the battery tender has a two pole connection in the line...they come with
clamps plugged in, but you may also have, or you can buy a pigtail with
ring terminals and a plug that works with the battery tender...Just leave
that in the battery box, it can't short out...And when you store the van,
just pull out the pigtail and connect the tender....

On Jan 30, 2017 5:59 PM, "PB" <pbrattan@gmail.com> wrote:

I had posted about new battery being drained.  Battery and alternator seem
to be OK.  As per replies, it was probably due to lack of driving and
insufficient charging.

I have a Battery Tender for trickle charging.  Can I use  this 12 volt
adapter <http://products.batterytender.com/081-0069-5.jpg> connected to the
dash when I don't drive that much? Is the dash cig lighter connected to the
starter battery? (I have an aux battery, too.)  If not, where is the best
place near the main battery cavity to drill a 3/4" hole so I can leave the
Battery Tender pigtail permanently connected and available when needed?
Patti
90 Westy Automatic

On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 6:34 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> See if you can measure the parasitic drain when van off. I think others
> have outlined method. And, and I'm a practitioner of this approach, plug
in
> a battery charger on some sort of schedule. I am of the mind that we don't
> fully charge our batteries all the time with just driving.
>
> Alistair
>
>
>
> > On Jan 26, 2017, at 2:34 PM, PB <pbrattan@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > Just got a brand new 36 month free replacement battery on Jan. 2. Due to
> > recent bad weather, I drove it fairly short distances 2 days in a row,
> > didn't drive it for about 2 weeks, and now the battery's dead again.  I
> > can't see that any lights were left on, and the stereo kill switch is
> > turned off. I did notice, however that the second time I drove it,  it
> was
> > a little harder to start so I checked the battery voltage.  I don't
> > remember exactly what it showed, but it was less than 12 volts, and
> > although the van started, it didn't start as easily as it should. At
that
> > time, I noticed that I had an unused plug connected to the aux battery,
> and
> > there was a blue light on around the plug.  I promptly disconnected it
> when
> > I noticed it. I also made sure that the dash cig lighter plug was not
> > pushed in.
> >
> > When I first got my van, I didn't know there was a stereo kill switch,
so
> > the stereo was drawing current, and it killed the battery.  Got a new
> > battery then, and that battery lasted nearly 10 years without any issues
> at
> > all.
> >
> > What could be drawing current this time?  Or is it just not charging
> while
> > I drive?
> > Patti
> > 90 Westy Automatic
> > Los Angeles
> >
> > --
> >
> > *♪♫**♥**♫♪♪♫**♥**♫♪♪♫**♥**♫♪♪♫**♥**♫♪*
> > If it's not on my iPhone, it doesn't exist...
> > ●▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬●
>
>

--

*♪♫**♥**♫♪♪♫**♥**♫♪♪♫**♥**♫♪♪♫**♥**♫♪*
If it's not on my iPhone, it doesn't exist...
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