Flat battery....?

[baptistsan]

The power cord fits with ease between the lid and bodywork, as long as you thread it through windscreen end.

The eyelets you mention should be big enough to screw on to the bolt that clamps the leads to the battery terminals. I haven't attached mine due to a fear of wiring being left loose in the battery compartment. Irrational in all probability, but hey!

[Lurking Lawyer]

baptistsan said:

The power cord fits with ease between the lid and bodywork, as long as you thread it through windscreen end.

So does that mean you're leaving the crocodile clips attached to the battery with the lid down while it charges, Jason....? Personally, I'd be more wary of that than leaving the eyelets connected.

I shall have to play around it with over the weekend and see what works best.

[abarber]

LL,
Think its fair to say that your battery is probably completey knackered. 993s 964 etc are hard on batteries. I went through the exact process process you are doing, right down to the bosch silvertop, cteck 3600. It's just putting off the inevitable really. New bosch with 3 year guarantee can be had pretty cheap and if charged will keep my 993 ready to go for 3 weeks plus, no problem.

Edited by abarber on Thursday 30th November 22:47

[speedlimit]

I use a Ctek on my 993tt the female plug lies in the luggage compartment when not in use. The only slight problem, for want of a better word, is that I had to grind out the inside of the eyelets to attach them to the bolts on the battery post clamps. Keep the crocodile clips for other batteries.

[Lurking Lawyer]

I fear you're probably right, AB I'm assuming that I'm going to have to get a new battery - and at £50 or so, it's not like it's going to break the bank, I guess. I'll try the CTEK on the existing battery first, just to see what it is able to do, but I'm reconciled to swapping it in the next month or two if not sooner.

Speedlimit, thanks for that. Looks like I'm going to have to do something similar with the grinding of the eyelets then, or trudge along to the local motor factor to get some bigger ones What did you use to do it?

Edited by Lurking Lawyer on Friday 1st December 10:26

[speedlimit]

I used an electric drill with a conical grinding stone, you could use a Dremel, and I did not change the eyelets, as I could not find my soldering iron.

[baptistsan]

Mark, the croc clips lie in line with the battery, lid closes with no problem. Just whip them off when the car goes out.

[Lurking Lawyer]

The CTEK 3600 arrived on Friday morning (less than a day after ordering - so a thumbs up for Vertar). I put the battery on charge last night, came to take the car for a run this afternoon and it started first time.

Hopefully, that's an end to the flat battery woes - and I may even be able to use the £50 I had earmarked for a new Bosch Silver on buying a Motorsound airbox lid once Christmas is out of the way.

[richardb.jones]

Remember the CTEK is also a battery conditioner - if left charging it will actually improve the life of the battery with a 'pulse charge' - this basically removes/reduces any deposits on the battery plates which normally reduce it's capacity. It won't revive a totally knackered battery, but should bring back a neglected one to full health / capacity ..

[Lurking Lawyer]

Indeed, Richard - the intention is to leave it hooked up to the car whenever it's laid up in the garage. It only tends to get used at the weekend so I figure it won't hurt it to be coddled a bit while it's not in use....

[graeme73s]

I agree totally with Richard taking the car for a spin will not recharge the battery. Personally I would suggest a new battery so you start afresh, a battery conditioner such as the optimate and maybe get a sparks to see if you have a big current drain on the car. I had this issue with my 3.6 and it turned out to be a problem with the CD autochanger. I removed it as the only music that I ever listen to when I drive the 3.6 is the sound track of the flat 6 in the back

[anonymous-user]

just be thankful you dont have an early 996 with solenoid locks on boot and bonnet and no positive terminal in the fuse box! absolutely CRAP design. need to dismantle sill trim which involves cutting allen keys to the right length because the (power) seats are in the way. arghhhhhh. (i had a fun saturday morning)

[lowndes]

Although not cheap (£80+) the Porsche Charge-o-matII has the great benefit of fitting into the cigarette lighter and the cable is designed to be fed between the door and the cill so you can leave the car locked up whilst the battery conditioner is operating. I plug the car into the charger every time I put it away.

[kwano]

My 997 died a death yesterday and the nice man from the RAC (Porsche trained apparently) suspects its the battery..... little surprised as the car is just 2 yrs old and gets a used pretty regularly (half the week) and has 30k miles on it.

Needless to say I'm taking it to the OPC for a heathcheck just in case as its under warranty anyway (Porsche extended).... never know it could be a dud battery !

Will probably invest in a Porsche charge o mat aswell.

[housemaster]

Having spotted this thread I too now have a lovely CTEK XS3600 plugged into my GT3. I used the Croc clips, conecting the Red one to the positive element of the battery and the Black one to where the Black battery lead conects to the bulkhead. It has been on all night and about to have a nose in a bit to see if its doing its job.

I had no issues with attaching the Croc clips and locking the lid, feeding the wire through the bonet near the windscreen and leaving the charger resting on the windscreen wiper. Always nervous with electrics, but all seemed simple enough.

[housemaster]

Well just been and checked the CTEK, and all seems fine. It has now moved off the CHARGING part and on to the MAINTENANCE part, which indicates to me it is doing its job as planned.

Question: There are 3 mode setting..

14.4V/0.8A Bike
14.4V/3.6A Car
14.7V/3.6A Winter or AGM

I am using the second or CAR setting is this correct, or should I use the AGM??

I notice the Porsche Charge-o-Mat is a branded CTEK too.

[Lurking Lawyer]

housemaster said:

I am using the second or CAR setting is this correct, or should I use the AGM??

I'm using the second one too. I figured that since the car is garaged and protected from the worst of the elements, it didn't need the winter setting. I stand to be corrected though!