[tommcd24]

Question for those of you who live in cold climates regarding trickle-charging/maintaing the battery. I've never been one to use an always plugged in battery tender, instead opting to connect a charger/maintainer once a month or so instead.

I just got my 2SS in Dec. and it's been parked in my garage since. I did start it up on Christmas Day for the family and let it idle for about 20-minutes, but otherwise have avoided starting it, since I won't be driving it until closer to spring.

So, car's been parked since mid-December in a garage that is insulated, but not heated. As an example, if it's 0*F outside, it is normally 20*F in the garage. We've had a number of sub-zero degree days lately, including a 72-hour stretch last week and another cold snap coming up. So trying to be proactive, I put my NOCO 2-amp charger/maintainer on yesterday for about 12 hours expecting that would top it off and report a full charge state. When I checked it around 10pm last night it had not progressed past the 25% indicator, which surprised me.

In comparison, I can fully charge/maintain my Harley battery in 4-6 hours, which I do about once a month or so. Obviously the Camaro's battery is much larger than my Harley's, but I fully expected that 12-hours would have at least progressed to the 50% indicator (the NOCO has four lights, each roughly corresponding to 25% of capacity).

Does this seem legit that my battery could truly have drained that much? When I opened the door, the interior lights all came on, the window did it's normal 1/2" downstroke (convertible), and everything seemed "normal" or at least as normal as I can tell since I've driven the car a total of 30 miles or so at this point... I do understand it would take much less juice from the battery for the lights than starting it, etc. but all of the "dome lights", accent trim lights (2SS), illuminate door sills, etc. lit up normally.

Is my NOCO underpowered or do the front battery terminals have too much resistance or something for trickle charging? I've read that many people use a 4-amp maintainer, which is what GM sells, maybe 2-amp is just too low?
The other question I have, and my next step, is to move the NOCO to connect directly to the battery in the trunk and see if that changes anything.

In the meantime, if anyone has "been there, done that" and has pointers for me, I'd appreciate it.

Link to my unit if it helps with the underpowered question: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[arpad_m]

Hey Tom, this does not sound unusual to me. During the first two winters back in NJ I used the GM accessory battery maintainer, a rebranded CTEK unit (https://accessories.chevrolet.com/pr...cript-84534448), and this unit did take forever to bring the battery back to 100% if I connected it after 2-3 weeks.

Then I purchased a professional OptiMATE 6 unit (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UANXCE) that can charge at 1 to 5 amps, and it's much quicker with the same battery. Yes, I'm still on my original battery from 2018, it shows no signs of weakness and still starts the car quickly and effortlessly. I'll have it load tested next month or shortly afterwards, one or around the car's 4th "birthday".

[johnnyride]

Hey Tom,

I took my car off the road in late November. I'm using the GM accessory battery maintainer (https://accessories.chevrolet.com/pr...cript-84534448) and I keep it plugged in 24/7.

Once every three weeks or so, I disconnect it and start the car. Then I reattach, and it goes back to full charge in about a half hour. I use the front posts.

And from what I hear, the Camaros drain batteries just sitting there. Most people on here seem to say if you don't drive it at least every two weeks you should trickle it.

[Mark114]

That doesn't sound unusual to me either. I have used a smaller NOCO and a Battery Tender to maintain batteries. It seems like it takes about a day for the trickle chargers to get my battery charged and go into maintenance mode. If it isn't fully charged after a day or two then I would be concerned. Charging from the front posts should be just as good as the trunk. Many people charge their batteries that way due to where the power outlet is located in their storage bay or garage.

[Kevin0311]

Consider putting in transport mode to help minimize battery drain when sitting for long periods of time.
my 22zl1 i charged with provided charger back late november, car in transport mode with cover on it inside 40 plus degree garage. Wont touch until spring and will trickle charge first before doing anything. I have other cars that are stored same way no issues in upstate ny for several years, some outside.

