FYI, I was speaking to a dealer today who said they had a 430 that caught fire due to the factory supplied trickle charger and battery......As I understand it, there was interior damage. I have had my charger connected 24-7 since I received my 430 spider a couple of months ago. Guess I best not trust it. If this is a common posting subject I apologize, as I spend most of my time in the supercar area forum. Joe
sucks for that guy, I've always heard ctek are the best chargers in universe such a shame to be hanging out in the supercar section...
For that reason when I use a battery maintainer I always only charge it with when I am at home at night (with a smoke detector in the garage), and when I leave the house in the morning I unplug it. For years I used a battery maintainer in my Porsches sometimes for month without removing it and never had an issue, but I have heard one too many car fire story due to battery maintainer in Ferraris for me to be a little nervous to be using one in the Ferrari.
STOP using trickle chargers/tenders/jumpers etc, they are all stupid, dangerous and worthless. Start the car and drive it once every couple weeks even if you hate it. You'll be fine. Will NEVER understand the 'trickle charger' guys. And, if you just hate your car so much that you can't be bothered to start it up or God forbid, even drive it, then simply buy a battery and keep it in your garage and when the one in your car doesn't work, install the new battery and throw away the bad one, very simple. While you are at it, throw those trickle chargers away also.
Certainly not a common posting and this would be the first I've heard of anything like this. I'd love to hear the whole story as the factory charger and Battery Tender have spark free operation, reverse polarity protection and continuous short circuit protection to keep something like this from happening.
yeah i was told by my dealer that as long as i used the charger than came with the car i wouldnt have to worry about this stuff due to the reasons above. I will double check with my dealer to see if theyve heard of any issues.
I am on my third battery ('06 430 spider). Using the trickle charger is keeping the third battery happy.
I guarantee more Ferraris have burned to the ground while being driven than while on battery maintainers.
When the battery in your car gives out, the battery that you have sitting waiting to be put in will be flat. Batteries do not remain fully charged when they are not being used. I may stand corrected but didn't the early 430's have the old Ferrari charger, which was very old technology, and nothing nearly as good as the CTEK, which is now supplied?
I have left my 348 sit for up to 3 months (I don't even own a trickle charger) and it fires up just fine. So a battery sitting unconnected in the garage should hold a charge for at least a few months. I have heard of 360s going dead after sitting for only 3-4 days, but that would seem to indicate an abnormal drain on the battery to me. BT
Agreed, a 360 battery shouldn't discharge that quickly, it's indicative of a fault. I would summise that it's cars that already have electrical gremlins that are the ones catching light, i don't know of any of my customers having problems with the trickle chargers. On the 360's a common drain is having a dead or dying alarm siren battery, causing a higher parasitic draw on the battery.
Eddie, I agree totally. Most to the 360's out there have dead batteries in the Bosch alarm unit, and many owners don't notice, because the alarm system still gives the impression that all is well. Then add in a tracker system,and you have a constant drain on the car battery.
