Battery Tender Needed if Ferrari is Driven?

Even if you drive the car .. sometimes depending on the drive conditions ( engine speed, a/c on, lights, etc) the battery is lower than it should be when you return home

It is always safe to put car on tender after each trip - you can see for yourself ... go for a drive and see that the tender will not say full for a little while

 

I always re-attach after drives, it helps battery longevity.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=noco+ctek+ferrarichat+site:www.ferrarichat.com&sxsrf=ALeKk00n23F8RQy9sL3qM9sfuW9vCkzQnQ:1627924602617&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipnaPd65LyAhWEZM0KHVZNBJUQrQIoBHoECAoQBQ&biw=1866&bih=995

 

yes I would do it .. when I had my California I drove it at least 4 days a week rain or shine and still needed to put a tender on it .....best of luck they are great cars

 

I use the tender every other day when my Portofino sits unused. That takes about an hour. I also use the tender when I have finished driving the car for hours,and that usually takes at least two hours. Leave it on the tender if you can (my car is parked where someone could steal the tender).

 

One thing you could consider is the previous owner may have used his own CTEK. Ferrari uses the cheapest CTEK made. Many Ferrari owners use the CTEK 7002, or other upscale versions, rather than the base model Ferrari gives you. Of course the Ferrari version has the nice big "Ferrari" decal, so that's worth another $300.

 

You should get several trickle chargers. These care are not reliable.

 

It really depends on how often you drive. Every other day you would not need it. I sometimes don't drive it - so just out of habit - I always use a tender. It's better than a dead battery!!!

 

I have had my 612 for 6 years. I drive it regularly and never use the tender except if I am going to go out of town for several weeks or more. Never had a problem except I had to replace the battery once (but not surprising for a 15 year old car). My original Ferrari CTEK tender is still with me and works fine when I use it. So no complaints from me.

 

Not if you drive it a few days a week, and have a good battery. Many of us do and have zero issues. The thing to keep in mind is the state of the battery. Your car is 11 years old, so it might be time to replace it. Get a Braille B10049. It cost a bit more than an Interstate or the like, but it is the single most powerful group 49 battery on the market, and the quality is excellent.

Cheap insurance. Why settle?



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My California T was really odd on this point. There were times I could leave it parked for 3 weeks and not have a problem, and then other times 3 days would leave me with a dead battery. @il_co-pilota’s advice is good, the state of the battery is a good indicator. I wish Ferrari was like Porsche on this point, I was in Florida for 2 months and didn’t put my 911 on a tender. Came home, uncovered it and it fired up without hesitation.

 

You say you drive it every few days. If every few days is say every third day and if you drive it for more than say 15 to 20 minutes after starting the car, then you do not need to place the car on a battery tender. As you know, modern cars have a higher rate of parasitic current draw on the battery compared to older cars. But the alternator on the car should restore full charge to the battery after a few minutes of idling. Ferrari’s are no different than any other modern car. No harm will come by connecting to the battery tender. But from your description of driving habit, it would appear to be unnecessary. And as mentioned by others, the battery state is a factor. If your battery is more than say five or six years old, you may want to replace it. Get a decent AGM battery as they are better at remaining in good health through many discharge/charge cycles.

 

I only hook up to the charger during winter. Never really had any problems with even 1x per week drives.

 

My 599 will draw down a new battery in no time. CTEK helps but have to turn off the electric system fully.

 

If your car drains down really quickly without being on a tender, you may want to determine what the parasitic current draw is. This is a fairly involved procedure but it might be worthwhile. If the true parasitic current draw is more than say 100 ma, you may want to determine what is pulling current that would cause the battery to drain down so quickly. Typically, anything more than say 100 ma is an indication of an electrical issue. Older cars will have less than 30 ma. Newer cars with lots of electronic gizmos may be as high as 100 ma. Of course, if your battery is ancient (like say more than 5 five years old), you may want to replace it first.

Regards,

Steve

 

The newer the Ferrari, and the older the battery, the more the need for a good Ctek. There is no reason not to hook up, if you can you should. Low charge leads to so many problems on newer cars, which on the face of it seem to have nothing to do with the battery. And double the reason if you have an open top car.

 

Very true. And not only Ferrari. All newer cars have more and more electronic gizmos. The more higher priced, luxury models having more gizmos. And more gizmos require more power to keep them active. Ferrari's, among other cars that tend to be not driven much, are sold including a battery tender, whereas older cars did not come with an included battery tender. This is very telling that the manufacturer understands that with the proliferation of electronic gizmos comes the need to keep the battery in a good state of charge. And once a battery drains to a low state, it generally will permanently degrade the overall capacity of the battery to ever again get back to a prime state. So as you say, there is no reason to not hook it up.

 

There are two types of CTEK/Ferrari tenders. One has a low current output and only has about 3 lights on it. The other, the one you should use, has a 5 Amp output and provides for proper battery conditioning, bulk charging and maintenance phases.

Of course, as Bisel says, it is important to measure the parasitic current to confirm that there is not an unusual load when the car is not operating. This can be done easily by inserting an ammeter in series with the ground cable and the frame in the trunk. I have also heard that these cars have a lower current drain if the alarm is armed. Perhaps some of the computers are running when the alarm is off. This is certainly true on my friend's 458.

 

What about just shutting off the battery switch. That's all I've ever done for over 10 years with zero issues on my '90 tr and '01 360. I have a shelf of chargers that sit unused. My 308 just gets shut off in the fall and fires up easily in the spring, no tender required. All 3 batteries are 7 or 8 years old and going strong...I think I'll replace all 3 next spring.

 

P.S. all 3 are old fashioned lead/acid off the shelf from the local tire shop.

 

I too, prefer a wet cell for my cars and boats. They are cheap, reliable and predictable without maintenance unless deeply discharged or overcharged-and they work with common battery chargers and voltages. For track use, gel would be safer.

458 does not have a switch. 430 and 599 have switches. When power is removed using the battery switch, these cars require a re-learn process for the left and right engine computers. If done properly, a specific 15 minute procedure should be followed. The window processors also need to be reset.

The CTEK works well if you have the one that does multi-phase battery maintenance. I think they delay sulphation when the cars are sitting, particularly above 79 degrees, such as we have here in South Florida (I keep my garage at 80 max.). Without electrical or mechanical stirring, batteries that sit develop sulphation starting from the bottom of the plates. This reduces battery capacity over time. The pulsed phase provided by the better CTEK somewhat electrically stirs the battery each time it is turned on. I keep them plugged in all the time except during heavy electrical storms.

 

New interstate on my FF April 2019 always on CTEK new a new battery already..

 

?

 

thats a kick in the nuts...