02-05 closing trunk on battery tender cord | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models
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02-05 closing trunk on battery tender cord

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom44
  • Start date Start date
I just put a stick, etc to depress the switch. Or see if the rubber is pliant enough to close over the cord without damage. Cheers
 
ok dumb question, is it ok to close the trunk lid on the cord from the battery tender. due to the trunk light
Your car has a battery saver feature that turns off that light after a few minutes. So you don't need to close the trunk. Pinching wires is never a good idea.
 
you can wad up a paper towel and shove it into the hole where the trunk light switch is and that will turn it off.
Thats what I do. Then gently lower the lid with a towel between the edges to keep it from hitting the cord.
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For what it’s worth, I have a Battery Tender Jr that puts out 750mA. It came with two sets of short cables that plug into the main charger cable. One set has alligator clips and the other set has terminals that I had permanently connected to my 2002 Thunderbird battery connectors. After the car had been driven 4 -6 miles and set for a few days, the red charging light was on for ~2 hrs. Then the green light flashed (= 80% charged) for about 1/2 an hour and then it turned steady green indicating full charge. I usually left it connected while the car just sat.

Since my T-Bird sat in the driveway, I have always shut the trunk on the charger cord so it locked. Each time I used it, I moved where it exited through the rubber gasket. It left a slight depression when I removed the charger cable but “self-healed” before I used the charger again. I used this technique for several years without any chafing on the charger cable or damage to the rubber trunk seal.
 
If you are that worried about the trunk gasket you could route the charger wire to exit the car by the rear license plate. This is where I routed the wire for my backup camera. Then tuck the wire behind the license plate to conceal it.
 
Just get one of those adapters that goes into the cigarette lighter socket and you won't have to worry about a trunk light or distorting your weather stripping of pinched wires....if the car is in the garage and you can leave the window down just use this:


Moderator note- requires solar battery tender- https://ebay.us/ekZYBJ
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ok dumb question, is it ok to close the trunk lid on the cord from the battery tender. due to the trunk light
There is enough space between the trunk lid rubber seal to close the trunk lid without worrying. Just make sure there is enough slack or zip tie the connection to the battery terminals before closing the lid. I had the same concern but it will be ok if there is some slack.
 
Hi,

New old guy here. I have a '55 T-Bird, my third one over the years, and just got a 2005 with 12,000 miles on it.

I use Deltran battery tenders on several cars, and will be hooking one up on the 2005 soon. I have read the posts, but still wonder if I should hook it up to the battery in the trunk, or go with my preference of hooking it up to the cigar lighter/power plug. I prefer this because my electric outlets are in the front of the car.

With my other cars I have the connection come out the grill just enough to use it, but I find no place to attach it under the hood on this car.

Where and why do you connect yours ?

Thanks

PS: mine is steel blue with a repainted top in a color close to the sand interior. It is slightly modified, using 2" lowered German springs, and shocks, along with a Borla cat-back exhaust.
 
Hi,

New old guy here. I have a '55 T-Bird, my third one over the years, and just got a 2005 with 12,000 miles on it.

I use Deltran battery tenders on several cars, and will be hooking one up on the 2005 soon. I have read the posts, but still wonder if I should hook it up to the battery in the trunk, or go with my preference of hooking it up to the cigar lighter/power plug. I prefer this because my electric outlets are in the front of the car.

With my other cars I have the connection come out the grill just enough to use it, but I find no place to attach it under the hood on this car.

Where and why do you connect yours ?

Thanks

PS: mine is steel blue with a repainted top in a color close to the sand interior. It is slightly modified, using 2" lowered German springs, and shocks, along with a Borla cat-back exhaust.
@Grumpy Rick
When you post new threads, you can omit the model of your car from the subject since we are an all Thunderbird site. Also, 2005 Battery Tender for Tbird doesn't really summarize your topic, good titles get more replies.

I merged with an existing topic.

I would connect the battery tender directly to the battery.
 
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