How long should a battery last without starting? (1 Viewer)

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Boulder, CO
I got a commuter car, so the Land Cruiser has been sitting for a couple weeks at a time between uses. I've been finding that if it's more than about ten days, the battery is too low to start the truck. Sometimes it clicks, tonight it's a little cool out (ten degrees) and it didn't even do that much.

So I'm thinking it's probably new battery time. Or is there something in these trucks using power that I can expect to drain the batter in that timeframe?
 
Your battery will not last long if you let it 'cycle' like that. 10 times or so and it's toast, maybe less.

Tender is a great idea. I use a Ctek 3300 multi US, I like the fact it comes with a harness to make plugging in/unplugging very easy.
 
Sounds like a tender is the way to go. Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of that.

I park about fifteen or twenty feet from the garage, so it seems like I've got two options. I saw where someone installed the tender in the engine bay of their Miata and put the cord through the bumper. That seemed nice and easy. The other option would be to keep the tender in the garage, put quick disconnects on the battery, and get an extension for the tender cord. The first exposes the tender to the elements, but I found one that's waterproof and spark proof, so it seems like it'd be fine. The second it seems like I'd have to turn off the tender in the garage, or be careful about not shorting the leads when they're left behind.

Any thoughts about which option is better?
 
First option is best; you should not extend the 12V cables, the cable loss will be too high.
 
Tender is a good idea. But FWIW, you may want to consider a new battery too because a battery in good condition should be able to start the truck after only 10 days.
 
How about just start it up and let it run for a minute or two every few days or so?
 
If it is parked outside you could bY one of the solar panel trickle chargers too. That may be your best bet!
 
I have a 4Runner that I drive once every month or two and got tired of having a weak or dead battery.
So now I just leave the negative battery cable unhooked and hook it up only when I need to drive it.
This has been working great for me
 
You truck should start fine after sitting for ten days, but that's assuming it was locked and parked with a fully charged healthy battery. Most units come with a quick disconnect so you can just leave the leads on the battery and unplug quickly.
 
I have a 4Runner that I drive once every month or two and got tired of having a weak or dead battery.
So now I just leave the negative battery cable unhooked and hook it up only when I need to drive it.
This has been working great for me
I left my 100 at an airport in small town Alaska for 6 months. Disconnected the negative cable when I parked it. When I returned I connected it back up and started the car no issue.
 
what battery are you running? the stock panasonic or other?

we have 4 vehicles and it's not uncommon for our 100 to sit for 1wk-3mo without use. the 10yr old Panasonic didn't like this after a really hot Summer a few years ago, but the Duralast Gold I replaced it with hasn't had any issues with this type of use. starts right up after 2mo sitting no matter what time of year in CA.

trickle charger and battery tenders are both easy to use for something like this. the issue of weather and keeping it plugged in all the time would be an issue to research in case something can go wrong. i like the idea of a solar trickle charger for something like this.
 

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