I have a 2015 for 14 months now but only 800 miles on it. The other day
I got in and the battery was dead. I bought a trickle charger because I know I won't be driving it much. I know that the black (negative) clip on the charger should be attached to solid metal. However I am not finding
anything back by the battery that will work. If you can shed some light
on this for me It would sure help. Thank you in advance for the responses.

Joe

 

Get a TENDER NOT A CHARGER for lay ups. Plug in into the port in the trunk on the left side over the battery.Its the easy way to do it.

You can gently close the trunk/hatch on the charger wires and not hurt the car or wires. I did this since 07 with my Z06 and now with my 15!

 

A tender is designed to take care of your problem. You just plug it into the cig lighter type receptacle in the rear. If you can't find one with a lighter plug on the end, you can buy a lighter plug off of Ebay for around seven bucks.

 

Before I bought the equivalent of the Chevy charger I used the low amp charge tape on my battery charger and connected the alligator clips to the striped wires from an old vacuum cleaner plug I never used! It plugs into the always-on receptacle right above the battery.

In your case, since you'll use it continually, the equivalent to the Chevy multistage low amp charger is the way to go. A CTEK US3300 is ~$65 on Amazon plus the matching cigarette receptacle plug for $13.

 

My 2 cents. Electronics/Computers still active to a certain extent even when C7 is turned off. There is a reason Chevy began offering "Battery Protection" option on these cars. Many Corvette owners do not use their cars as DD and rather not take them out in foul weather so many cars sit for extended periods. To me an extended period is 3 days although most cars do OK sitting longer I just don't chance it. One dead battery situation was enough for me. Friend of mine uses her C7 as a daily driver and has never used battery protection and had no problems. Good for her. As others have said there are good battery maintainers on the market. I got the one GM uses for Battery Protection from the Chevy dealer. It cost $100.00 and has a Corvette logo on it. I use only GM parts. Have no interest in buying after market for my 70K C7. Like I said when I pull the car back into the garage after a drive if I am not going to drive it again later that day or the next the C7 goes on the GM charger. C6 use to plug into cigarette lighter slot but C7 has a dedicated slot for Battery Protection. Standing behind the car open the trunk and the charger slot is on the right inside the trunk. Plug the charger into the slot then plug the two prong plug on the other end of the charger into the 110 garage socket. You will get two amber lights indicating connection and device is charging. It is OK to close the trunk on the wire. Unless the battery has a low charge within an hour or so you will see an amber light and a green light. Life is good. Battery will be good to go when ever you need it.

 

After an experience with a dead battery I plug mine into my CTEK 4.3 at the end of each day.

 

Your car you obviously can do what you like but the pic below was made from the 2014 Service Manual, believe the info or not!

In summary the C7 shuts down most power in 10 minutes even if you leave the map light, or headlights on. Yep, from time to time it turns on OnStar (assuming you have it) for a very short time and then it's off. The typical steady current draw is 30 milliamps. According to GM info if the battery is in an 80% state of charge it can go about 30 days without running and still start the car!

I've spent a lot of time initially checking my battery because I have a low voltage, 12.4 volts, probably due to a weak cell. I bought the same charger Chevy sells with their name from Amazon for about $60 to see if being fully charged would help. It didn't and have not used it again for the Vette since I got my car in October 2013! Have been on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks several times, including this February when it was cold when I returned and the car has started right up as it always has. I do use the car 4 or 5 times per week.

There are posts of folks starting after 30 days, although IMO that is pushing it. GM may sell the charger for those who store for the winter. If you only make very short trips and don't fully charge the battery that could be another reason. I keep a charger on my street rod that only goes to car shows and sits for months. As I said do as you wish, just thought I'd provide some facts for those interested.

PS: If you had a dead battery you should find the cause. It may drain rapidly or worse if there is a short!




If fully charged car should start after 30 or 35 days

 

It was all great! The car will sit sometimes for 3 or 4 months without moving. I ordered on amazon the ctek multi us 3300 and the adapter for the cig lighter.
The info I received from all of you was invaluable. Thanks again. joe

 

Great. Yep 3 or 4 months is a long time. One suggestion. If you move the car to get something out of the garage etc, as I do with my street rod from time to time, drive it 25 to 30 miles and get the oil hot! Worse thing is to start the car and leave the excess condensation from large piston to cylinder clearances when cold and the rich starting gasoline mixture in the oil!
Also like I do, have fun doing it!

 

Thanks Jerry, good info. Most of my rides in the C7 are pleasure drive and shorter duration around town so plugging in the charger just to be safe has become part of the tuck in process right before I close the garage door.

 

Hi

I seem to getting battery dead problem too. I actually replaced battery even it was tested and found good. Even with new battery it ic completely dead after then days...

something strange is going on. Before I was even able to leave for 6 weeks and started w/o any problems even in winter

regards

ari