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Old 01-05-2024, 12:05 PM   #5121
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Alternatively you could hire the neighborhood teenager to drive it a couple times a week to keep the fluids moving. Good for the local economy, too.
Last winter we were gone for 100 days. My wife’s sister house sat and was supposed to start our cars when it was cold. You guessed it; she didn’t and I had two dead batteries to replace, which is more difficult when you can’t drive to a store.

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Old 01-05-2024, 12:15 PM   #5122
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I’ve got the Noco trickle charger ironhorse posted. I use it on my snow plow truck that sits outside and has a weird electrical gremlin that drains the battery for some unknown reason. It works fantastic and I’ve had no issues in two winters of use. The only thing worth mentioning is I’m not sure if they are rated for lower than -20 or -25, so you’ll want to confirm that before purchase.
Nominally they're rated down to -20 °C (-4 °F), but I've used mine in much colder weather with no ill effects. I think the temperature rating is more to do with the impact and weather resistance of the casing than the functioning of the electronics.

That said, I make a point of keeping the charger and connection to the extension cord I use under a closed hood, precisely so that the charger and the electrical connection are protected from the weather.
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Old 01-05-2024, 12:19 PM   #5123
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Do unheated, attached garages even get below -20 degrees in Calgary even during cold spells?
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Old 01-05-2024, 12:25 PM   #5124
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Nominally they're rated down to -20 °C (-4 °F), but I've used mine in much colder weather with no ill effects. I think the temperature rating is more to do with the impact and weather resistance of the casing than the functioning of the electronics.

That said, I make a point of keeping the charger and connection to the extension cord I use under a closed hood, precisely so that the charger and the electrical connection are protected from the weather.
Good to know. I couldn’t remember if I had used it in colder than -20 or not.
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Old 01-05-2024, 01:14 PM   #5125
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Last winter we were gone for 100 days. My wife’s sister house sat and was supposed to start our cars when it was cold. You guessed it; she didn’t and I had to dead batteries to replace, which is more difficult when you can’t drive to a store.
Starting a car and letting it run is worse than doing nothing at all. Both for the battery, and mechanically.
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Old 01-05-2024, 03:03 PM   #5126
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Starting a car and letting it run is worse than doing nothing at all. Both for the battery, and mechanically.
and correct me if I'm wrong, but if you didn't sit there for 10 minutes trying to turnover on a dead battery, and instead plugged it into a charger for a healthy amount of time, your battery would probably be right back to it's condition before sitting in the cold drained it down.
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Old 01-05-2024, 04:59 PM   #5127
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Alternatively you could hire the neighborhood teenager to drive it a couple times a week to keep the fluids moving. Good for the local economy, too.
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Old 01-05-2024, 05:15 PM   #5128
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Originally Posted by MoneyGuy View Post
Last winter we were gone for 100 days. My wife’s sister house sat and was supposed to start our cars when it was cold. You guessed it; she didn’t and I had two dead batteries to replace, which is more difficult when you can’t drive to a store.


I know you and everyone like you.

You're the guy that walks into Canadian Tire looking for batteries in a foul and ill-tempered mood and says...

"Can you test these batteries for me?"
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Old 01-05-2024, 05:32 PM   #5129
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Originally Posted by Locke View Post


I know you and everyone like you.

You're the guy that walks into Canadian Tire looking for batteries in a foul and ill-tempered mood and says...

"Can you test these batteries for me?"
I’m not sure what you’re saying but I’m not that guy.
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Old 01-05-2024, 05:34 PM   #5130
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Hey, if I buy battery minders, what specs should I require to keep my batteries safe for a month at a time? I suppose I could bring them into the house but that’s a pain in the a$$ and may not be safe.
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Old 01-05-2024, 05:54 PM   #5131
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Sliver, how confident are you in the Genny's auto/self driving tech?

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Needed great self-driving tech. This car nails it for me. Can press a button and it'll take care of 90% of the driving for me in stop-and-go rush hour. It'll also do 90% of the driving for me on the highway between Calgary-Canmore/Lake Louise...I'm on that highway at least once per week
On my driver-assist R, I've had the lane departure, read the dirty/snowy roads wrong once, and try to take me into the ditch. Thus, I turn that off in the winters. A.C.C, and the others of course I retain.
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Old 01-05-2024, 08:20 PM   #5132
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Sliver, how confident are you in the Genny's auto/self driving tech?

