360 battery tender charging times | FerrariChat

360 battery tender charging times

Discussion in '360/430' started by Hubert888, Dec 21, 2003.

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  1. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
    5,441
    Manhattan & LA
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    Hubert
    Im using a battery tender to charge my 360 modena battery. just wondering how much time is expected for the battery to be fully charged. right now my car alarm still works and the electronics system for the car seems to be working. so the battery isnt completely dead but dead enough that the car wont start.

    anyone know off hand?
     
  2. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    Thae the capasity of the batery (like 600 amp-hours) and divide by the charge rate of the charger (like 20 amps) and you get 30 hours to fully charge a completely dead batery. A batery that won't start a car is likely 80% drained, but a batery with 40% charge will likely start the car.

    The motorcycle battery people recommend that if you have to put a charger on it charge it all the way up (to at leat 13.8V and likely 14.2V); so even if you can start the car and drive it, after your drive, put it back on the charger until it gets a full deep charge.
     
  3. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    i know that the battery tender light indication starts from blinking red, to red, to blinking green, then to green (fully charged). so you suggest that I leave the battery tender on for an entire day even though the green light might come on faster?

    Im too lazy to go back down to the garage across the street to look at the charge rate of the battery tender.
     
  4. F328 BobD

    F328 BobD Formula 3

    Mar 17, 2001
    2,327
    Southlake, TX
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    BobD
    I have a Battery Tender Plus. I believe mine goes from red to blinking red to green (fully charged).

    If my battery is really low, it takes 36 - 48 hours if I remember right...
     
  5. cwwhk

    cwwhk Formula 3

    Nov 13, 2003
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    Hong Kong, Tokyo
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    Wayne
    If I remember correctly, the 360's battery is rated 70 Amp Hours and the Deltran Battery Tender (Switching Power Supply version) charges at max 2 Amp. So a completely dead battery will take about 35 hours to charge. Obviously less for partially discharged battery.

    In any case, as soon as the green light comes on then the battery is fully charged. Leaving the Battery Tender on any longer will not charge the battery any further. The charger has built-in circuit that monitors voltage and automatically changes the charging rate depending on the state of the battery's charge. When the green light is on, basically the charger is shut-off but continues to monitor the battery's voltage. That's why it's safe to leave the Battery Tender connected to the battery indefinitely without overcharging. When the battery gradually discharges due to non-use, the Battery Tender will sense the voltage drop at a certain threshold and top up the charge.

    There is a chart in the Battery Tender's manual which shows the automatic charging logic.
     
  6. coachi

    coachi Formula 3

    May 1, 2002
    2,108
    SC USA
    I leave my battery tender on whenever I have the cars parked in my garage. There is no harm if you do. Why bother taking them off and on, unless of course you plan to drive the car.
     
  7. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    Thank you for all the input. I just went to my car garage and it said the battery tender was 1.8 amps. So I guess I'm going to have to wait at least a full day to get this baby started :(
     
  8. jeff

    jeff Formula 3

    Feb 19, 2001
    1,924
    North America
    Hubert
    It took my battery tender about 18 hrs to fully charge my 360 battery. Since then I left the battery tender connected all the time. The car started for the next 2 weeks. It only took 4-6 hrs to recharge battery after each drive. Then the battery went completely dead and had to be replaced. Don't rely on the "green" light and think your battery is fully charged or that there is nothing wrong with your bad. The 'green' light could still come on even if the battery is dead. This is explained in the battery tender's manual.
     
  9. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    When you have a perfectly new battery, doesnt the battery get fully charged after you take your car out for a long spin?
     
  10. jeff

    jeff Formula 3

    Feb 19, 2001
    1,924
    North America
    Yes, this should happen. But I haven't figured out the magic number of minutes it takes to recharge the battery 100%. Most of my drives are 1 hr. Now, when I connect the battery tender it takes about 1/2 hr to recharge the new battery.
     
  11. cwwhk

    cwwhk Formula 3

    Nov 13, 2003
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    Jeff:

    You mean you topped up the charge and left the charger connected, but your battery still went dead? Or did you disconnect the charger after topping up, and the battery discharged by itself within a short time in say 10 days?

    My experience was that my 360 Spider's battery will go dead without charger connected in as short as 10 days, then it couldn't be re-charged and had to get a new battery. However, after I started using the Battery Tender connected whenever the car is not in use, I never had a problem again.

    It seems the gel type battery of the 360 does not cope well with deep discharge. And the car's multiple ECUs really draw a lot of current during non-use. When I had the dead battery problem before, I just got the car brand new from dealer; used it for a week typically driving 30 minutes per trip, and couldn't start the car after only 10 days non-use and had to get a new battery.
     
  12. jeff

    jeff Formula 3

    Feb 19, 2001
    1,924
    North America
    Yes, I topped up the charge and left the charger connected and the battery still went dead. My dealer thinks the battery was already going bad before I ever connected the battery tender.

    Here's the complete story. The spider was brand new and the dealer installed the battery tender as a dealer option. For one year, I never used the battery tender. I drove the car about once a week and never had a battery problem. Then one day the car wouldn't start. The lights, alarm, radio etc still would work but the car would not turn over. It was then that I connected the battery tender to see if I could get enough charge into the battery to start the car. It took about 18 hrs for the "green" light on the battery tender to come on. The car started with no problem. From then on, I kept the battery tender connected. But 2 weeks later, even using the battery tender all the time, the battery went dead. I now have a new battery and I use the battery tender every day.
     
  13. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    Lets say you have a new battery and that if you left the car unused for 4 weeks the battery still has enough charge to start the car. This means that you are draining the battery at less than 15%/week (remember a 40% charged battery will start the car). For a battery in this condition, you should run the car for 6 hours to get the battery at full charge. You can get the battery to 80% in about 1 hour, but the last 20% takes more time than the first charge rate because the alternator limits the voltage to the electrical system to avoid overvoltaging the various systems.

    Lets further assume that the last time you started the car was last week so the battery is at 85%. A drive of about 2 hours will put the battery at 100% again, a shorter drive will not. 2 hours of stop and go traffic will not, nor will 2 hours of driving at night.

    I should add that battery life is maximized when the battery remains above 80% fully charged all the time.
     
  14. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
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    May 14, 2003
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    Got my car back from the dealership. My battery was kaputt, but everything else was running fine in my car. Glad it was only the battery :)
     

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