Battery maintainer for Long term storage

[rdantz]

Hello,
I am going to store my 2022 Dodge Ram 2500 for 4 months, should I use a battery maintainer or just disconnect the battery?
Thanks

 

[Marshall]

I would use a maintainer, but if no one is looking after the place? don't know.
I don't use one on my truck, but on the wifes' CRV I do if it sits for couple weeks, it needs it, they use a small battery.
If you disconnected it, should be OK, your radio programming will go out I suppose.
Old days , it did not matter, maybe a clock running, and those just draw current for a few seconds / hour.

 

[Wild one]

Hello,
I am going to store my 2022 Dodge Ram 2500 for 4 months, should I use a battery maintainer or just disconnect the battery?
Thanks

If it's going to sit that long,i'd disconnect the battery.No point in having the modules running,while it's sitting that long.You'll have to reset your radio equalizer,but you should still have all your radio stations,and you'll have to reset your heater controls.

 

[crash68]

NOCO makes some nice battery chargers and maintainers. The regular chargers have detachable cords so you can hardwire the charger connection to the battery.
They even offer a charger you can permanently mount to the vehicle

NOCO - 2A Direct-Mount Battery Charger and Maintainer - GENIUS2D

The GENIUS2D is a 2-amp direct-mount battery charger and battery maintainer for all types of 12-volt lead-acid batteries.

no.co

 

[Pastor Bob]

NOCO makes some nice battery chargers and maintainers. The regular chargers have detachable cords so you can hardwire the charger connection to the battery.
They even offer a charger you can permanently mount to the vehicle

NOCO - 2A Direct-Mount Battery Charger and Maintainer - GENIUS2D

The GENIUS2D is a 2-amp direct-mount battery charger and battery maintainer for all types of 12-volt lead-acid batteries.

no.co

My 2002 sits most of the time (farm truck) and I have a battery tender mounted under the hood with a port through the wheel well for the 120v extension cord. I have used these extensively for motorcycles and lawn mowers. They do work and I think it's better for the battery, unless while in storage you have the battery removed from the truck and on a charger.

 

[JW2 Innovations]

NOCO makes some nice battery chargers and maintainers. The regular chargers have detachable cords so you can hardwire the charger connection to the battery.
They even offer a charger you can permanently mount to the vehicle

NOCO - 2A Direct-Mount Battery Charger and Maintainer - GENIUS2D

The GENIUS2D is a 2-amp direct-mount battery charger and battery maintainer for all types of 12-volt lead-acid batteries.

no.co

NOCO all the way. I caught one on ebay cheap that I couldn't pass up, and mounted it behind my bumper.

NOCO - 1-Bank 5A On-Board Battery Charger - GEN5X1

The GEN5X1 is a 1-bank 5-amp waterproof on-board battery charger for lead-acid and lithium batteries and rated at IP68.

no.co

To make it easier as my truck is often plugged in during the week I put a tee connector and mounted it in the bumper

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083NLXVGN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I can then just flip the cap open and plug it in. The second connection behind the plugin I use in winter time for block heater so takes care of both at the same time.

I also use NOCO for my other battery needs that are similar as well. Vehicle/tractor wise, I've got the others with quick disconnect just to the battery. Good stuff!

 

[Dean2]

I wrote this a while ago but should be helpful for your question.

In addition to high temperatures killing batteries prematurely, leaving cars sit and letting the battery drain down then recharge, dramatically shortens battery life, no matter what kind it is.

In order to understand how quick this happens on our heavily computerised cars I thought, I would run the test on my 2015 LS460 SWB AWD. I started with a quality Multimeter that has both DC and AC current(AMP) measuring capacity. You put the black lead into the common port, and the Red lead into the 10A port, may also be labelled just AC/DC A on some meter. Having Alligator clips on the end of the probes will make doing this a whole bunch easier.

I shut off the car, put the key FOB in the house in an RFID box, left the doors unlocked, and lifted the hood. My car does not have a hood open warning light so no hood open sensor that needs to be defeated. I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery, clipped the Red Lead to the battery terminal and the black lead to the Negative cable. I then opened and closed the drivers door. Reading popped to 4.8 amps with the interior lights coming on. Closed the drivers door, reading dropped to 2.7 amps and after about 30 seconds started to steadily drop. Within 90 seconds it was down to .7 amp and still dropping. Within three minutes it was reading between .03 and .04 amps, so 30 to 40 Miliamps.

