Maintaining personal car's battery while you're driving OTR

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by BunBaoPho88, Nov 23, 2021.

  1. Pamela1990

    Pamela1990 Road Train Member

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    I do know that my 2014 F150, when you shut the key off, the lighter socket goes dead.
     
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  3. pete159

    pete159 Light Load Member

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    I have an auto starter installed on my car which I can start from an app on my phone.. I just start my car up once a week for 10 minutes
     
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  4. Jenkins2020

    Jenkins2020 Light Load Member

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    No. That sounds like too much work. I keep a charged battery jumper in my trunk incase it somehow does die.
     
  5. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

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    My 16 Silverado is switchable

    you swap the fuse from one slot to another slot , to change if the lighter is on all the time or just when the key is on .

    and some cheap solar panels will actually drain the battery at night , they run backwards somehow .

    thw good ones have a diode so the juice can only flow one direction
     
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  6. Six9GS

    Six9GS Road Train Member

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    I stay out about 6 to 8 weeks at a time. Have a 2016 Jeep Patriot. Never have had a problem yet. That said, once while home (I'd been home a couple days at that point) I had my original battery go bad. I got a jump from my step-son then went and bought a new one. Installed it in the parts place's parking lot and got my core deposit.
    I do have a pair of jumper cables in the trunk. Just in case. But, I've had a pair of jumper cables in the trunk of every vehicle I've had in the last 30 years or so (not the same pair).
     
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  7. BunBaoPho88

    BunBaoPho88 Light Load Member

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    It's a 2008 toyota corolla
     
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  8. BunBaoPho88

    BunBaoPho88 Light Load Member

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    Thanks for all the advice everyone. Next time home, I am picking up a solar panel charger I ordered online. And I bought a small 12v jump starter box at autozlne, just in case. I did disconnect the battery overnight just to see how that would go, and everything was fine. Just lost a the radio presets.

    Turns out my battery was a little old. I tested it and decided to upgrade- bought and installed a new one before hitting the road again.

    I didn't realize that disconnecting a battery potentially could mess with a transmissions' learned data on newer cars... wouldn't want to mess with that too much. Although I don't believe disconnecting my battery for a couple weeks would ruin the car- I do want make that little go-kart last for a few more years.
     
  9. BunBaoPho88

    BunBaoPho88 Light Load Member

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    I somehow overlooked this comment, but that is a really cool idea. Will look into it, ty
     
  10. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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  11. GYPSY65

    GYPSY65 Road Train Member

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    I don’t leave my vehicle at a yard but my truck has an app that will send me a notice if the battery is going to go into sleep mode to save battery life

    This is if my wife doesn’t drive it and I can start my truck from the app and let it charge for 15 minutes

    I would think with all the tech stuff out there that this might be a aftermarket product by now that you can install
     
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