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Off to bed for the winter

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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Woke up this morning to our first snow on the ground. Fortunately gone by mid morning. Also the day that Ms Triss went into storage for the winter. I am quite fortunate in that she stays in an underground parking garage owned by a friend of a friend. It is not as secure I suppose though this is the third year and I have never had a problem and, it is basically room temperature.

She started very very reluctantly - in part because I barely used it this summer and really not at all this fall, but, as I drove I realized that she needs some love next spring. wiper motor reinstalled, switch repaired, signal light connections cleaned and repaired, washer motor fixed - likely change to LED lights etc. etc. I guess it is time. but that is months away, though I will likely start assembling things.

In the meantime, I wonder what the wisdom is RE: trickle chargers. I have a new battery in the last year or so, and it is in the basement. Typically I leave it for the winter and charge it the last week or so before I reinstall it on the car. Is this smartest or should I leave it all winter or???

thoughts.
 
Trickle charger will eliminate the need for that charge before the first start inthe spring.
Also It is good practice to disconnect the battery if you are not going to use it for long periods, just minimizes terminal corrosion and such.
 
Joe Schlosser said:
Trickle charger will eliminate the need for that charge before the first start inthe spring.
Also It is good practice to disconnect the battery if you are not going to use it for long periods, just minimizes terminal corrosion and such.
Click to expand...

agreed, the battery is out of the car completely and in my basement.
 
Instead of a trickle charger, get what is called a battery maintainer. At least one brand is Battery Tender They have some electronics that will shut off when the battery is fully charged. A common trickle can cook a battery over the winter.
 
Ah you Northerners. Temps finally getting cool enough so you can drive a LBC. Cold front coming through on Wed giving us a high of only 70 degrees. Sigh got to go to Columbus tomorrow morning and it's supposed to be 26 with snow on Tuesday. Found my Winter Coat packed away. Haven't had long pants or socks on since we moved in July. Going to be tough but only 3 days. I think I can survive. Bugsy is still loving it and loving 90+ degree temps in Tampa.
 
Jim_Gruber said:
Ah you Northerners. Temps finally getting cool enough so you can drive a LBC. Cold front coming through on Wed giving us a high of only 70 degrees. Sigh got to go to Columbus tomorrow morning and it's supposed to be 26 with snow on Tuesday. Found my Winter Coat packed away. Haven't had long pants or socks on since we moved in July. Going to be tough but only 3 days. I think I can survive. Bugsy is still loving it and loving 90+ degree temps in Tampa.
Click to expand...

I miss Florida terribly till March. (actually heading down in a week) but, kind of OK with it too. Much as I hate winter - and I really hate winter, having the space in the garage means space to work on the Vauxhall and the house - so, not a completely terrible trade.

Realized from an earlier post that I meant a battery tender not a trickle charger - so, will plug it in an get going.
 
JP,
What part of Florida are you headed to? We like to travel the gulf coast and our paths might cross.
Rut
 
Rut said:
JP,
What part of Florida are you headed to? We like to travel the gulf coast and our paths might cross.
Rut
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flying to Ft Lauderdale, jumping on a cruise ship for a week, then, renting a car, driving to Orlando where we will meet our daughter and her best friend and together we will be spending a week paying homage to the mouse.
 
We had our first snow on November 15th. They dumped all kinds of salt and crap on the roads, which is usually the cue to put Baby Blue into hibernation.

Not much planned this winter other than routine maintenance. I will probably give the motor a Seafoam treatment to stretch a bit more life out of it. Right now the '53 Plymouth project is taking up most of my time and resources, at least until the weather gets too cold for me to work in the temporary garage structure.
 
Yup. I put the hood up on the bug for the first time in years and got some nice driving in for the late fall. I saw that snow was coming on the 15th so I got the last of the leaves off the property, put the bug in it's shed, moth-balled the '63 SAAB 96, and ran the '64 Vespa dry. Sure enough, they salted the roads real good so three of my 4 vehicles are out of commission until it all washes off in the Spring. I am down to my one car that is treated for the salt : my trusty '68 SAAB 95. This will be its 16th winter ! ( Originally a San Fransiscan car) I hope you all have a good one wherever you are.
 
I've been using a variety of intelligent chargers for the last few years but have adopted the Pulsetech brand for two reasons: one of the neighbours retails it, and they claim that their technology defeats/limits sulfation. There's quite a variety of smart chargers available, all of which claim to avoid the overcharging problems of the traditional trickle chargers, but the sulfate claim has tilted me towards Pulsetech. Two other minor notes: I had a smart charger on a traditional lead acid motorcycle battery for about 18 months, and the battery was dry when I went to start the bike - you still have to check water levels. Also Pulsetech has a neat little splitter that will rotate the current from a single charger through 4 batteries, which might be more economic for your application than several chargers. Doug
 
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