Weak Stradale Battery; Charger | FerrariChat

Weak Stradale Battery; Charger

Discussion in '360/430' started by WCH, Apr 3, 2004.

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  1. WCH

    WCH F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Mar 16, 2003
    5,180
    Took delivery of my Stradale a week before leaving on a 3 week adventure. Returned to find the battery too weak to start the car, though the dash still powers up.

    No problem, I thought, I ordered the factory charger. As I hooked it up, the last thing I noticed was the plug, which says "250V" and won't fit into any outlet I have:
     
  2. thomas_b

    thomas_b Formula Junior

    Sep 15, 2003
    765

    not good

    just had to run and dig mine out – it has the right thingy – see picture

    the charger is not the right device to re-charge a flat battery – it is designed to trickle charge, i.e. maintain battery level
     
  3. zjpj

    zjpj F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    6,124
    USA
    WCH - can't you buy a converter for the plug? It's a European plug, right? There are all sorts of converters you can buy so that a U.S. hair dryer will work in Europe and vice versa.

    As for the weak battery, that does sound pretty bad. 3 weeks really isn't that long of a time. Does simply disconnecting the battery when you aren't driving the car solve this problem?
     
  4. WCH

    WCH F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Mar 16, 2003
    5,180
    Thomas - thanks for the photo, confirms my suspicion that I simply got the wrong package.

    Zach - Still trying to figure out what converter works - I've had trouble finding one that looks like my plug & works with 250V - but I certainly don't know a lot about converters. I guess I should have turned off the master switch before leaving town.

    Will
     
  5. WCH

    WCH F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Mar 16, 2003
    5,180
    Thomas, thanks to your photo, I re-examined my charger. Though the plug itself says "250V," a sticker says it takes a 230V input. I should have more luck now trying to find the correct converter - I hope.
     
  6. F-passione

    F-passione Karting

    Mar 31, 2004
    173
    Orange County, CA
    Why don't you just buy a battery tender and use that. I've got one hooked up on my 360 and it works like a charm. I'm sure you want to use that "F" one but it sounds like they may have given you the wrong one.
     
  7. WCH

    WCH F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Mar 16, 2003
    5,180
    F-passione - I assume you connect the tender directly to the battery through the footwell? Do you turn off the master first? My positive terminal has a red plastic cover, which I assume you remove? With any other car, I'd just hook up my charger or tender and not worry about it .... Thanks.

    Here's a list of countries apparently using the type of plug I have; I don't think I'm going to bother with a converter/adapter, I'll just call the dealer:

    American Samoa, Argentina, Australia, China, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Okinawa, Panama, Papua New Guinea, St. Vincent, Tajikistan, Tonga, Uruguay
     
  8. 720

    720 F1 Rookie

    Jul 14, 2003
    2,623
    So. Cal and No. Utah
    Full Name:
    Rick
    i checked my battery charger that ferrari provided. it has the correct plug for the US (the same as the one in the picture posted by thomas). i would think that if you pointed this out to your dealer that he'd be able to arranfe a swap with ferrari for the correct one.
     
  9. F-passione

    F-passione Karting

    Mar 31, 2004
    173
    Orange County, CA
    No don't turn off the master. Pull that red plastic thingy off and connect the leads without disconnecting the cables to the battery. Feed the leads so that they're out of sight.
     
  10. 456mgt

    456mgt Formula Junior

    Mar 24, 2002
    628
    Cambridge UK
    Full Name:
    Kevin
    No problems with my battery so far, though I do have that charger. I've used it once, to see how it works. It is suitable for recharging a completely flat battery according to the handbook.

    Kevin
     
  11. amenasce

    amenasce Three Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 17, 2001
    33,014
    Full Name:
    Joe Mansion
    I think thats a UK plug.
     
  12. roccapalumbo

    roccapalumbo Karting

    Mar 16, 2004
    135
    ohio
    Full Name:
    robert
    Will, congrats on the 360 cs. Would love to see some pics. With regards to the battery. Save yourself some some headaches and go buy a "battery tender plus" at your local auto/motorcycle shop or you can purchase one at www.proitalia.com. I have mine installed behind the drivers seat. Take off the floor panel and attach the red positive lead to the positve terminal, there will be no need to disconnect anything. Then attach the neg lead to a ground directly next to the positive. This is easy to do and you will not have any wires showing. I plug mine in once a month, say for a Sat. afternoon and let it bring the battery up to full charge, does not take very long. Since your battery is so weak it will probably take 8 hours plus to bring to a fully charged state. I would send you a pic of my set up but my car is currently having its 15K, hope to have it back this week. Crongrats again on the CS.
     
  13. murph7355

    murph7355 Formula 3

    Nov 30, 2002
    1,691
    SE England Yorkie
    Full Name:
    Andy
    It's not a UK plug (the lower two pins would be horizontal and thicker, the upper pin vertical and thicker), but is the UK voltage rating. Very odd.

    Also, I've been advised (Ferrari dealers) that a few weeks without using the car, and not disconnecting the battery (knob under a panel in the boot), might well be asking for trouble starting it. This is on a 355 with alarm and tracker, but the same thing may well apply...
     
  14. thomas_b

    thomas_b Formula Junior

    Sep 15, 2003
    765

    You are correct and my statement was wrong – I did read the manual finally and it states that the charger can be used for emergency charging – my bad; apologies I did apply what was true for my other trickle charger
     
  15. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    May 29, 2001
    17,913
    USA
    Usually, you can recharge a flat/dead battery, but it can take a looooong time. :)

    Interesting, but I noticed the charger has the European "CE" quality mark, but no North American safety certification, like "UL", "CSA" or "ETL". Can you guys look and see if it has such a designation? At least on the one that is intended for NA use?

    Also, what is the output rating? I think it says ".90 amp"?
     
  16. sherpa23

    sherpa23 F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    May 28, 2003
    9,992
    Rocky Mountains
    Full Name:
    Bastuna
    I haver a Battery Tender on my 355. Each one comes with a pig tail that stays attached to the battery. The pig tail portion of stays in an easy to reach place (mine is zip tied to something under my front passenger side strut cover in the trunk area). When I need to charge the battery, I just open the trunk, unscrew the two little black knobs for the passenger side cover, and there's the pig tail. I then plug in the pig tail end of the tender to the pig tail conntected to the battery.

    The whole thing might take me 20 seconds if you count opening the car door to pop the trunk open, closing the door and walking back to the front of the car. I am not kidding. It is a piece of cake.
     
  17. thomas_b

    thomas_b Formula Junior

    Sep 15, 2003
    765
    there is more to it - you have to drive the current into the battery by increasing the voltage - while you can run with reduced voltage to maintain it - the reason I am always a little concerned about chargers and jump starting is the electronic/ECUs - you don't want to have voltage spikes or a lot of noise, which means the charger has to be designed right - not an area to go cheap

    sorry for the bad picture
    - no other quality or standard signs
    - Output 12V =; 10A
    - U1 14.4V=; I1 10A charge
    - U2 13.7 V =; I2 4A maintain

    ... and it looks like the plug is for AUS - there is a table of plugs at the beginning of the manual
     

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