ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

So I bought this nifty little device this weekend and not sure if it will actually do any good. It's a Coleman 2Watt 12v Battery Maintainer. I tested the voltage and it puts out about 13 volts peak in full sunlight but it also worked under a white bulb lamp. It includes battery clamps and cigarette lighter for charging. They had a much larger one (6watt) but i didn't think it would fit without being an eyesore. I feel like this one will fit on the rear deck (since there won't be an top dropping in winter) and i can run the cigarette lighter cable into the center console box. I just feel like the cold Chicago winter wreaks havoc on batteries and I want to avoid any future problems.

Wondering if anyone has any experience as I know there are tons of people out there using battery tenders and other electronics to keep the SC430 battery conditioned during "downtime". What do you all think? I haven't hooked it up yet, but wanted to make sure no one thinks this could damage my electrical system. Any suggestions and advise are appreciated.

mdpuff

One problem I for-see is that the cigarette lighter only works with the key turned on.

FLYCT

If the cigarette lighter is only hot when ignition is on like mdpuff said you will have to rewire it for it to work.

I kept a Pontiac Sunfire "airport car" parked at a remote airport that I would fly into about once a month. It had an always-hot cigar lighter and I used a VW solar panel which worked very well to keep the battery from dying. I kept it suction cupped to the front windshield.

Here's a link describing the panel http://www.beneteau235.com/vw_solar_panel_f235.htm

There is a version of the VW device with an OBD-2 plug that may work for your car.

VW put these on their cars that were transported on shiped to the U.S. for several years.