Good to know about the one port. IDK if the Camaro and C7 have the same potential for something shorting out under the seat as Glen E mentions, but there was an issue back in the C6 days w. something under the driver's seat causing the seat to stop working, sometimes a drain. I'd say you can do either one: leave the Ctek off or on the car when on your vacation and see what happens. It is now supposedly fully charged so that will be a good test. Then, when you return it becomes a matter of a bad batt. or something draining it if you leave the Ctek off. If you leave it on, then it becomes three things.

 

Good point. I am going to leave it on overnight, Friday night, as we don't leave until Monday. Tomorrow morning if the green light is on, which it should be, I'll disconnect it and leave it off while we are gone. The battery should still be good as we will only be gone for 6 days. I talked to the tech that worked on my car. He said he tested it using the GM specified procedure and equipment and it passed all tests. He said they couldn't replace it unless it failed. I told him I understood. As far as the other work, they added the Performance Timer, Android Auto and performed a recall related to the heated and ventilated seats, maybe this is what drained the battery. As far as Android Auto, I find it worthless as I tried 3 different cables and could not get the car to recognize my phone, an LG G4. I didn't think it would be anything I would use anyway so I'm not bummed about this issue. I'll update my battery situation as things evolve. Thanks again for all your advice and support.

Update: It only took about an hour for my CTEK to tell me that the battery is at full charge. I have disconnected it and will check in the morning to see if the battery is still charged enough to start the car with no problem.

 

What I have learned the hard way overtime with several Corvettes is that if they sit long enough the battery will go dead. True of any vehicle be more true with Corvette IMO, especially later models with lots of computer electronics than trickle drain when car is off. I know Corvette owners who drive their car every day and seldom have a battery issue. I don't drive my Corvette every day and some time it will sit for a week or two without being driven. MY C4 and C5 did not have a problem sitting for extended periods with out a trickle charger being hooked up but I used one and always had a fresh start battery. C6 had battery protection option and needed it when seldom driven. I like the Corvette marked battery protection charger that comes with the car. I know you can get a nice Cetek cheaper but I favor OEM for Corvette but either works fine. I think C7 is improved from C6 in that after driving the car I feel more comfortable letting it sit a few days with out charger hook up but it will loose charge over time no question. What I have found out to be safe is that if I am not going to drive the car for two or three days it goes on the charger. Having a dead battery and having to index windows and set up electronics is a pain so plug it in as designed and you will not have any more battery issues.

 

I don't drive any of my cars on a daily basis and do not have any battery problems with any of them other than the typical replacement 4 to 5 years out. In the winter months the Vettes can sit in the garage for weeks and not have any issues starting.

However, every once in a while you can get a battery that will fail suddenly. In this case it sounds like something was left on and drained the battery. On the C6 it was easy to leave the mirror map lights on or to leave the ignition in the on position. When the ignition was left on the car would put itself in battery protection mode after an hour or so but that couldn't stop the battery from discharging over night because there are certain things that don't get turned off by the BCM like backup lights if the car is in reverse.

C7 probably operates the same way.

Bill

 

5 vehicles, 4 of them always connected to a CTEK MUS 4.3...8 step battery maintainer= No electrical or battery issues ever.

I wouldn't be without one of these connected....it's peace of mind.

..

 

This is the same unit I am using on my C7.

I left the car overnight without the CTEK connected to see if the battery would go dead. Went out this morning and it started right up. Very mysterious that it went completely dead overnight a couple days ago. I have experimented with leaving things on, door open, rear hatch open, etc. and everything seems to turn off after about 10 - 15 minutes even the radio so I can't figure out what might have drained the battery. The dealer did perform one "recall", probably a TSB on the front seat heater/cooling that could have been the issue. I didn't inquire about exactly what it involved. At any rate I am going to leave the car off the CTEK next week while we are out of town to see if it holds a charge for about 6 days. If it does then I guess the battery is not defective and maybe this was a one time occurrence. Who knows?

 

Should be a good test. I'd otherwise be worried taking the Vette out somewhere and parking for any length of time wondering whether it's going to crank. Jumper cables would be in the trunk for peace of mind

 

A set of heavy duty jumper cables are now in the car. Taking one of my grandsons to movie this afternoon. Don't want to be stranded after the movie.

