lesz

You are going to have to explain that. I've been using trickle chargers for over 20 years, and I have never had an issue with a battery or alternator. Actually, quite to the contrary, the trickle chargers seem to have been good for battery health and have extended the life of those batteries.

gemigniani

This discussion is not about an owner who has his car parked in a spot where a trickle charger could be used.

lesz

I understand that, but I'd like to think that there are alternatives to putting the car into long-term storage mode and having to go through the trouble of setting everything up again when it is put back into service. Those alternatives might include finding a friend or relative at whose home the car could be parked and where a trickle charger might be plugged in or using a solar-powered trickle charger. Others might be able to come up with additional more creative options.

dxerg3770

Thanks for the input guys. I live in queens NYC so there isnt whole lot of indoor options for me. I dont even know anyone who has a spare garage. I'm also already paying $150/mo for outdoor parking spot so it wouldn't financially make sense for me to find indoor paid parking which could cost up to $400 for a month. If the only negative aspect of disconnecting car battery is having to setup couple of settings again, I will go with that route. My initial concern was that with modern cars and their electronics, disconnecting battery for extended period of time could have other negative impacts.

gemigniani

Plus remember that for many underhood maintenance procedures the first step listed in the factory repair manual is "Disconnect battery negative cable" to prevent the technician from getting electrical shocks and to avoid possible underhood sparks, fires and battery explosions.

Arty101

I don't see any major problem with disconnecting the battery, other than resetting certain settings. That said, how about getting one of those portable jumper battery and leaving it in your trunk. Then you can leave your battery plugged in to test out if it can last the month. If not, you have a jump.

lesz

You need to remember that, if you have custom settings that are in the "dealer only" category and, if those settings are lost, you will either need to have and use the Toyota Techstream software and hardware or the Carista app and hardware to re-set them, or else you will have to make a trip to the dealership and pay them to re-set those settings.

Also, I know that, when I got my ES, I initially spent several hours setting up the vehicle's various systems the way that I wanted them, but, besides that time spent, I also, over the period of vehicle ownership, have built up a data base for the audio system, navigation system destinations, etc., and I would not underestimate the amount of time and the inconvenience associated with re-building that data base.

Carista

1 month is not that long. I would just leave it as is. I often leave my cars undriven for a few weeks at a time and they're fine... and they're older cars with older batteries. So unless there's something specific about the GS that drains electricity when the car is parked, I wouldn't worry about it.

That said, if you do decide to disconnect it, and your settings do get reset, Carista to the rescue!

Tweaker

I've been reading this thread with interest. Are there any opinions about how safe it is having the Battery Tender on a battery in an enclosed garage? It has been my understanding that a charging battery emits gasses.

lesz

I've been using them in an enclosed garage for years without issues, and I don't see any cautions or warnings in the documentation that came with them saying not to use them in an enclosed garage. I don't know about whether charging emits gasses, but my guess would be that, even if it does, since trickle chargers are using such a low level charge, it would not be an issue. I could, however, be mistaken, and, if that is the case, I'm sure that someone with more knowledge will chime in.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Same here.
I had a battery tender attached to a show car '69 Corvette I owned every day it wasn't at a show or cruise night for over 15 years in a attached garage and never had a gas emitting problem.
With snow and wet roads ,my GS has sat for 3 weeks and will be sitting much longer with a Battery Tender attached and no issues.Sat for many weeks last winter too.

bc6152

And I have two cars in an enclosed garage for 5 months at a time for the last 10 years with the battery tender hooked up. No issues.

lesz

After the last several posts in this thread, I was motivated to do a Google search and a little reading. The main thing that I learned was that there is a lot I don't know about batteries and about chemistry. What I also learned, however, makes me feel comfortable about using the Battery Tenders inside the garage. It would appear that danger from gas build up (and possible explosion) would be insignificant as long as the battery is not being overcharged. The circuitry inside the Battery Tender is designed to monitor the charge level of the battery and to supply a charge level sufficient to keep the battery fully charged, and, as the battery achieves full charge, the charge level is reduced to a level that maintains the full charge but that does not overcharge the battery.

Another thing that I learned is that, while the Battery Tender products are designed to monitor the battery charge level and to vary the level of charge being supplied to the battery to keep it fully charged without overcharging it, some of the less expensive trickle chargers do not do the same thing. Instead, they supply a constant low level charge, and, while that low level charge is not likely to overcharge the battery, that is not an absolute certainty. Knowing that make me feel better about spending the extra money for the Battery Tender products and about not having bought one of the less expensive trickle chargers.

If someone with better knowledge of batteries and their chemistry knows something different, I would hope to see what he/she has to say.

jkeller

Your car will be just fine without disconecting the battery cable. I've been sitting in my GS messing with the settings on the nav screen when the car will turn off, enable battery saver, right when I'm running through settings options. It also does this if I leave the trunk open--it will turn off the trunk light to save the battery. In short, 1 month just leave it alone, it will start back up with no problem.:thumb up:

Edit------- the battery saver mode kicks in at the 30 minute mark. It's done it to me several times.

jkeller

Hey guys how much longer till the IOS app is up and running? Not the beta, but an app on iTunes?