New York State in winter; love it and hate it. My battery died completely while stored in the garage this winter. I got it charged and it died again so I now have a trickle charge hooked up to it. It has charged and starts right up (gawd what a lovely sound - so missing it). How long do I keep the trickle charge connected?

 

I have to use one on my ranch pickup every so often in the winter because I don't drive it enough and it sits outside in the cold. Mine has a meter to indicate when it's done charging - usually 24 hrs. I rarely leave it hooked up more than 48 hrs. It shouldn't overcharge but that's how I do it.

Here are some tips:

http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair...rickle-charger

 

I use a battery maintainer charger on the car and my bike. Both sit all winter. They monitor the battery charge automatically and won't overcharge. Never had a problem and both batteries are ready to go in the spring! Sears and K-mart carry a die hard one for under $50

 

You can leave it on as long as you need. It's designed to charge as needed, then go into a kind of stand by mode. I keep one on my Vette all the time.

 

You need a new battery. My tender I leave on sometimes for up to a week. It does cycle on its own. If you are using a reg battery charger I wouldn't leave it on there for more than 24 hours or so. At this point your battery may not take a full charge.

 

Get a Battery Tender, great product and you can leave it on all winter.


Use to store my Cobra all winter with this on it, still had stock battery when I sold it a couple years ago.