Left my S2000 for a couple of weeks without driving it and now the battery is dead. Having searched the forums, seems this is fairly normal.

Wanting to not repeat this exeprience, I would like to put a battery maintainer on but have a very basic question in regard to this. Do I have to disconnect the leads from the battery to the S2K before charging it and leaving it on maintenance, or is it OK to just plug the battery charger / maintiner onto the battery still connected up?

Also, I noticed the mention of the removal of the "Backup" fuse to avoid battery drain when the S2K is not being used. Is this one of the standard fuses, or somthing special?

 

No need to disconnect battery cables when tender/charger is installed.

The "backup fuse" you mention could be the power source for one or more circuits that stay energized even when the key is off. Stuff like radios need constant power to remember their presets. These should be very minimal current draws. Not enough to kill a good battery in a week. I'm not sure how many fuses or circuits stay energized with the key off. If you have a wiring diagram for the car, look for any circuits labled ALWAYS ON.

Bigger question is why your battery went dead. If its old, just replace it and see if the problem goes away. If you have the same trouble with new battery descharging after a week w/o use, then you have a drain or short in one or more of the circuits.

 

Keep a mindful eye on your battery life around this time. You're going on 48-60 months, depending on your useage the battery might not hold charge as well.

I have an 02 and replaced my battery this past Winter for ~$50. It probably could have lasted another year or so, but didn't want the frustration of potential dead battery in the Winter. Not worth the savings, IMHO.

 

about 10-20amps(depending on make/models) draws daily. Not including other aftermarket products that are installed needing "constant" power source.

 

You may want to consider a trickle charger that desulfates the battery. It will last a lot longer, especially if you park your car for weeks at a time.

I use a Battery MINDer. I've never had a problem with it. I used to have a PowerPulse (made by PulseTech) which worked fine until someone borrowed it and messed it up. PulseTech makes some interesting pulse chargers, some of which can keep your battery charged and desulfated using solar panels.

Since most batteries go bad due to sulfation, it's a great way to spend less on batteries.

 

Thanks for the info. The battery I had I got tested at it had a dead cell. Replaced with one that has a 2 year warranty with onsite replacement... so if it happens again at least it won't be an issue!

It was nice to have her back out on the road again, if only for a few hours. Now she just needs a good clean and polish and a bit of luvin.

 

My 5 year old battery sits for weeks at a time and I haven't had a problem (yet). I did have to add some distilled water a while back, and that seemed to make a world of difference in the initial cold-cranking.

 

My '00 sits for four months each winter. I put a charger on the battery about once a month, and I've not had any problems in 5 years.

 

get a deep cycle battery ..

 

Optima!