 

I've had my 2014 C7 for 27 months now and we travel a lot....sometimes the car sits for 3 weeks at a time. Battery is still strong as new with almost 11,000 miles on it and it sits in a hot AZ garage. My C6 wasn't as durable. I went through 3 batteries in 7 years of ownership. And 3 batteries in my wife's Lexus in 7 years too.

 

I guess we'll see how it goes in about 6 or so days! Here's to good luck. And no bad battery. Maybe it WAS the under-seat fix.

 

Returned today from our trip. Checked my C7 that sat for 6 days NOT on a battery maintainer. Car is fine. Very pleased but still can't figure out what completely drained the battery overnight a week ago.

Does anyone know what happens if you have a CTEK plugged in to the port in the rear hatch
but it is plugged in to an outlet with no power? Will this drain the battery?

 

Randall:

Since the other outlets have no power when the C7 is turned off, the CTEK LED's should not even light up.

The outlet with no power is like a light switch. When the light switch is turned off, the bulb will not light up.

Nice to hear the C7 is healed.

 

Correct. I am using a switched outlet for my CTEK and I am wondering what will happen if I have my CTEK hooked up to the car and plugged in but the power is off. Will this somehow drain the battery since the port in the rear of the car is hot but there is no power being fed to it? This might have been what caused my battery to be drained overnight. Is this possible? I don't want to try this experiment.

 

As you say, there is no connection to the battery from an outlet that is switched off. In addition the CTEK could not absorb any significant power, especially over night. Expect if checked there is very high impedance across the charging terminals.

Frankly, I'd be concerned if a wire contacted something under the seat and caused the problem in that short of time! That could cause a very hot spot and a fire if it randomly happens again. There should be no bare wire spots! Believe I'd ask the dealer to pull the battery and run a load test to be sure it's not the cause and if not have the seat wire harness checked, perhaps by removing the outer covering. The seat should be removed.

 

Well, more or less, exactly;y the same thing happened to me last week.

Had been out locally in the vette and it drove home fine, went to put it away that night and click, click, click, click.

Run a power lead down there with my c-tek which showed the battery was discharge so i put it on the c-tek for an hour and it started ok.

Following day i checked again the c-tek was showing green (fully charged) but the car wouldn't start, checked the battery voltage 10.5v.

Stuck it on a normal old school type battery charger and i got an hour charge in it and it fired up so i thought i would go for a 1 hour drive, stopped for fuel, click, click ,click,

Had to get a jump start from a fiat 500 !

Called the dealer up and they got a battery in to swap it, turns out 1 cell was dead, car only has 1050 miles on it

 

When I took it in to the dealer to have my battery tested the dealer performed a TSB on the wiring for the heated/ventilated seats. I'm thinking there might have been a short since my battery tested fine.

 

I check my battery voltage often since it has only read ~12.4 volts since new. It should read ~12.8 volts after the surface charge dissipates (12 to 24 hours after the engine is off.). It has been very steady since new in October 2013. I have checked my quality digital volt meter against a calibrated Fluke at the battery store on a number of batteries on their shelf. The same reading to a tenth. It's at least 0.4 volts low. The wife's car and my Street Rod battery read fine.

Although I bought the GM equivalent battery charger to see if my DD was just not getting enough charge, it was no different. I haven't used it on the Vette since 2013. The car has sat for 2 1/2 weeks when on vacation and starts immediately. I'm convinced it's a weak cell and plan to install a higher capacity AGM battery to replace the relatively low capacity conventional OEM battery before winter.

 

as soon as my OEM warranty expires I will be buying a high quality AGM as well. What brand do you prefer?

 

Buy yourself a quality "hot shot" and give or throw away the jumper cables. The hot shots are about the same size as a Tablet and will jump your car. But, you need to keep them charged too. They loose the charge they're trash. That's what the AAA guys carry.

 

Been scerching for a while. The Vette has a large power board and several heavy wires on the positive terminal. It needs the terminals recessed. Optima, which I have in my street rod and put in my C6 won't fit. Sears has one that does, or says it does for $166. However sometimes their website shows another. Autozone shows one with higher cold starting amp rating and looks like the terminals are recessed correctly and the hold down would appear to fit.
I checked Oddesey and although when I called the company, after talking to 3 people a young lady gave me a number. However I called Jegs tech folks who sell it and after going thru their info he said our notes indicate it might need a modification but did not say to what.
At this point leaning to Sears since if I have any issues installing it can go right back! As October approaches I'll decide unless I see a special on batteries.