[rcoe]

I have the Noco AGM tender and mounted it in the truck on the battery cover panel. Hardwired into the battery. I just run an extension cord into the trunk leave it plugged in all the time. Works great.

[wintertopdown]

Wow a 2SS vert M6, I could only dream of that power and luxury. I own a mere 17’ V6 M6 1LT RS vert with a tan top and almost now 140k miles.

After a long 8000 mile motorcycle trip, I returned home to a dead battery. I now do keep an inexpensive battery maintainer connected to my battery whenever I park in the garage: connected via the terminals under the hood. I purchased the charger from Harbor Freight for ~$10. I find my battery is now reading at 14 volts consistently: according to the dash readout. Previously, when it sat, the dash would read out 11volts.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ger-64284.html

[Sweptwing]

One other item that wasn’t specifically mentioned is making sure you use the “AGM” setting on your charger.

[tommcd24]

Originally Posted by Sweptwing

One other item that wasn’t specifically mentioned is making sure you use the “AGM” setting on your charger.

Fair point, but yes, I have it in AGM 12V mode. All my batteries are AGM now, and the unit has some memory function so it starts right up in that mode.

I did some reading on NOCOs site after posting earlier, and noticed that my NOCO 2amp charger is only "rated" for up to 40mah batteries. Our batteries are 70mah, I believe. Not sure if it has some logic that detects the battery capacity and truly fails to work or not? Seems like a trickle charger is a trickle charger is a trickle charger, but with some of the newer logic circuitry maybe that's not the case anymore.

Based on what everyone has said, I'm going to hook it back up when I get home from work and leave it connected overnight and potentially throughout the day tomorrow. If it's still stuck at 25% at that point, I may look to order a NOCO 5amp unit (rated up to 120mah) and/or just connect my full battery charger for a while.

[Rock-It Man]

I can't understand why the OP waited until it was below freezing to attach a battery tender.

The battery tender should be running full time as soon as the car goes into storage. Among other things, it protects the battery from damage due to freezing temperatures. Possibly the OP's battery is already seriously damaged.

It's so much less expensive to have a smart tender than to play guessing games.

As for running a car for 20 minutes in a frigid garage, all that does is to fill the crankcase and exhaust with water.

[BlackbeastSS2]

Some of you have already seen this thread, but I thought I would put a link to it again. Since a few of you have probably not seen this.


https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=587831


I actually love the fact that I did this and the speed shop that did my engine work thought it should come standard from the factory because our batteries drain so quick when not used.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by wintertopdown

Wow a 2SS vert M6, I could only dream of that power and luxury. I own a mere 17’ V6 M6 1LT RS vert with a tan top and almost now 140k miles.

After a long 8000 mile motorcycle trip, I returned home to a dead battery. I now do keep an inexpensive battery maintainer connected to my battery whenever I park in the garage: connected via the terminals under the hood. I purchased the charger from Harbor Freight for ~$10. I find my battery is now reading at 14 volts consistently: according to the dash readout. Previously, when it sat, the dash would read out 11volts.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ger-64284.html

Oh, that motorcycle trip must have been a hoot It seems you may not be aware that our battery gauge is a dual function instrument, it reads actual battery voltage when the alternator isn't charging, and the charging voltage when it is.

The 11V readout you saw corresponds to the (very low) battery, whereas the 14V one means the alternator is charging the battery at this voltage, it is not the battery voltage itself. Once the smart charging circuit is done, you should see the voltage stabilize around 12.5V.

(Having that crazy 9 to 19V scale with 8 segments doesn't exactly help figure out the actual voltage displayed... who knows why they didn't set the range from 10 to 18V, especially since this is all in software...)

[Chutzpah]

I’d say your charger is a bit underpowered for the application. I use a NOCO 3.5A unit, in a heated garage. I probably wouldn’t go any smaller than what I have now (just based on how long it could take to fully charge a discharged battery). I use the terminals under the hood.

[TXCSSU]

We had a cold front come through and it's been near 40 degrees for the past 5 days and my SS Sedan is in storage, battery seems fine to me....



























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