On my driver-assist R, I've had the lane departure, read the dirty/snowy roads wrong once, and try to take me into the ditch. Thus, I turn that off in the winters. A.C.C, and the others of course I retain.
0% confident on snowy roads. I don't think they're there yet. It hasn't snowed that much this year, obviously, but when it has it can't read the lanes well enough to bother using.
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Old 01-05-2024, 08:23 PM   #5133
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Hey, if I buy battery minders, what specs should I require to keep my batteries safe for a month at a time? I suppose I could bring them into the house but that’s a pain in the a$$ and may not be safe.
You might be over thinking this. Any battery tender will work fine. It's, like, super low tech. I've parked a ton of cars over the winters and used random tenders (basically whatever was on sale at Canadian Tire).

I've actually left one car over the winter without any tender whatsoever and my car fired up in spring first crank. I think you've nuked your batteries because you start them and let them idle every few weeks or whatever. That destroys batteries. You gotta stop doing that.
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Old 01-05-2024, 08:43 PM   #5134
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You might be over thinking this. Any battery tender will work fine. It's, like, super low tech. I've parked a ton of cars over the winters and used random tenders (basically whatever was on sale at Canadian Tire).

I've actually left one car over the winter without any tender whatsoever and my car fired up in spring first crank. I think you've nuked your batteries because you start them and let them idle every few weeks or whatever. That destroys batteries. You gotta stop doing that.
I haven’t been doing that. Last winter two batteries were destroyed but not like that. I’ll get the tenders without overthinking it.
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Old 01-08-2024, 02:56 AM   #5135
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I saw this and smiled.

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Old 01-08-2024, 02:04 PM   #5136
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I haven’t been doing that. Last winter two batteries were destroyed but not like that. I’ll get the tenders without overthinking it.
Most current basic tenders will be fine and they're a hell of a lot cheaper than they used to be. Even "higher end" NOCO ones that were recommended are like $50-60 entry level for the genius 1. Based on what you described, you'll likely be fine with the most barebones battery tender you can get your hands on.

The extra features on tenders are things like battery repair/desulfator, alligator clamps vs ring terminals (easy on/easy off/short term vs harder on/harder accidentally come off/longer term), speed it can recharge a battery (not necessary for you if doing months at a time), can it do multiple batteries etc.

Since you're not in a major area and often need to self address issues, if you want to spend a little more, I'd probably recommend going with a tender that has battery repair/desulfator so you can give that a hail Mary attempt if basic trickle charging didn't work on your battery.

https://www.amazon.ca/NOCO-GENIUS2D-...f-fa04f1ca0da8

https://www.amazon.ca/NOCO-GENIUS1-F...f-fa04f1ca0da8

I'd also suggest that you get a USB jump starter and keep it topped up. That way if you end up with another issue where both batteries are dead again, you can jump start it yourself without waiting for help to arrive (since you live out of the way IIRC). Just make sure that you get one that can deal with the battery size of your vehicles. A NOCO boost 500A is adequate for your needs up to pick up trucks without worry you'd fry the jump starter. I think you can get around 3-4 jumps on the 500A on a full charge before needing to recharge. You wouldn't need anything higher than that. I personally have a 1000A and I bet I could get 3-8 jumps if required. I've also run into situations where other jump starters couldn't jump a pick up, but this bad boy did it no problem. I honestly use the jump starter like 10-20x on others before I use it on my own vehicles once. It's awesome and actually easier than jumper cables to use.

https://www.amazon.ca/NOCO-GB40-Ultr...b-f959a9930752

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Old 01-08-2024, 02:09 PM   #5137
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^I'd probably recommend against a Direct-Mount charger like the Genius2D and go with the more standard Genius2.
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Old 01-08-2024, 02:25 PM   #5138
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These work just fine, too.


https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/b...p.0111940.html


I don't drive much, so have the permanent battery connection with the cable tucked in the grill on both vehicles, so I can easily hook it up.
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Old 01-08-2024, 04:05 PM   #5139
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These work just fine, too.


https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/b...p.0111940.html


I don't drive much, so have the permanent battery connection with the cable tucked in the grill on both vehicles, so I can easily hook it up.
I’m assuming that can just be safely left on the batteries for several weeks over winter?
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Old 01-08-2024, 04:16 PM   #5140
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Yes, they are smart enough not to overcharge, and turn on again if the voltage drops.
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