ECU/Battery Tender Question

[Policy Limits]

I realize no one has gen V yet so I guess the most relevant response would be from gen IV owners. The question is: can these snakes go an entire week without being plugged in? Most people dont believe me but in over 3 years I've never plugged in the Lamborghini (mostly because I dont even own a battery charger) but then again I never let my cars sit for more than a week's time. My fear is that American cars might over do it with the electronics. I bought a new corvette off the showroom floor back in 2007 and remember after 2 weeks coming home from vacation to a dead battery. Are Vipers different or do u guys plug in?

 

[BlknBlu]

they last about 2 weeks unless you put in saver mode. I use a tender all the time.

Bruce

 

[Steve-Indy]

Our Gen III and IV's will go several weeks without using a tender or sleep mode...but, I do prefer to use tenders unless car is off site...in which case I use sleep mode. I shoulld add that I remove OEM battery when car is only a few months old and replace it with Sears Die-Hard Platinum battery.

 

[Policy Limits]

the responses are appreciated. Is "saver mode" on the battery itself or inside the car's panel/dash? i reailze the new car (gen V) might be different but i'll bet not so much so. looks like lots of the original guys on the engine etc are still involved with the new production. Gonna throw her 13 feet into the air on a 4 post lift and take her down once per week to use as a sunday toy. I think I'm safe without a tender given my intentions and your responses. Thanks again.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

On my Gen 4 I keep the Deltran tender on at all times while in the garage. It sits more than a week sometimes without being started and after my old viper was stolen right out of my garage I also now keep the alarm on and locked. The alarm will draw on the battery of course even more. I have found that more than a week or two without it connected the battery may get too low to start plus it keeps it fully charged. The Viper is the only car I have owned and known to have battery issues by just sitting for a short period without use.

 

[Steve M]

I always plug mine in to a Battery Tender, especially this time of year when it might be sitting for a while. I keep the car locked/alarm on when it is in the garage, and from reading on here, keeping it in that state tends to draw the battery down pretty quickly. I've used a Battery Tender for so long that it is just second nature to me at this point...I don't even have to think about plugging it in when I'm done driving it.

 

[Policy Limits]

interesting on how the alarm being on will drain. On my european cars the opposite is true. if left in the garage unarmed its more of a drain but if armed it shuts the car down more and theres less battery wear. i had suspected that american cars were different esp based upon my corvette experience. funny how people put their cars "away" for the winter. i never do. i think the worst thing for any car is to just sit. bad for battery, flat spots on tires, can cause lines to crack and leak etc. so i always at least start them weekly; usually start and run them if possible even in the winter.

 

[LaViper]

Our Gen III and IV's will go several weeks without using a tender or sleep mode...but, I do prefer to use tenders unless car is off site...in which case I use sleep mode. I shoulld add that I remove OEM battery when car is only a few months old and replace it with Sears Die-Hard Platinum battery.

I also bought the Platinum battery & had to let car sit for 3 weeks once, started up perfectly. I believe this is the best battery I've used.

 

[commandomatt]

interesting on how the alarm being on will drain. On my european cars the opposite is true. if left in the garage unarmed its more of a drain but if armed it shuts the car down more and theres less battery wear. i had suspected that american cars were different esp based upon my corvette experience. funny how people put their cars "away" for the winter. i never do. i think the worst thing for any car is to just sit. bad for battery, flat spots on tires, can cause lines to crack and leak etc. so i always at least start them weekly; usually start and run them if possible even in the winter.

Hmmm, it may be funny to you to put a car 'away' but I am faced with either a fair amount of snow, slush or gravel on the roads in the winter. To take anything out, even if the roads are clear, during the winter months is asking for trouble.

Also, just starting a car without getting it up to operating temp (actually driving it) will cause more problems (internal moisture) than leaving it alone until you can put some miles on it...even if its months later.