I had read that the FOB being too close would cause the vehicle to wake up so I went in the house and got the FOB. Even right beside the car, not change in .03-.04 AMPs being drawn. Used the FOB to open the trunk, reading popped up to 6 Amps. Closed the Truck with the auto close system using the button on the trunk lid, reading stayed at 5-6 AMPs. As soon as the trunk latched the AMPs dropped to 2.5 and then kept dropping following the same pattern above. I tried a number of different combinations and permutations, including putting the push button start in the run position without stepping on the brake so the car didn't start. Remember, your multimeter is limited to 10 AMPs, if you start the car, or turn on high draw things like Headlights, you will likely pop the fuse that protects the multimeter.

No matter what combinations I tried, the at rest reading dropped back to the 30 to 40 miliamp reading. The only thing I didn't do that I wish I had done, was lock the doors and see if the at rest reading increased with the security system active. Since I park in a secure garage and never lock the car, I didn't think about that till I had it all buttoned up again.

Since the car sits for long periods of time I have attached a NOCO harness to to the battery terminals to make hooking up the trickle charger much easier. This way I can just plug the trickle charger in without having to remove the clips and lift the battery cover each time to attach alligator clips. I have these quick connects on all my vehicles. Even at only 40 Miliamp, a battery will drop below starting voltage in about a month, if it is stored cold it will go flat faster than that. Remember, lead acid batteries do not like to be discharge down to 11 Volts and recharged. They are much happier and last far longer if kept above 12.3 volts and that means a trickle charger is a good idea if you don't drive your car for at least 30 minutes every 3 or 4 days.

Hope this information helps those of you suffering from batteries going flat or dying prematurely.


















Multimeters have a lot of different layouts, this is just for illustration.













As a followup, Charged the battery to full, after an hour off the charger, read 12.73. July 2023 OEM Lexus battery. After sitting in the garage un-driven for 8 days, battery now reads 12.45. So the constant drain, even though very small, definitely draws down the battery over time. Battery went from 100% to 80% in 8 days. Still lots of juice to start the car. Left parked with no trickle charger, and assuming an even rate of drain the battery will be down to 50% in another 12 or so days.

At 12 Volts it is still enough to start the car but this is NOT what lead acid batteries like and will materially decrease its service life. If you aren't driving the car regularly your battery will last far longer if you put it on a .75 AMP to 2 AMP smart trickle charger like a Noco. The other option is to disconnect the negative battery during storage, but I find it a lot easier just to leave it on the trickle charger.


You can use the quick connect cable on the jump start terminals as well, they don't have to go on the battery itself. The reason I put them on mine was so I don't have to remove any of the under hood covers or the battery cover to hook up alligator clips each time I wanted to put the trickle charger on. On my LS you can't reach the battery terminals without opening the battery cover by the windshield.

Here is a picture of the LS460 Battery location. The panel with the Yellow sticker has to be removed at min to get alligator clips onto the battery.

---

 

[JW2 Innovations]

I wrote this a while ago but should be helpful for your question.

In addition to high temperatures killing batteries prematurely, leaving cars sit and letting the battery drain down then recharge, dramatically shortens battery life, no matter what kind it is.

In order to understand how quick this happens on our heavily computerised cars I thought, I would run the test on my 2015 LS460 SWB AWD. I started with a quality Multimeter that has both DC and AC current(AMP) measuring capacity. You put the black lead into the common port, and the Red lead into the 10A port, may also be labelled just AC/DC A on some meter. Having Alligator clips on the end of the probes will make doing this a whole bunch easier.

I shut off the car, put the key FOB in the house in an RFID box, left the doors unlocked, and lifted the hood. My car does not have a hood open warning light so no hood open sensor that needs to be defeated. I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery, clipped the Red Lead to the battery terminal and the black lead to the Negative cable. I then opened and closed the drivers door. Reading popped to 4.8 amps with the interior lights coming on. Closed the drivers door, reading dropped to 2.7 amps and after about 30 seconds started to steadily drop. Within 90 seconds it was down to .7 amp and still dropping. Within three minutes it was reading between .03 and .04 amps, so 30 to 40 Miliamps.

I had read that the FOB being too close would cause the vehicle to wake up so I went in the house and got the FOB. Even right beside the car, not change in .03-.04 AMPs being drawn. Used the FOB to open the trunk, reading popped up to 6 Amps. Closed the Truck with the auto close system using the button on the trunk lid, reading stayed at 5-6 AMPs. As soon as the trunk latched the AMPs dropped to 2.5 and then kept dropping following the same pattern above. I tried a number of different combinations and permutations, including putting the push button start in the run position without stepping on the brake so the car didn't start. Remember, your multimeter is limited to 10 AMPs, if you start the car, or turn on high draw things like Headlights, you will likely pop the fuse that protects the multimeter.

