hello /o/tists, I am carsitting for two months and I drive it every two days for about 15-30 minutes (until I see the temp gauge go up and stay up), but I'm looking into battery maintainers, would you recommend getting one or just sticking to driving it?I must do this a lot more in the future so it's not just these two monthsdriving it every so often won't be a problem, but the constant driving is. (I also made this post 2 weeks ago when it was colder in the sqt thread, but people there don't answer)
>>28877506Yeah get that and some stabil fuel stabilizer since the gas will no doubt have ethanol in it and you probably won't be going through a full tank.
>>28877515>fuel stabilizerthanks for that suggestion, I didn't think it would matter because it's in a closed tank. if I drive it and the tank is still pretty full, would I need to add the stabilizer again?are there any other things to keep in mind that need ''special care'' to ensure their longevity?
>>28877506>two monthsI've got a bunch of shitboxes and have had them parked for months numerous times. I don't keep a tender on the battery, but I'd just charge the batteries up every week or two to keep them topped up. Two months isn't enough to have to worry about fuel stabilizers or anything IMO, it's not even necessary to drive it.
>>28877557>I'd just charge the batteries up every week or twodoesn't that make it cycle quicker and in turn (slowly) damage the battery?
IT'S TWO MONTHS
>>28877558With a small low-amp charger (such as a 3A like pictured) I would think that it doesn't. Throwing some "heavy duty", say, 20A charger to charge the batteries faster can degrade them faster. The last battery I replaced recently was 9 years old and worked until a cell finally decided to fail.I suppose if you've got a garage you may be able to leave the trickle charger on if it's "smart" and will shut off when needed, I just like to avoid having a bunch of extension cords and chargers around.>>28877515Yeah, one other thing that could help for having a car sit is putting some ethanol free fuel in it, too. Less ethanol means less chance of absorbing water into the fuel. I've added a shot of octane boost in cases of, say, 89 octane ethanol free being added into a car that needs 91 minimum.
>>28877574in the future it will be more often and for longer, it's not just two months>>28877575thanks, I understand the part about the battery nowI'll look into fuel stabilizers (and octane boost) and what would be the best
>>28877707I'm sorry I yelled at you. ;_;
>>28877575Most modern (like, since the Clinton administration) electronically controlled chargers go through a charge cycle that drops down to a float charge when the battery is fully charged. Overkill for battery tending, but a good 10A charger is good to have on hand and more generally useful than a battery tender. You might want both, of course. That 3A charger is also overkill for keeping a float voltage on typical car/truck batteries, and won't charge them as fast on full current as a 10A charger. If you just need a tender, save your money and get something in the 500mA-1A range.
>>28877555>it's in a closed tank. if I drive it and the tank is still pretty full, would I need to add the stabilizer again?No the stabilizer will be there until the tank is empty. You can look up the msds for sta-bil and see what it is. For storage under a few years the only other thing I could think about is tire flat spots. 2 months probably isn't long enough but any longer and I'd make sure to at least roll the car a foot or two
>>28877574Just about any car built in the last 30 years will kill a battery, or get close to it in 2 months of sitting. In any case, it's not a good idea to let batteries sit for any more than a week at a time regularly. Source: I've had batteries last 10 years in my cars because anything that isn't my daily driver gets put on a battery maintainer when I park it. My daily's batteries tend to die faster than my other cars.
