Dear all, I live in a flat with shared underground garage. It’s not possible to get a plug I can use for the tickle charger. Does any of you have a solution? Can I get e.g. a Noco battery booster? Or approx how often should the car drive? In summer it’s hopefully not a big problem but I also need to make it work in the winter months here in Switzerland. Thanks in advance
I would think you could get some sort of battery system that could have an outlet for the trickle charger to connect to. I have one I use for hand tools that is very robust. Link is below. I also bought all 60v flex batteries for it, so all together, this is a very expensive system and I have no idea how long it would last acting as a trickle charger power source. There is probably a more elegant solution than this, but it may give you some ideas that are helpful. https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCB1800B-FLEXVOLT-Portable-Station/dp/B01H41SDGU
I had the same issue. So, I upgraded to a antigravity lithium battery. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
I have the same challenge for my 458- > CAT portable power unit > 4.5 Amp Battery Tender Attach the battery tender directly to the battery- make sure the CAT unit is fully charged- put it on the floor of the car and plug in tender- Will last long enough to top off the battery usually- Repeat as necessary. NOTE- I just ordered a Goal Zero Yeti - Same process but will last longer and not as cumbersome- But pricey. Keep NOCO around as well for emergencies but never had to use it. Cheers PS- Was and still am considering an Antigravity or comparable but OEM battery is fairly new and have better things to spend $900 on.
Lithiums perform worse in cold weather than AGM's, I say this from experience. Switzerland is cold in the winter and I have no idea if his garage is heated or not.
Following my other post - Current Solution: Image Unavailable, Please Login New Solution - Yeti 500x is small, light and fits in the floorwell of the car also so can charge while covered (so can the CAT just not as long and the CAT is heavy and cumbersome) - The CAT lasts about 4 hours so simple math says the Yeti should hast around 12 hours - will see - Another member uses the Yeti 1000x and it lasts about a week but it is more expensive and larger so I went with the 500x. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you all for the replies so far! I can see that the 500x and 1000x is sold here in Switzerland. I’ll probably try something similar. Seems like a simple and quick solution
Note that the 488 factory chargers/tenders may be better that my 458s- In which case you don't need the battery tender and can simply plug the factory charger (which I believe on the 488 is magnetic and at the rear) into the Yeti and your good- My 458 factory charger/maintainer is pathetic and has an inside connection under the dash so I just go direct to battery with the far superior 4.5 Amp Battery Tender. Cheers
Perfect! On the pictures it looks like the Yeti has the 230/240V plug we use here in most of Europe. I’ll double check before I place the order. Thank again!
Yeah I would verify that - the pic I sent is obviously for one sold in the US - perhaps one sold in Switzerland would have different connections - worst case you could just use a normal travel adapter I would think - Good luck - Hope this helped - There are other manufacturers of portable power as well - Jackery is one - but I really like the size and weight of the Goal Zeros - Take care - Cheers
I have the same issue here in Germany and am happy with the EcoFlow power station + Antigravity battery. The EcoFlow River Pro I have has 720W. Right after putting it on = under full load, it tells me that it would last approx. 10-12 hours. I am not actually sure how long it lasts once the battery is charged and the load is reduced to maintenance, but it seems enough anyways. I only go check and recharge the power station every 2-3 weeks and have zero issues so far.
Not sure I understand. You mean the power draw from the car should be as low as to allow for months of being on a single charge at 720W capacity?
I have the same question- The Battery Tender I use has four stages: 1) Initialization 2) Bulk Charge 3) Absorption Charge 4) Float/Maintain Assuming (fact) that most of the draw occurs during the first 3 stages one would think that once you are in "Float/Maintain" stage the very low/minimal draw on the portable power unit (in your case 700w - my case 500w) could last for weeks/months. I think that was @todd cloud question/statement. Which if true would be awesome!
I see the CTEK info with respect to amps drawn in float mode at a certain voltage can any electrical engineers out there help me accurately convert amps and volts to watts and hours?
Please God if someone can provide that conversion I will wire you $50 via PayPal- I'm a smart guy and it should not be that hard but for the life of me I can't find it- Anywhere- I'm serious about the $50- My word is good-
Watt hours = amp hours * voltage In Supply mode, CTEK maintains a constant voltage of 13.6V and a current up to 7A. Take 187 watt hours as an example, 187 / 13.6 / 7 = 1.96 hours
I am happy I have a 220v plug .... pfffff... Let us know after the winter if your solutions lasted and worked good enough / well !