Miata Batteries

Well I finally did it. Just ordered myself a charger/maintainer for my
2000 Miata. Gets pretty cold here, especially in our garage, 94533
area. Not a snowy area, but never the less cold enough for us beach
bums>>LOL. And my Miata is lucky if it gets turned over once per week,
as it should. Now teammiata.com has a charger that I almost got, but I
found and ordered the following one at J.C. Whitney, that has three
different connection configurations, PLUS this handy cigarette lighter
one. I have dealt with Whitney before and was quite satisfied. Anyway
here is the info for anyone interested:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...wflag-1#review

Jazz_Azz wrote:
> Well I finally did it. Just ordered myself a charger/maintainer for my
> 2000 Miata. Gets pretty cold here, especially in our garage, 94533
> area. Not a snowy area, but never the less cold enough for us beach
> bums>>LOL. And my Miata is lucky if it gets turned over once per week,
> as it should. Now teammiata.com has a charger that I almost got, but I
> found and ordered the following one at J.C. Whitney, that has three
> different connection configurations, PLUS this handy cigarette lighter
> one. I have dealt with Whitney before and was quite satisfied. Anyway
> here is the info for anyone interested:
>
> http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...wflag-1#review

FWIW I used a Schumacher "Mity Mite" SE-1-12 maintenance charger on my
'91 for the whole time it lived in Alaska -- it went into hibernation
around Halloween and stayed there until the Spring breakup with the
charger connected the whole time. Never had a battery or Spring startup
problem. In fact the original battery lasted for an unbelievable 9 years
and wasn't replaced until after the car no longer had the need to hide
out over the Winter months.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

Cigar lighter socket battery chargers don't work well on most Japanese cars.
Seems that the lighter socket is disconnected when the ignition switch is in
the off or lock position.

"John McGaw" > wrote in message
. ..
> Jazz_Azz wrote:
>> Well I finally did it. Just ordered myself a charger/maintainer for my
>> 2000 Miata. Gets pretty cold here, especially in our garage, 94533
>> area. Not a snowy area, but never the less cold enough for us beach
>> bums>>LOL. And my Miata is lucky if it gets turned over once per week,
>> as it should. Now teammiata.com has a charger that I almost got, but I
>> found and ordered the following one at J.C. Whitney, that has three
>> different connection configurations, PLUS this handy cigarette lighter
>> one. I have dealt with Whitney before and was quite satisfied. Anyway
>> here is the info for anyone interested:
>>
>> http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...wflag-1#review
>
> FWIW I used a Schumacher "Mity Mite" SE-1-12 maintenance charger on my '91
> for the whole time it lived in Alaska -- it went into hibernation around
> Halloween and stayed there until the Spring breakup with the charger
> connected the whole time. Never had a battery or Spring startup problem.
> In fact the original battery lasted for an unbelievable 9 years and wasn't
> replaced until after the car no longer had the need to hide out over the
> Winter months.
>
> --
> John McGaw
> [Knoxville, TN, USA]
> http://johnmcgaw.com

Thanks for that heads up. I will check it out. Looks like I may have to
use the connections direct to the battery after all :-).

"S K" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for that heads up. I will check it out. Looks like I may have to
> use the connections direct to the battery after all :-).
>
I put a little socket under the rear bumper, makes it a breeze to connect
and disconnect the charger.

On Jan 3, 12:22 am, "J Brockley" > wrote:
> "S K" > wrote in message
>
> ...> Thanks for that heads up. I will check it out. Looks like I may have to
> > use the connections direct to the battery after all :-).
>
> I put a little socket under the rear bumper, makes it a breeze to connect
> and disconnect the charger.

I'm like Tim Allen in Home Improvement. Tools fall out of my
hands>>LOL. Actually I am not that bad. But I'd probably screw
something up, ruining the looks of my beautiful Miata. No, I'll leave
well enough alone, and just leave the trunk up a tad. Good thing
there's mo light in there. My Wife's 97 Chevy Monte Carlo, with only
40K plus miles HAD a trunk light. But finding that one of us would
accidentally push the trunk button on the remote thingie, finding the
trunk open in the garage, with the light on, Gods knows how many
hours, I finally pulled that bulb out :-).

"Jazz_Azz" > wrote in message
...
> On Jan 3, 12:22 am, "J Brockley" > wrote:
>> "S K" > wrote in message
>>
>> ...> Thanks for that
>> heads up. I will check it out. Looks like I may have to
>> > use the connections direct to the battery after all :-).
>>
>> I put a little socket under the rear bumper, makes it a breeze to connect
>> and disconnect the charger.
>
> I'm like Tim Allen in Home Improvement. Tools fall out of my
> hands>>LOL. Actually I am not that bad. But I'd probably screw
> something up, ruining the looks of my beautiful Miata. No, I'll leave
> well enough alone, and just leave the trunk up a tad. Good thing
> there's mo light in there. My Wife's 97 Chevy Monte Carlo, with only
> 40K plus miles HAD a trunk light. But finding that one of us would
> accidentally push the trunk button on the remote thingie, finding the
> trunk open in the garage, with the light on, Gods knows how many
> hours, I finally pulled that bulb out :-).
With alarm fitted I can't leave trunk open as its operates the interior
light. Fortunately there are a few existing holes from trunk to outside and
in the end the only tool needed was a spanner to attach wires (via fuse) to
the battery.

J Brockley>>??Interior light??. Is that a light associated with your
alarm?? Because my 2000 Miata MX5 does not have a trunk interior light.
So having my trunk open a tad should not be a problem. JC Whitney
shipped my charger/maintainer on 1/2/08. So should be here any day now.
Then I won't HAVE to make a point of trying to figure out where to take
a weekly run, during this cold/rainy weather here in N. Calif.

I usually try to talk my Wife into a weekly lunch run. But she says that
makes her feel like a old person, since that is what so many seniors
like to do (we're 58, me/her 55 :-) )).