Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Ferrari rebuilt alternators

[Dave Handa (dave]

Hasn't happened to me.  I keep my rarely ridden motorcycle on a 800 milliamp
Deltran Battery Tender year round.  My 355 spider has a 1.5 amp Napa battery
tender connected pretty much whenever I am not driving it...even though I
drive it several times a week in summer, and at least weekly in winter.



-----Original Message-----
From: Ferrarisimo [at] hotmail.com [mailto:ferrarisimo [at] hotmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 7:59 AM
To: dave [at] davehanda.com
Cc: 'The FerrariList'
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Ferrari rebuilt alternators

I have found that once a battery is going bad - or if it is left on  
the tender for a very long time (like a year) the tender seems to  
overcharge the battery and makes it die quicker.

Any similar experiences?

Scottie


On Jun 5, 2007, at 10:40 AM, Dennis Liu wrote:

> Amen, bro.  And for those of us with batteries that aren't easy to  
> access,
> just spend 10 minutes wiring up a plug for the battery.  Below is  
> something
> I posted to the List a few years ago:
>
> The "Battery Tender" by Deltran, and sometimes marketed under other  
> names,
> is intended exactly for this purpose -- to maintain the battery.  
> I've used
> one on my motorcycles for several years, and the 996 and 355 as  
> well with no
> problems. More info can be found here:
> http://www.batterytender.com/index2.html
>
> It comes with two methods of attachment to your battery -- regular  
> alligator
> clamps (like on jumper cables), or a connector where the ends  
> terminate in
> metal o-rings (like a washer). Each method connects to the charger  
> through
> a little plug-together connector. The o-ring connectors, intended for
> semi-permanent mounting, slip right through the bolts used to  
> attach your
> terminals to your battery. Then simply tie down the length of the  
> wire,
> until you have only the other connector poking out into the trunk.  
> Thus,
> when you're in the garage, pop the lid, snap the two connectors  
> together,
> and voila!
>
> Alternatively, one can get a charger that attaches, piggyback  
> style, to the
> battery (the most popular is manu. by Schumacher, and sometimes  
> marketed as
> a "factory" charger, e.g. Ferrari); the 120v plug is located inside  
> the car;
> you just have to connect an extension cord when needed.
>
> Why do I consider the Deltran method better? Well, I'm presuming  
> that the
> Schumacher is also a computer controlled charger like the Deltran. The
> primary advantage, in my mind, is that you don't have the charger  
> sitting in
> the car -- only the wiring. Thus, (a) it's lighter, (b) you can use  
> one
> charger for more than one vehicle if you alternate, (c) the wire  
> coming out
> of the trunk is thinner and you can in fact close the lid with the  
> wire
> dangling out, if you wanted to do so, you can put the cover over  
> the car,
> (d) I guess if the car gets stolen, you didn't lose the charger as  
> well, (e)
> if the circuit breaker (or whatever) inside the Schumacher fails,  
> it melts
> INSIDE the car, right next to your battery; I'd prefer to have the  
> thing
> melt down outside my car, not in it!!, and (f) another "clean"  
> method of
> attaching a battery tender is to go to Radio Shack and buy a cigarette
> lighter adapter with a 9 foot cord attached. Then wire this into  
> the "hard
> wire" connector kit, by removing the o-ring connectors and splicing  
> in the
> cigarette adapter instead. No having to pop the hood anymore, just  
> remove
> cigarette lighter and plug in, provided that the cigarette lighter is
> POWERED when the key is off.
> ________
>
> Voila! And if you think the rings to the batter post look "small",  
> keep in
> mind that they are designed not to fit over the batter post, but  
> rather over
> the bolt that secures the wires to the post....
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> vty,
>
> --Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Doug and Terri Anderson [mailto:dnt [at] dock.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 9:55 AM
> To: Dennis Liu
> Cc: 'The FerrariList'
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Ferrari rebuilt alternators
>
> Hmmmm - thot I would add a note or two here.  First, many Ferrari  
> cars are
> not driven frequently enough - the battery drops in charge but not  
> voltage -
> we can still get 12.5 volts across the terminals.  Second,  
> alternators do
> one fine job charging and in this process create quite a bit of  
> heat.  As
> such, if we have a low battery, the alternator ends up doing way  
> more and
> more often than they were designed for, charging.  Your reward -  
> pooooof.
> Red light.
>
> I found this out when I removed a melted alternator from another  
> car after I
> had left the lights on during a foggy morning at the airport.  Come  
> back two
> days later and - - - not even a click.  AAA got me going and I  
> drive home.
> Next day - car starts and off I go little knowing I have about half  
> a charge
> in the battery.  Several days of this - just in time for the  
> weekend - and I
> get an extra chore - change alternators. $#**^$?
>
> Guy at the alternator store asks - use this to charge a dead  
> battery?  Um,
> not really - but here's the story.  BUWHAHAhahahahahaah  he says -  
> should
> hooked up a charger.  This poor old guy woulda out lasted your car  
> if you
> hadn't done what you did.
>
> So just about every week or so I charge the battery (so freaking  
> easy to get
> to in a 308) and lo and behold, on a 2 year Interstate, I get about  
> an half
> hour charge before the green light.
>
> Yeah, I do have a trickle charger - see above para regarding how  
> easy the
> battery is to get to.  I really mean to hook it up - but I am  
> pretty lazy
> coming in from a jaunt and aside from creating an external aircraft  
> battery
> charger fitting similar to aircraft - I put it off.  Well, now I do it
> before I take the car out. I think this will forgo an early  
> replacement.
> Stinkin' thing is only 30 years old.  heh heh
>
> DOUG
>
>
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