samkimg

Any recommendation for a trickle charger? My 2014 e350 sits in the garage much of the time and yesterday the battery went dead-ish, a AAA jump start restored it.

2nd, any recommendations for a Indy mechanic in the Sacramento CA area to install a wiring harness so I don’t have to open the hood and remove the cowling to attach trickle charger?

thanks in advance.

CaliBenzDriver

There are a number of trickle chargers out there. CTEK is one of the leader with software driven cycles.



CTEK hook up on MY'14

I do not believe any covers need to be removed to acces charging points. It's a clean quick easy process.

Also have a look in your trunk right next to the spare tire. Your AUX battery may need charging as well.
Do not use the "AGM mode" on the charger.

Reboot bonus :
Once the charging of both batteries is complete, you may want to disconnect them for 5mn to reboot your car computers.

This step should help prevent your F-SAM from draining your main battery at will. Dismal voltages during the 400Amp engine crank can push the SAM's to act crazy until rebooted. These cars are sensitive to extreme voltages... bug or feature?

KEY08

CTek is all I use. Hook to the remote charge/jump points.

ghlkal

As Cali and Key mentioned, no need to remove anything to attach the trickle charger. Slide the red cap away from the + access point and attach - to the ground point nearby.

I happen to use a Battery Tender Jr. I charge up each of my cars overnight once a week or so.

BenzV12

CTEK ,definitely worth it

kajtek1

There is lot of misleading information about chargers, but typical trickle charger is the last charger you'd want hook up to your MB.
What you need for your purpose is battery MAINTAINER with FLOAT CIRCUIT that will keep the battery at desired voltage.
Having lot of seasonal toys, I've been using HF maintainers for decades.
https://www.harborfreight.com/automa...ger-64284.html
They also have more expensive option with small plugs so you could bolt it to wiring under the hood and have small plug stick in front grille.
This way you can also reinforce the cable to make it self -unplug in case you have senior moment.
During Covid times, I was hooking up maintainers even when car sit only for 5 days. This way my lovely ECO mode was working 1 mile away from the house, when otherwise it takes over 10 miles to start working.

manishjain24

I have been using the TecMate charger on my W212, never had issues


12V & 24V battery charger! OptiMate 6 12V-24V is perfect for high-performance starters & deep cycle batteries that demand temp. controlled charging & long-term maintenance!

Left Coast Geek

My NOCO Genius 10 charger reverts to battery maintenance mode once its confirmed the battery is already charged, and even if the power is interrupted, it automatically goes back to maintenance mode when the power is restored.

my diesel truck, that sometimes sits out in the driveway for months at a time, has a 10 watt solar battery tender for its dual group 65's.

Bahnstormer

I use an inexpensive Shumacher maintenance charger purchased from Walmart, works great.

Fliplegend

CTEK is what the BMW community recommends. Aside from that, I have a Schumacher 8A and no complaints.

kajtek1

How do you know that? Did you measure the maintaining voltage?
Lot of owners never check the chargers, while their higher than recommended voltage shortens battery life. Is your battery lasting over 10 years like well maintained does?

Bahnstormer

I read the specs and the reviews, geez.

Left Coast Geek

I've had several Shumacher chargers crap out on me. they made a lot of the Sears Diehard branded chargers, too. The last one I had, which was supposed to be a multistage 'smart' charger, if the power failed, it didn't come back on til you reset it and selected maintenance mode again, thats USELESS.

90% of so called reviews out there are pretty much worthless, they review the advertisements.

kajtek1

Sounds like you have no clue what the charger actually does?
Yet you give it high remarks. Is that what you call review?

Bahnstormer

Don't you have a diesel to go fill up?

kajtek1

Not for another month. With 600-800 miles on the tank, I fill it up 6-7 times a year, unless we take sedan for long trip.

Bahnstormer

Now that's what I call smart motoring, congrats.