Another battery tender question

When I put the Ferrari battery tender on my 430, here is what happens. The middle yellow goes on for about 2 minutes and then the inside green goes on for about 3 - 4 minutes. This pattern goes on for hours - even days. The Ferrari instruction booklet says this may indicate a problem. However, in searching old threads on this topic some say this is indicates a normal battery. Battery is 4 months old and car starts fine. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

The tender on my 08 scud alternates the same way although 15 sec then to 60 sec green. It did this with the 4 year old battery and now the new one. The car works fine.

 

IMHO The best move is to get a more advanced CTEK maintainer and put the Ferrari charger back in the bag for the next owner. You'll be more confident of fully charged battery, get better battery life, and have fewer hassles.

 

Did you by any chance open the driver door for any reason? When I do that with factory charger it messes up the lights until I unplug and replug into wall. I think the fuel pump messes it up.

My car has a pig tail behind the seats and the factory front panel charger. However I don't have a charger for the other set up so I use the Ferrari brand one in the fancy leather bag.

 

+1

 

Thanks MVDESQ. I did not open the driver's door. I have read about the reputation of the Ferrari tender. However I do not have the pigtails, so for the time being I am stuck with the Ferrari tender.

 

It takes 5 minutes to connect the pigtails.

There's a free set of connectors on the battery under the passenger side.

 

Its the F1 pump, so it can be "ready" to switch to [N] when you push start.

Buy a CTEK 4.3. The 3300 is a little better than the OEM with a few more modes unit but is less sofisticated than the 4.3. The 4.3 is awesome, and here is a link for $55

http://www.techbatterysolutions.com/CTEK_MUS_4_3_Battery_Charger_p/c002.htm?_vsrefdom=googlepla&gclid=CN-fz5vw8LQCFQSqnQodAxkAwg&utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&gdftrk=gdfV23665_a_7c1669_a_7c7827_a_7cC002

or $59 amazon prime : http://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-864-Battery-Charger/dp/B006G14FK8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358476842&sr=8-1&keywords=ctek+4.3


Installing a new pigtail is fast and easy. 10 minutes if you are 10mm wrench challenged.

I also bought a few extra pigtails for other vehicles.

Keeping your battery in tip top shape is worth the effort and the cost.

 

Another option is to build a CTEK to Ferrari charger cable. This plugs from the CTEK into the special Ferrari charger connector in the passenger footwell. Apart from not having to monkey with adding the pigtail, it also illuminates the "Charger Connected" icon and prevents starting until the charger is disconnected. This saves you from feeling *really* stupid because you forgot to disconnect the charger before driving off

Details / schematic here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=141102598&postcount=12

Sometime I'll get around to building a bunch of them and selling them...

 

I have the ferrari installed under hood charger with the leather case. The battery never shows fully charged. The recommendation here seems to be to install a quick connect behind the drivers seat and use a commercial charger. I one chargers shown in the link below. Are they a good choice?

http://batteryminders.com/details.php?prod=12117

 

Not sure why that should be the case. It may be different on a 430, but the battery in the 360 is immediately in front of the passenger footwell. Installing a pigtail directly to the battery is easy and also very easy to hide when not in use.

 

That's exactly how I do it. I tuck the wire behind the flap of floor carpeting on the kick panel when I'm not using it. It's totally invisible then. I just find the wire by feel when I need it.

 

I looked up the charger using this link. What is the pigtails? I would love to purchase this charger, but I am little unsure how it could work on my Scud. I would really appreciate it if you could describe how it could be used with the pigtail.
Thank you in advance

 

With Warren's helpful post above, here's what I did:

To get the connector that plugs into your Ferrari factory charging port, go to Mouser Electronics - Electronic Components Distributor and order the following:

649-SC16M11S6 3 required
649-MBG4P1 1 required
649-MBG4S1 1 required

To get the pigtail that connects to the CTEK charger, look here:
Amazon.com: ctek comfort connect eyelet: Automotive

It doesn't matter what size eyelet since you are going to cut this off and put on the connector above.

Wire it up per Warren's instructions
FerrariChat.com - View Single Post - YABTP: Making the "Battery Conditioner Connected" light

You now have an adapter cable that allows you to connect to the CTEK charger on one end, and the Ferrari battery tender connector (under the passenger side dash) on the other end.

 

Trent. I have this Porsche charger with the cigarette outlet style end. I can't use in 430 because 430 doesn't have always on cigarette lighter. Can I get a connector that goes onto the Porsche charger end (female) and the have a wire come off and connect to the pig tail? Photos are below. Thanks. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I suppose you could, but why? That style connector is a PIA and exposes a conductor. It was default type on my BMW S100RR motorcycle and the exposed lead was +, thus if it touched anything it would be a dead short on the battery (aka circuit with a resistance of <1ohm) and pop the fuse or melt the wire if there was no fuse in the system.

Anyway, why not just buy a new CTEK 4.3 for $55-65 delivered and then you get a superior charger, and a much better, and easier pigtail. The 4.3 pigtail has a button so its ZIF (Zero Insertion Force), makes it much easier to connect/disconnect.

The pigtails cost $10, one of the best chargers in the world $55, seems a no brainer.

 

Yup, fully agree...

If, for some reason you are really attached to that particular charger (because it has the Porsche sticker on it) I'd suggest getting this:
CTEK Comfort Indicator Extension | CTEK Battery ChargersCTEK Battery Chargers
and simply replacing the cable.

There is also:
http://smartercharger.com/products/accessories-cat/ctek-comfort-indicator-pigtail/ which converts the old style SAE connector into the CTEK standard connector.
If you like the cigarette connector (Aston Martin uses this for charging), its also available:
http://smartercharger.com/products/accessories-cat/ctek-comfort-connect-cig-plug/

 

So lets say I buy the 4.3. What would I do with that wire you don't recommend I use? Is the old one easy to take out? Is it easy to run a new one? Isn't the batter under the passenger side dash area? I have no idea how to run anything.

 

If you want me to put together a DIY, just ask.

 

So I have a collection of granite digital chargers and conditioners that use MVDESQ's style of connector. Can I use this cable to plug into the port on the Passenger side and then connect the standard granite digital cable to that?

Accessories - CTEK Battery Chargers

 

yes, almost sure

 

It would be so much easier if the Ferrari Charges came with the adapter instead of having the Proprietary Ferrari plug hard-wired. I guess I'll try to make my own.