On a 2016 ZO6 how do you plug in the factory battery tender and still close up the car completely with all doors and rear deck closed. This is not my car and I am helping a friend out. With the battery in the rear and the ashtray type plug in on the battery tender that plugs into the inside of the car above the battery I don’t see how you can close the rear deck. Thanks for any input.

 

Have no fear, you can close down the rear deck right on top of that cord and nothing will go wrong or happen. I usually slide the cord under the edge of the rear wing (no Z07 package on my cars) just to make it a little cleaner, but I'm not saving the cord from being compressed a wee bit. Believe me, done it countless times on my 2016 and now my 2018 and no damage.

 

I put the battery tender in the car, run an extension cord through the passenger-side window, and run the window up until there's just enough room left for the extension cord.
I've had some problems with compressed weatherstripping causing water leaks on other cars when I had left a door or lid closed on a cord for long periods of time, so I try to avoid that now.

 

I run mine through the hatch - no problem closing on the power cord.

Be careful about making it too clean of an install or hiding - easy to jump in the car and forget that the tender is still attached.

I often leave my hatch closed but not latched - that way if I forget, the "Hatch Open" light comes on when I start the car.

Jim

 

I think they are making money on the battery tender when you really don't need one. Have only had only 1 battery even go down in over 10 plus years and none with C7's.

 

I leave mine on from November thru April every year, no problems ever.

 

What is a battery tender? Cocoa Beach here

 

Depending on the year of the car (each year cars get more computers and software that has to run all the time) and the size of the battery, those parameters have a big affect on battery life.....but, I would say you should count yourself pretty lucky on 10 years and only one battery failure.
C7 Corvette = bunches of computers and potential battery failures. I'd still suggest the battery tender.

 

Driving the car about 30 miles once per month is sufficient to keep the battery charged even if stored in cold garage at temps near 0 degrees.

If you have battery problems on a Corvette you either aren't driving often enough or are doing something else to discharge the battery. The small milliamp draw from the computers isn't enough to discharge a battery that has a 500 to 600 cold cranking amp capacity.

I have the Battery Protection Package charger and used it once or twice when I first got the car four years ago but was more concerned about starting to drive off with it connected and actually doing something to damage the car/paint.

Bill

 

Just connect to the positive side on the alternator and the outside case for ground.

 

I connect under the hood. The positive lead runs to the fuse box input and the negative lead runs to an alternator bolt.

 

Right behind that lower boot on your alternator is the positive as well.

 

I know. I charge fairly often and I don't want to keep playing with that boot. It will rip.

 

The charging port in the hatch area of the car was made for the Battery Tender Protection Charger that has been an option with the Corvette. You can direct wire the charger to the battery if you want, but the designed system with the hatch works very well. As far as whether you need a charger or don't, I guess that's an argument that could go on forever. I like the idea of a fully charged battery and I live in a lifeless climate (snow, cold, sleet, ice and endless amounts of rock salt and antiskid on the roads) for at least 3 months a year. I won't run my car for at least 4 months a year, not because she's a garage queen (and she is!), but because the roads tear the car up too much and it just isn't worth it.

 

I've got an '01 C5. I've got both a new battery and Deltran Tender Plus hooked up. For some reason I'm unable to get a full charge and maintain it? The battery is an Autocraft Gold (75FT-3) with 700/875 cold to 32 degrees cranking amps. How many amps is considered a full charge per the dash gauge? Any thoughts? It's not the tender it's brand new. I also have a second tender - same issue? Totally perplexed...

 

OP. If there was no need to keep the battery charged, GM would not have designed it as part of the package. Plug it in, leave the hatch open if in a clean garage, I.e. no critters and be done.

 

I don’t like the idea of leaving windows/hatch open either. Keeping closed helps to keep dust and any shop odors you may have, out of the vehicle. I’ve been thinking about just buying a charging port and installing somewhere in the engine bay.

 

I’ve never had a problem through cold Colorado winters with batteries losing charge.

 

This thread is going over the edge....it's almost funny! First we have a contingent that says there is no need for a battery charging unit....all kinds of testimonials that it's just not necessary. OK, fine, don't bother getting one, just stay the course with your own system.
Then we have have the group who likes the idea of a "battery tender" type device and that group splits away to those that use the C7 charging port in the hatch area (this is the C7 site, is it not? I don't really know what the C4, C5 and C6 and what they have available....this is the C7 site!) and those who don't feel that GM or the Corvette engineering crowd have done their job and the port is a bad or poor idea....much better to go under the hood, into the engine bay and hard wire directly into the battery.
Frankly, I do believe this started when the OP was asking about slamming the hatch down on the battery tender cord and was this OK to do.
YES, Mr. 1320#me, you really can slam the hatch cover down on the lamp cord plug of the Corvette design hatch connection Battery Tender with out a problem. I've done it for years, that hatch is not a guillotine and the hatch weather stripping has plenty of play and forgiveness that it CAN close down on the cord without ANY issues, if you want to use a Battery Tender, like some people (like me) believe is the right thing to do. Over and Out!

 

I used a battery tender (nice CTEK 7002) for my C6 Z06 - worked great. The GM tender looks like a CTEK and seems to work great on my C7 Z06 Z07. I use the GM tender anytime I think the car will sit for over a week.

Anyone that thinks driving 30 miles a month will keep a battery in top condition if just flat wrong. You will only get a "surface charge" that will over time cause one or more plates (grids) to lose connection to the back-plane. The result will be a battery that seems to take a charge for a while, probably start the car OK, but strange electronic faults will start to show up. This is due to the voltage drop once the plate (grid) breaks off - you get some charge to the nub left on the back-plane and my show full charge (kind of), but the voltage drops to under 11.5 volts sooner and sooner. Battery tenders really help reduce the loss of the plate (grid) connection.

Batteries sold in the US have gone down hill in quality over the last 10 - 15 years (desire for less weight and reduced cost). Car batteries do not last like they did in the past - 3 to 4 years is the normal life. Five years is common, but consider yourself lucky. Failure at the two year point is not uncommon - especially for cars that have sat on the dealer's lot for a long time. Valued names like Optima have really lost favor in a lot of communities. Interstate and Duralast are pretty good for mid-cost batteries. Odyssey is one of the best, but pricey. I have found that Duralast had the exact same case moulding as OEM for my BMW 750, VW Toureg, and C6 Z06. Haven't had to replace my 2017 yet, so I don't know how well the Duralast matches OEM.

Of course it is up to you if you want to use a batter tender or not, but if you are driving you Vette less than once a week or only driving short distances - you WILL extend the life of you battery with a tender. The other big plus is you avoid going out to enjoy a nice drive in your Vette only to find that the battery is dead. The sitting drain on cars with remote key scanning, WiFi, and numerous computers is higher than in the past.

Finally - anytime you get funky indications with your car (strange dashboard lights, slow starting, rough running, door/key issues) the first thing you should do is get your battery checked (its free) and replace if its bad or marginal.

Jim