Topic: Car barely used and no garage - solution for battery dropping dead?

[Kelu]

Due to my temporary relocation with the work I use my car one weekend per month from april till november. From november till april the car sits in the parking lot and not started because I don't have a garage and no power source close to the car.

I keep calling my friends to help to jump start the car but the cables sold in Romania are crap (too thin) and I have to connect the batteries and wait for about 20-30 minutes to be able to start mine.

What do you think to be a solution in my case?

I was thinking to buy a rechargeable jump starter and I saw things like this:
(I don't want to link because of no sponsor - you can find them on amazon)
PowerAll PBJS12000R Portable Power Bank and Car Jump Starter
But they are not sold in EU at all (probably because of different plug type are not allowed)
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Around here I could find something very similar with another one:
Foxnovo® hot sell 15000mah Multi-function Car Jump Starter Mobile Power Bank Battery Charger with LED Light for Laptops /Cell Phones
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

First has about 110 reviews and looks like it can start anything without being plugged into a wall power source and especially for the size of it I'm very doubtful.

Here are some vids:




There are shipped from overseas and it will take a while to arrive and also not sure if is waste of money or not.

[TomatoSoup]

How about just wiring in a battery disconnect switch? You can disconnect when you leave and reconnect whenever you come back to drive.  That way your car's parasitic drain won't happen while you're away.  The battery will still self-discharge, but hopefully not too much.

[Sol Asylum]

TS's idea plus a solar battery maintainer and you will probably be fine.

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SP-200-Solar-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B004ZC3TFC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1401219603&sr=8-4&keywords=12volt+solar+battery+charger

[TomatoSoup]

Yeah - good idea SA.  With a decent one of those you probably wouldn't need the disconnect switch.

[Kelu]

How about just wiring in a battery disconnect switch? You can disconnect when you leave and reconnect whenever you come back to drive.  That way your car's parasitic drain won't happen while you're away.  The battery will still self-discharge, but hopefully not too much.

I forgot to mention, this mod was done today i used a racing car switch:
http://www.britishracecar.com/TivvyShenton-JaguarXK140/TivvyShenton-JaguarXK140-BK.jpg

I have many aftermarket devices installed and I thought won't be a bad idea to disconnect the battery completly when I'm away (Viper Alarm system with pager, wotbox 2nd step launch control, electronic boost controller, boost gauge with power, dashboss (bluetooth ecu reader, etc)

[Gentleman Jack]

Send me the car. I'll take care of it.
Free shipping?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kelu]

Feedback after awhile.

Beside battery disconnect switched as suggested by TomatoSoup, I have bought this:

Around here I could find something very similar with another one:
Foxnovo® hot sell 15000mah Multi-function Car Jump Starter Mobile Power Bank Battery Charger with LED Light for Laptops /Cell Phones
(Attachment Link)

First has about 110 reviews and looks like it can start anything without being plugged into a wall power source and especially for the size of it I'm very doubtful.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
I was about 50-70E (60-90$) including transport, it took about 1 month to arrive even normally items from EU arrive in about 3-7 days, I think it was shipped from overseas.

My car battery didn't die yet so I tried it on another car, disconnect the positive terminal completely from the battery and I connected this device, basically I replace battery with the charger. It started right off even if the charger was displaying 3/5 charge level. I was surprised to see that it works as it was supposed and comes with tons of cables (both iphone types plugs, USB, mini USB, etc).

I was afraid to go on Sol Asylum's solution because having a visible electronic device on the dash could raise some interest in the parking lot. Thanks and I will keep in mind that idea maybe for other applications.

GJ: Thanks for the offer but no free shipping this time 

[scanner]

Foxnovo and battery disconnect cable are both great products I have seen in use without issue.  My only suggestion would be to apply the cable extender disconnect to the negative, not the positive. Rationale, too much bare conductor in case of crash sandwich.

Clear Skies!

[Kelu]

Rationale, too much bare conductor in case of crash sandwich.

Not sure that I understood completely.

[scanner]

OK, sorry.  When there is a crash, all kinds of stuff gets smushed together.  If there is a large capacity positive conductor without an insulator in contact with ground (most of the metal) there is a risk of unwanted electrical heating.  Most modern vehicles rap that positive battery cable end in plastic boxes to insulate any sandwiches.

Clear Skies!

 

[wspohn]

Do you still have On Star enabled?  That sucks a surprising amount of current just sitting there.  If it is, see about deactivating it.

[Kelu]

scanner: thanks for the info, my disconnect switch is like this:

It was mounted by rally mechanics, they see a lot of crashes compared with a normal road vehicle and I suppose they installed it pretty good, I will check when I will be back to my car. Thanks for noticing 

wspohn: No OnStar services for Opel GTs but I have many other electric systems installed (mentioned above), I think the most responsible for this is a Viper car alarm with pager which communicates with the pager very often and it was supposed to have 1 mile range theoretically. 

[NormSky]

Onstar and arming the alarm all suck battery juice.