Putting the Boxster to bed 4 the winter

[Bengalfan]

Thanks for all the answers - especially plugging the exhaust and intakes. Is a maintainer and a trinkle charger the same thing? Sounds like it is, but never seen one that would backfeed via the cigarette lighter plug.

[schnellman]

Originally Posted by Bengalfan

Thanks for all the answers - especially plugging the exhaust and intakes. Is a maintainer and a trinkle charger the same thing? Sounds like it is, but never seen one that would backfeed via the cigarette lighter plug.

They aren't the same. A battery maintainer is more sophisticated and will cycle as needed by the battery. A trickle charger just never stops and can actually boil the battery.
I've used a maintainer through the cigarette lighter for three years and it has worked well.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Bengalfan

Thanks for all the answers - especially plugging the exhaust and intakes.

Just don't forget that you put them there. If anything, add some kind of bright/neon colored streamer tags onto them, kind of like the "Remove Before Flight" tags you see on aircraft, just as an added bit of insurance that you won't start the car with a plugged intake and/or exhaust.

One thing with any sort of battery charger/maintainer is that you don't want to ever use them on a frozen battery, so keep ambient temps in mind if there's no sort of temp control involved in your storage. You'll have to let the battery thaw if it's frozen, but if it's already hooked up to maintainer prior to hitting low temps then it shouldn't freeze.