery Tender/ lightning question
My house got hit by lightning about 5 years ago so I am a
little skittish about it. I know it's winter in Pa. and the chance of
a lightning strike is slim to none but if I have my car
hooked up to a tender and house gets hit, will it fry the electronics
in the car? What about a power surge (for whatever reason).
If you were going on vacation and your car was on a tender would
you unhook it?
I'm not to concerned about it, I just "pondering" it.
little skittish about it. I know it's winter in Pa. and the chance of
a lightning strike is slim to none but if I have my car
hooked up to a tender and house gets hit, will it fry the electronics
in the car? What about a power surge (for whatever reason).
If you were going on vacation and your car was on a tender would
you unhook it?
I'm not to concerned about it, I just "pondering" it.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 35,729
Likes: 148
From: Northern NYs Adirondack Mountains,http://www.visitsacandaga.com.
I leave mine on. We take off for 2 weeks at a time, not loosing sleep over a problem.
FWIW my instruction sheet says if powere is off to unit it will SLOWELY draw some power back from the battery. We had a power out last year lasted about 20 hrs. When power went back on, within 20 minuets it had went back to green LED showing. That tells me the power draw while off is no big deal.
FWIW my instruction sheet says if powere is off to unit it will SLOWELY draw some power back from the battery. We had a power out last year lasted about 20 hrs. When power went back on, within 20 minuets it had went back to green LED showing. That tells me the power draw while off is no big deal.
Pro
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 666
Likes: 0
From: NJ - FL
Over the years I have sent many back due to voltage spikes or worse low voltage, I switched to CTEK but have them all on a voltage conditioner - surge protector now. A cheap surge protector is cheap insurance. The tech for Battery Tender suggested it.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
Oh, great! Now I have to get a super whammy surge protector, to protect my battery tender, which protects my car battery. Geez, it keeps getting more interesting-er and more interesting-er.
Pretty soon I'll need a dedicated generating plant solely for keeping my electricity running to my car via my surge protector and my battery tender. Of course, with nucular power (misspelled intentionally).
Pretty soon I'll need a dedicated generating plant solely for keeping my electricity running to my car via my surge protector and my battery tender. Of course, with nucular power (misspelled intentionally).
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,056
Likes: 10
From: Wisconsin
I never gave it a thought before. The socket mine is plugged in to has one of those red buttons that does something.
We don't get too much lightning up here during the winter. We tend to be gone for extended periods of time during the winter and I have never unplugged it.
We don't get too much lightning up here during the winter. We tend to be gone for extended periods of time during the winter and I have never unplugged it.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!
Joe Kucinski
2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!
Joe Kucinski
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,198
Likes: 0
From: Tucson Arizona
baby ;chicks
Oh, great! Now I have to get a super whammy surge protector, to protect my battery tender, which protects my car battery. Geez, it keeps getting more interesting-er and more interesting-er.
Pretty soon I'll need a dedicated generating plant solely for keeping my electricity running to my car via my surge protector and my battery tender. Of course, with nucular power (misspelled intentionally).
Pretty soon I'll need a dedicated generating plant solely for keeping my electricity running to my car via my surge protector and my battery tender. Of course, with nucular power (misspelled intentionally).
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Bismarck North Dakota
Lightning didn't hurt my C5
A few years ago I had a Battery Tender attached to my C5 and a lightning strike fried my Battery Tender but didn't affect the C5. I returned the Battery Tender to their factory and they replaced it at no charge.
Pro
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 666
Likes: 0
From: NJ - FL
The reason for a voltage conditioner is that if your power company is poor as is mine, my voltage can go from 108 to 128VAC...which is bad for any IC equipment. A "cheap" surge protector is a thyristor which is like a fuse, once and done. A Tripplite voltage conditioner converts low to high voltage as mine to stable 120, protected. It's not the cost of sending the tenders back.... it 's the pain in the butt to walk in after a month and see both lights on..dead batteries... smell the burnt electrical ....it may be overkill... but I need to do it... Most probably do not.
Last edited by Gibson_L5; Dec 22, 2007 at 06:19 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,514
Likes: 235
From: Currently somewhere in IL,IN,KY,TN,MO,AR,MS,AL, or FL
Electricity needs a path. When you get a lightning strike close the path is either through the hot wiring coming to the house to ground OR from the ground around the house through the hot wiring to someone elses's house and their ground. In either case there must be a path from the lightning to a distant ground potential. The Battery tender can get in that path and be fried. A surge protector short circuits that path from hot to ground through the surge protector and limits the potential the tender sees. As far as the car goes it is always out of the path because of the rubber tires. Even if you somehow get more than 15 volts between the battery terminals, the battery provides a low impedance path just like a surge protector would. I would not worry at all about the car. I would get a surge protector for the battery tender if I was that concerned. Personally I'm not.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 4,206
Likes: 6
From: Makena, Maui & NM
My estate got hit by lightning 5 years ago and I then got surge protectors on everything. By the time it would take me to unplug everything, we would be into the next season
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 25,455
Likes: 3
From: Damn Connecticut Yankee
Yours is the typical *** backward example of closing the barn door after the horses have run out.
I have surge protectors on my more valuable electrical equipment.
For the stuff that I most definitely don't want to get fried, I unplug them when there is a report of impending thunderstorms. If I'm going to be out of town for a few days, I unplug them as well.
Last count that was 4 plugs.
If it takes you more than a few minutes you might want to consider hitting the gym and doing some cardio.