No matter what combinations I tried, the at rest reading dropped back to the 30 to 40 miliamp reading. The only thing I didn't do that I wish I had done, was lock the doors and see if the at rest reading increased with the security system active. Since I park in a secure garage and never lock the car, I didn't think about that till I had it all buttoned up again.

Since the car sits for long periods of time I have attached a NOCO harness to to the battery terminals to make hooking up the trickle charger much easier. This way I can just plug the trickle charger in without having to remove the clips and lift the battery cover each time to attach alligator clips. I have these quick connects on all my vehicles. Even at only 40 Miliamp, a battery will drop below starting voltage in about a month, if it is stored cold it will go flat faster than that. Remember, lead acid batteries do not like to be discharge down to 11 Volts and recharged. They are much happier and last far longer if kept above 12.3 volts and that means a trickle charger is a good idea if you don't drive your car for at least 30 minutes every 3 or 4 days.

Hope this information helps those of you suffering from batteries going flat or dying prematurely.

View attachment 542180
View attachment 542181
View attachment 542182














Multimeters have a lot of different layouts, this is just for illustration.

View attachment 542183
View attachment 542184










As a followup, Charged the battery to full, after an hour off the charger, read 12.73. July 2023 OEM Lexus battery. After sitting in the garage un-driven for 8 days, battery now reads 12.45. So the constant drain, even though very small, definitely draws down the battery over time. Battery went from 100% to 80% in 8 days. Still lots of juice to start the car. Left parked with no trickle charger, and assuming an even rate of drain the battery will be down to 50% in another 12 or so days.

At 12 Volts it is still enough to start the car but this is NOT what lead acid batteries like and will materially decrease its service life. If you aren't driving the car regularly your battery will last far longer if you put it on a .75 AMP to 2 AMP smart trickle charger like a Noco. The other option is to disconnect the negative battery during storage, but I find it a lot easier just to leave it on the trickle charger.


You can use the quick connect cable on the jump start terminals as well, they don't have to go on the battery itself. The reason I put them on mine was so I don't have to remove any of the under hood covers or the battery cover to hook up alligator clips each time I wanted to put the trickle charger on. On my LS you can't reach the battery terminals without opening the battery cover by the windshield.

Here is a picture of the LS460 Battery location. The panel with the Yellow sticker has to be removed at min to get alligator clips onto the battery.
View attachment 542185
View attachment 542186






View attachment 542187

View attachment 542188

---

Love the detail @Dean2 !! Thanks for posting this. COVID hit my wifes car from not being driven much while being sent home to work, which in the end pushed me to install quick disconnects on daily drivers as well as my Ram Truck which isn't a DD. Not scientific, but her 2019 Highlander is still using original battery so far, with no signs of any issues where my 2019 4runner is already on a newer battery and we bought these vehicles on the same day. I didn't go home to work so daily driven during that same time period.

I do plan on using your method above to see if I can find any drains on my Ram, as it does keep the dash lights on for what I think is too long from time to time. So thanks again for posting how to diagnose that!

 

[ramtuff2014]

Hello,
I am going to store my 2022 Dodge Ram 2500 for 4 months, should I use a battery maintainer or just disconnect the battery?
Thanks

If you have a 6.7 cummins under your hood, be aware that if you disconnect your battery/batteries and you require a smog check within 500 miles, you likely will not pass. It takes about 500 miles for the smog system to reset. Just a heads up to help avoid significant frustration.

 

[ReddJackson]

I used a Battery Tender for years on my bike, worked great, kept the battery charged

 

[jimboschnitz]

I would definitely get a maintainer. I have a 2020 Limited with the Ecodiesel/ 60,000 miles.
I recently had knee surgery and the truck did not get started or moved for a little over 2 weeks. Never concerned me as we went on a Cruise last August and the vehicle sat for almost 2 weeks then and had no problem. When I felt agile enough after surgery to get in my truck and go somewhere I found the battery was way down. I checked the voltage with my voltmeter and measured less than
8 volts. I put my charger on it at a rate of 30 amps and after 2 hours the battery condition was still
to low to start the vehicle. Long and short of it, I ended up replacing the battery that was less than 4 years old.

 

[Spree]

I leave my Mustang on a battery tender all winter with no problems.