Hey guys, is it OK to leave a battery tender hooked up to my battery still in the car and put a car cover on?  (I leave the battery compartment door open and a window open)  The battery is an Optima gel battery and is sealed, I don't think it will produce any fumes, plus the cover is likely not airtight, but just want to be safe. Opinions?

|UPDATED|12/23/2016 8:39:12 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Mario

Sounds all good to me, it's about the same thing I do for my car. Just make sure your battery tender is compatible with your gel battery and peek in every once and a while to make sure your battery box is dry. I also had to install a battery cut-off for NCRS Judging. Just a cheap rotary connector that I thought was pretty cheesy at first, but now I kinda like it to shut things down without removing battery cables. The last thing would be some fuel system stabilizer, a lot of guys out here also reccomend a tank of non-ethenol gas if you have a source.

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John Sigmund

I don't have a gel battery but I do use a battery tender and car cover. I have used a battery tender for several years now and did have 2 fail, one was my fault because I left the parking lights on and forgot to shut them off and the draw was more then the tender could handle.  The other failure was just a bad unit I guess. I leave it on from Dec to March. I have mice bait stations around the walls to keep mice out of the garage.

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vman  good job that's what I have doing for years ,tenders,cover,battery disconnect,stab in fuel it works just fine.start in spring,change oil,dry start no coil,then restart   whoppy  it runs fine in spring   dwa175

Dwa. Why the dry start no coil?

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Mario

I have been using a battery tender Jr. for years and my car is covered.  No T tops on.  Never had an issue.  Have had water batteries and now I have one like you.

|UPDATED|12/27/2016 8:17:10 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Mario, in answer to your question regarding the dry start, no coil, it allows oil to pump to the top of the engine, lubricate everything without the plugs firing and starting the engine right away. After storage I normally pull the plugs, spray some lubricant in the cylinders, do a coil disconnected dry start to get the oil sump to push oil through the engine with the plugs back in and connected then reconnect the coil and fire it up. Maybe a little over the top but I want to minimize the metal to metal contact after the engine sits for a long period as much as I can. Hope this helps.

Having 2 C3's kept under covers, and also on battery tenders, I have had no issues over a 10 year period between the 2 cars. Even for my C6, if I know I'm away for an extended period, that car is kept under a cover as well, and with a tender. I do keep a window 'cracked' an inch or so (for 'venting'), but even then when I forget, I don't get rattled about it.

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