Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I learned something about the battery from Matt Silvey several months ago when I just purchased the roadster. He showed me
that he placed a small, Radio Shacked 1-amp trickle charger next to the battery. Since he doesn't drive it that often, it is a good idea to keep it warm.

Now, my roadster's battery is located in the trunk. After several months of having to jump the battery, I realized that I will need something better. I first thought of the long lasting Optima Yellow top battery, and went on searching for it. Talking to a mechanic, he said that Optima, although a deep cycle battery, can be drained as well. Since the root of the problem is that the battery is about empty in a one week period, I then think that I will a trickle charger and install it in the trunk next to the battery.

I was trying to avoid this because I didn't want any extras or drilling to occur anywhere, but this I must.

I bought a "Schumann...." 1.5 amp charger from Kragen for 29.99.
Intstalled it (but not permanently yet) and tested it. It worked fine, except one inconvenience which made me finally returned it.
The charger didn't come with removable alligator clips but instead two circular ends that I have to unhook the terminals to attach them--- EACH TIME. In addition the manufacturer's instruction read, "Not leave the charger attached to batter while driving"
I did it once but don't want to keep on doing it.

So then, I am off again trying to find one charger with easy removable clips or cutting the ends and replacing them myself.
I went to Radio Shack and Auto Zone with no luck. I thought that RS would carry it since I had a dream about it. Auto Zone has the same "Schumann..." but was three dollars cheaper.

Any suggestion any comments anyone?

You could put your own clips on the leads. You can get them from any electronics shop, or you could put a quick disconnect plug on the leads from the charger to the battery and still use the factory connectors. Or you could route the leads from where ever you mount the charger to an On/OFF switch you could add at your dash to turn the leads on or off, for this you would need a dpst switch (double pole, single throw). This swithes come in many different sizes and styles, so the choice of "look" is up to you. Again the switch is available at any electronics store. Keep in mind, which ever way you go, use only parts that are rated to handle the amount of amps at the voltage you are using. There is no harm in using a 20amp rated switch for a 5 amp load, boy DO NOT use a 5 amp switch for a 20 amp load, that could be bad. Hope this helps with some ideas.

Keith

Jr,

Find a vendor that supplies a trickle charger for motorcycles, since most of their batteries are under the seat they have leads that come off the batteries and plug into the trickle charger. Try J&P cycles or Dennis Kirk.

I'm not sure who gave you the discharge info on the Optima batteries but they were wrong I have the red top batt. on my race car which sets idle for more than a month at a time and still cranks just fine. If I run a weekend without an alternator I still have a good 12 volts when I put it on the trailer.

Hope this helps,

Russell

Have you checked for any parasitic loads that may be drawing your battery flat when the car is sitting? Or, just disconnect the battery cable when you know you are going to leave the car sitting for a month. You may need to invest in a new battery as well. Once you have drawn a battery down completely flat it will never come back up to the same potential it had before. Do it enough times and you completely ruin the battery.

If you are leaving the car sitting for month long stretches at a time, then the trickle charger is a great idea. Even a disconnected battery sitting on a shelf will discharge to the atmosphere. With no parasitic loads, you should be fine for several weeks at a time between starts. Beyond that the charger is a good investment. I use the Battery Tender from Deltran on my motorcycle: http://www.batterytender.com/

Just as a side note on a drain problem I had. It was a bad one. I had a devil of a time tracing it down.
What I found after I traced out the circuits on the wiring Diagram was that someone in the past had wired the fuse panel wrong - so the drain was the solenoid of the starter. simply changed the wire at the fuse panel to the correct input and wala no more drain.

Good luck with your electrical.

Derek

DELETED

That is absolutely brilliant!

I have a Mazda rotary pickup that has been banished to a carport on the side of my house to make room in the garage for the roadster. I've been trying to come up with a clever way to keep the battery charged without running an extension cord out there or removing the battery and bringing into the garage to charge.

I'm off to my local VW dealer tomorrow to see if I can sweet talk them out of a solar charger too!

If your battery is discharged in a week, you need to find the drain and fix it. anything else is a bandaid.