Hi all anyone know if a battery conditioner can be used witht he 355 through the cigar socket? Thanks
I've used the Deltran-made Battery Tender on motorcycles and cars (including 348, 355) for several years, with no problems. More info can be found here: http://www.batterytender.com/index2.html It comes with two methods of attachment to your battery -- regular alligator clamps (like on jumper cables), or a connector where the ends terminate in metal o-rings (like a washer). Each method connects to the charger through a little plug-together connector. The o-ring connectors, intended for semi-permanent mounting, slip right through the bolts used to attach your terminals to your battery. Then simply tie down the length of the wire, until you have only the other connector poking out into the trunk. Thus, when you're in the garage, pop the lid, snap the two connectors together, and voila! For the 355, instead of connecting it to the battery directly, I attached them to the "jumping" points under the right cover in the engine bay, then zip-tied the connector. So now I can just pop the rear lid and plug the charger right in. Alternatively, one can get the Ferrari "factory" charger (manu. by Schumacher, or just the plain old non-factory Schumacher), which piggybacks onto your battery; the 120v plug is located inside the car; you just have to connect an extension cord when needed. Why do I consider the Deltran method better? Aside from the MASSIVE price difference, the primary advantage, in my mind, is that you don't have the charger sitting in the car -- only the wiring. Thus, (a) it's lighter, (b) you can use one charger for more than one vehicle if you alternate, (c) the wire coming out of the trunk is thinner and you can in fact close the lid with the wire dangling out, if you wanted to so you can put the cover over the car, and (d) I guess if the car gets stolen, you didn't lose the charger as well. Nothing particularly compelling, but, hey, it's a good alternative. Dave Handa added two points: (1) he prefers the Battery Tender; if the circuit breaker (or whatever) inside the Schumacher fails, I want the thing to melt down outside my car, not in it!!, and (2) "Another "clean" method of attaching a battery tender, is to go to Radio Shack (aka Radio Scrap) and buy a cigarette lighter adapter with a 9 foot cord attached. I then wire this into the "hard wire" connector kit, by removing the o-ring connectors and splicing in the cigarette adapter instead. No having to pop the hood anymore, just remove cigarette lighter and plug in!" -- you can buy the cigarette lighter plug, or you can save a few bucks by making one yourself in the Handa tradition! vty, --Dennis