Matt

 

[Policy Limits]

well i'm in new england where we get 80" of snow some winters and i feel that they should be run year long. I've spent under $5k in over 3 years on the Lamborghini doing this with services being limited to oil filter, annual brake flush, tires and inspection. Even less on the Bentley. I do realize that these cars are awd though. good luck doing that with rwd. As for salted roads, I've just washed and was fine. I've decided to offer $140k firm for the new LE. If the offeris accepted I'll upload pics upon delivery; if it isnt accepted I'll have more resources for the gallardo successor order next year at this time.

 

[commandomatt]

well i'm in new england where we get 80" of snow some winters and i feel that they should be run year long. I've spent under $5k in over 3 years on the Lamborghini doing this with services being limited to oil filter, annual brake flush, tires and inspection. Even less on the Bentley. I do realize that these cars are awd though. good luck doing that with rwd. As for salted roads, I've just washed and was fine. I've decided to offer $140k firm for the new LE. If the offeris accepted I'll upload pics upon delivery; if it isnt accepted I'll have more resources for the gallardo successor order next year at this time.

Taking the Viper out in the winter, when it cold and possibly wet or humid, you may find yourself in some serious trouble. You will quickly learn what kind of power is put to those rear wheels, and how quickly you can get out of control.

I was talking about gravel....not salt (we dont use any salt here in the mountains). Gravel has a nasty tendency to get kicked up by the cars around you. If you think a cracked windshield or paint chips is worth the little warm up run, then you respect your cars a lot less than I do.

You must have a good undercarriage wash at your house to ensure you wash that salt off where it can cause some problems.

Again.....I am talking about the area I live in and why I wouldnt even think about taking my 'toy cars' out in the winter. Obviously there are many places you could take you cars out during the winter months but your comment about not understanding why others wont, is a bit strange considering conditions in many states during the winter.

To each his own.......I sleep well knowing my cars are tucked away during the dark months. Makes it that much more exciting when spring comes around.

Matt

 

[Policy Limits]

yeah i daily drive a 12 cylinder bentley. cant wait to take her on the ice this winter season. wouldnt do that with the new gts though. it would be a sunday car and be run about 1,000 miles annually so i'm just concerned about avoiding a dead battery, which is why i started the thread. apparently lots of guys plug in to a deltran tender but I plan on at least starting her every week so it seems i should be fine without one.

 

[GreenVenom]

If I haven't had a chance to drive the Viper in about a week I'll go ahead and hook up the tender because I know how it was after nearly 4 weeks of sitting with no tender it just had enough juice to turn over but barely. The Vette and Camaro will sit for months (3-4) with no tender and fire right up. The original battery in the Camaro lasted 14 years, that has to be some kind of record? The HDs and Indian motorcycles could only sit about 3 weeks before being dead. I guess it all depends on what's drawing juice when they're shut down.
As far as cold weather I think the owners manual stated not to drive the car if it is 40 or below and Sport Cups needs to be even warmer. Tire traction concerns there. Once and last time on a very spirited club (not a VCA event) drive when it was Overcast and in the 50s low 60s tail kicked out several times in corners and about an hour later finally did a 360, not that I wanted too. Lol

 

[Policy Limits]

funny how with the snake owners seem to think that the alarm being activated draws lots of battery juice, and i'm not saying it doesnt. But with the lambo they say that if you have it sitting in the garage without the alarm being armed the battery actually suffers more because they car hasnt shut itself down. maybe i'll pick up a tender just in case, i'm sure they're cheap enough. would be surprised if the car didnt come with one. i believe that chrysler's sister company maserati comes with its own factory tender but could be wrong

 

[PDCjonny]

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...qid=1354897072&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+tender

Best affordable tender around.

 

[cowger]

I use a tender all the time; this one works great for me:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-BM3B-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=sr_1_1

Can't beat the price, for sure. I like that it comes with a cigarette lighter adapter, which makes it easy for me to just plug right into the console.

Here's one thing I find interesting. Even after a healthy drive, when park the car and immediately plug in the tender, it comes on for a few minutes and tops up the battery. While you think the driving would do it, apparently (at least for my car) it does not. From this, I think that the tender does the battery good, even for a daily driver.

Bryan

 

[JAY]

I use a C-TECH and my Battery is 9 years old and going .