battery shut off

Can you guys give me some input regarding shutting down the battery or battery tenders.
I have to go away soon for about 6 to 7 weeks. Normally when I travel for 3 to 4 weeks I do not shut down the battery switch or attach a trickle charger.
Recently I just put in a new battery and alternator and now I will be gone for a month and a half. Is switching the battery switch to off necessary? Is that enough to conserve everythiing without hooking up a battery tender which I do not have at this time?
I am always nervous regarding shutting down the battery as I worry about the computers and scrambling the ecu's. I went through hell for over a year working out the bugs and have had no problems in a while and am worried if I shut off the battery will that require rebooting the ecu;s when I come back and switch it back on?
Thanks
Gary

 

If you're gone that long I'd get a "smart" trickle charger. I'm also reluctant to just disconnect the battery as I did have some trouble a while back with rough running until the computer relearned what it needed to do.

Smart trickle chargers are really the way to go. I've been getting about 7 years from all my batteries since I've started to use them. I know that the battery in the 550 is at least 6 years old and it's still holding full charge. Always hooked up to a trickle charger now unless I know I'm driving it that day or the next.

 

I would use the smart charger. They have to be worth the money. I have not had my 550 very long but I have heard they will kill a battery if not driven, and mine has. I didn't notice any problem with ecu after it was dead, but then it went to the dealer pretty soon for some other issues.

 

Get a battery tender and attach it with the 550 connected to the battery.

You'll want to leave the 550 connected to the battery so that the power will supply the 550's computer memories which store the adaptive information your car has accumulated on its operating points.

Disconnecting the battery would erase this valuable information and your 550 would have "re-learn" all the operation information.

 

Thanks for the advice. I have a Battery Tender Plus on its way. It has a wire set with quick connector that I plan to install on the battery posts so then I just need to plug in the loose end when ever I need to rather than clamp the posts all the time.
My question is this: How can I get the car battery connections off to slide the battery tender connectors on without disrupting the power supply and having to then deal with the ecu's reprogramming? Is 10 minutes disconnected the same as a month where as any power supply interruption results in unlocking the radio and the ecu's reprogramming by having it idle for ten minutes.
Thanks
Gary

 

You really don't need to remove the terminals at all. You can either just remove the nut on the tightning bolt and slip the eyelet on and reinstall or you can get an additional 6mm nut and just add it onto the screw if you have enough threads. Just be careful not to touch you wrench to a ground when removing the nut on the positive terminal.

 

Battery Tender Plus is definitely the way to go. I too have experienced weird problems on my 575 using the cutoff. What wrong with clamping? Takes me about 10 seconds of extra time and you don't have to fool with installing any permanent cables???

 

There is no need to shut down the battery. You don't want to reboot anything. Get and attach a battery tender and you will have no problems. When garaged, I have my 575 on a tender all the time. If you're going away, make sure you have it properly plugged in and that any extenion cord you use is of a higher gauge that the cord of the battery tender. No fires, please!

 

It should arrive tomorrow. I usually drive the car on the weekends only and many times I am gone for several weeks. I think I will start leaving it connected to the tender all the time. I just want to be able to close the hood and fit my cover over it while it is hooked up.
Thanks for all the advise.
gary

 

Excellent idea.

There a several threads in the Tech Q&A section that talk about this
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106018&page=2

Two great suggestions (depending on your model) to make this very convenient are:
1) Connect the battery tender to a cigarette lighter adapter and plug that into the cigarette lighter receptacle. This allows you to charge and easily disconnect, with the side benefit of seeing that plug/wire will remind you to unplug before driving away.
2) Connect the battery tender to quick disconnect and locate the disconnect at a convenient location such as the wheel well or front grill. Attach the terminal ends at the battery and it provides easy access.

 

Since I have a drain on my battery somewhere in my beast, I turn the battery off each time I park. My only problem is the radio stations are lost. So what.



12 cylinders or walk

 

I have my battery tender on the car now. I was surprised that when I first hooked it up the red light came on only indicating that the battery was below 80% and charging. I just installed a new battery and alternator several months ago and just returned from a 6 hour trip in the car 4 days ago. I would not have thought that the battery would be low at all yet.
My owners manual states that when hooking up a charger to use the battery shut off switch and have it in the off position. I was under the assumption that the battery shut off switch should be left on to keep the current to the car to maintain all the electronics needed. I am going by this assumption and not shutting off the battery switch.
Is this correct?
Gary

 

Dear Gary,
It all depends on the type of charger:

high current (high speed) charger say 4-10 amps, yes use battery shutoff to protect electronics

trickle or floating charger with max current set to say 1 or 2 amps then you could probably leave battery shutoff left on and even connect via cigar lighter socket

Regards,
Ron

 

I can only speak as an owner of a 456M GT
who is not familiar with battery issues in
other Ferraris.

Here's how it works for me, using this
winter as an example:

On Monday Jan. 15 (2007) the weather
here in Upstate New York became, well,
the winter dread.

I went into my garage, opened the hood,
and turned the battery disconnecting switch
to the "off" position.

I put the red Ferrari cover on the 456M GT
and said, "see you in the spring".

A week ago Sunday, with the winter dread
over, I removed the cover, turned the battery
disconnecting switch to the "on" position,
and started the Ferrari.

No problems and no need to re-charge the
battery after its eight-week "vacation".

Routine and simple !

Bye for now,

Neal.

 

You've lost the very valuable information stored in your computer's memory altering its adaptive performance variables.

 

It took the smart charger about 8 hours to bring my battery back to a full charge as indicated by the steady green light charging it at 1.5. I was surprised that the battery was even below 80% considering it had been on a long trip 5 days since I parked it. The car electronics must really drain the battery as it sits each day to discharge the battery that much I figure.
Now I know I will just always keep the charger on it when it is parked.
Thanks
Gary

 

does this goes same to mine f355....because I only used it once in a blue moon and each time after using it....I will turn the power off....nothing much happen but the last 2 time when I turn it on back...I really have those rough driving...its like there is a lack of power....and the last time I drove it last week....when I turn it on the switch....as usual leave it warm up for like 10mins....took the baby for a ride and when its full warm up at 2nd gear I rev it up about 5500 rpm it cuts off the power then check engine light came out then I try that at 3rg gear also the same at rev hard to 5500rpm then it cuts of the power check engine light came out for like 5 sec n then it turn off but it self....then i when home turn the switch off again.....the next day turn the power on and as usual warm it up for 10 mins then took it for a ride...thanks god...rev it hard and no more power cut run like normal.....is it true because I turn the switch off to often.....but there is no problem before this but recently i have this problem....any idea...sorry I know this is not a 348/355 forum but i came accross to read this tread here anyway thanks for reading....

 

Yes, if only there was a thread on battery charging and battery tenders