Storage Gameplan; Surge protector for battery tender

[Vibert]

So the Viper is all cleaned, covered, and stored. Full tank of gas with stabilizer. Tires at 40 psi to prevent flat spots. Parked in unheated attached garage on a thick plastic tarp to prevent underbelly moisture from concrete floor. I won't be starting or driving until April. Midwest winter. Anything I'm forgetting?

Question: car will be plugged into a battery tender in hibernation mode. I have a whole house surge protector and the tender will be plugged into a 1050 joule rated single outlet surge protector that itself is plugged into a garage outlet. Is that enough protection? (Note: I have a whole house generator and we lose power if a bird flys by the house too close. )

[swexlin]

You're good. My car sits in my unheated garage, for weeks at a time in winter, concrete floor, tires normal pressure, hibernation mode (and only this year a tender), nothing under the tires, no gas stabilizer, and she's a OK.

If you have a whole house sure protector, you're fine.

[Jack B]

Just wondering, what is the mfg/pn of the spd.


So the Viper is all cleaned, covered, and stored. Full tank of gas with stabilizer. Tires at 40 psi to prevent flat spots. Parked in unheated attached garage on a thick plastic tarp to prevent underbelly moisture from concrete floor. I won't be starting or driving until April. Midwest winter. Anything I'm forgetting?

Question: car will be plugged into a battery tender in hibernation mode. I have a whole house surge protector and the tender will be plugged into a 1050 joule rated single outlet surge protector that itself is plugged into a garage outlet. Is that enough protection? (Note: I have a whole house generator and we lose power if a bird flys by the house too close. )

[Vibert]

The whole house surge protector located on the circuit breaker box is the sycom SYC-120/240-T2. The outlet surge protector in the garage I THINK is the belkin F9h-100cw. I can confirm when I get home.

[Steve-Indy]

As I have posted/discussed/argued several times in the past...you cannot count on any surge protector to protect an automobile connected to a battery tender or charger against LIGHTNING.

I have 8 battery tenders connected at this moment...and, religiously unplug all of them well before storm conditions arrive.

http://stormhighway.com/surge_protectors_ups_lightning_protection_myth.php

It is my experience that you can leave a Viper equipped with a "hibernation" mode off of a tender for several months IF you start with a good quality, fully charged battery.

[Vibert]

I assume there's no harm then in just unplugging the battery tender any time there's a risk of bad weather and then plugging back in, even if it's a few days or weeks later (in the event that I forget)?

[Steve-Indy]

That is what I do with all Gens.

[ACR]

Yeah harbor freight jack stands, forget expecting inflating tires to prevent flat spots

[Jack B]

The reason i ask, I am involved in the Surge Protection Device (SPD) industry. I have access to multiple sources and know the internal designs of most devices in the market. I installed the following Erico device on my home TDX50C120240. That specific device typically has the best voltage protection rating (VPR) in the industry.

The key to installing these is to keep the conductors as short and straight as possible. If the conductors are much beyond 36" long the ability to clamp the voltage transient is reduced. This industry was not policed at one time, however, the most recent UL1449 version now forces the manufacturers to publish their protection ratings on the UL website, therefore, no more false claims.




The whole house surge protector located on the circuit breaker box is the sycom SYC-120/240-T2. The outlet surge protector in the garage I THINK is the belkin F9h-100cw. I can confirm when I get home.

[Dave292]

I had a Deltron Battery Tender Plus go up in smoke about 2 years ago. To their credit, the Tender just smoked but did not catch fire. I called Deltron and asked about the cause. They told me that power surges are the main source of destruction for their tenders and a surge protector would help eliminate the issue. Since I have 12 of them in my garage charging everything from motorcycles to cars, I decided to use suppressor strips on everything. The good news is when I go on vacation and shut them all off, I have anywhere from 2-4 tenders on the suppressor and with the flick of a switch I can shut multiple tenders off at once. No issues since but I have had occasions where the strip reset has gone off. HHMMMMM, maybe it's working!