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I am new to the C7 forum. I just purchased a 2016 3lt Z51 vert with magnetic ride. The car has 11,000 miles so obviously it sat a lot. I got a “low service battery” warning on my drive home. I have always used battery maintainers (Battery Tender brand) on my previous corvettes. What is everyone using? Did GM offer a battery maintainer package from the factory?
Congrats on the purchase! Since you got that warning and your battery is 6 years old you should probably replace it. Yes GM did offer a maintainer with purchase. The brand is CTEK and they just slapped a Corvette logo on it. You can still find them for sale and they work just fine, but it's a basic charger so if you want all the bells and whistles, you'll need to upgrade. There's plenty of threads about what battery maintainers people like so I think it boils down to preference. Just make sure to find one with the adapter on the end so you can plug it into the trunk.
Here is a link to the "Corvette" battery maintainer.
I bought an original one from the dealer...I didn't think of ordering it with the C7, and realized later than I needed it for the 3-4 months/year that I store it over the winter. It was $20 more than if I'd ordered it from the factory. I know others have had success with aftermarket ones...I figured for the $150 (Can $) it was worth it to me.
Battery tender brand is fine. It’s just a battery, corvette didn’t use anything special. You probably do need a new battery though with it being 6 years old.
Thanks everyone for your responses. I am taking it to get the battery checked. I will replace the battery if it is the original. I will still purchase the charger for the winter months. I am assuming the CTEK Corvette charger just simply plugs in the little port in the right rear section of the trunk. Is this correct?
This is also available in Amazon for about the same price.
I use the same one - got it from my local dealer. Works just fine and I do agree it sounds like it is time to get a new battery with it being 6 years old.
I took the car to an Autozone and was prepared to get the battery replaced. They load tested the battery, alternator and starter. Everything checked out fine. I communicated this back to the dealer that I bought the car from. They did a few google searches on low voltage service codes on a C7. Turns out that there is a small separate wire that branches off from the main negative wire bundle cable going to the negative battery terminal. They asked me to check the connection to make sure the connector was snug. The connector was snug, however the wire that attaches to the connector was completely pulled off of the connector. I stripped some insulation off of that wire and reattached it. The code has now gone away. With all of this being said I will still buy the CTEK maintainer that some of you suggested. I got 15 years out of an optima red top battery in the C5 that I recently sold keeping it on a battery tender so they are great insurance and add life to the battery. Thanks again for all of the feedback!
"Best" remains to be seen. I simple use the GM one for the C7 and "Battery Tender" brands for all the rest of my "fleet." All the best. Btw, if not yet mentioned, The GMs are sometimes available on the "Parts for sale/wanted" section of the C7 Forum. All the best.
Slightly off the C-7 topic (we recently bought a C-7) but our 2002 Thunderbird with 12k miles still has the original from the factory battery and it still works well. I have a Schumacker Battery Extender model SP3 that is computerized and tells you what level the battery charge is when it is first connected, then proceeds to charge up to 3 amps , then tapers off to a "maintain" level. I use it on many of my vehicles as I disconnect the terminals on all but the newest vehicles. I got this charger at the SEMA show quite a few years ago so whether it is still available or if they now make something better I couldn't tell you. We never take the good cars out in the winter, so this charger gets put on various vehicles and equipment throughout the dormant season. I probably will set something up for the C-7 because I don't plan on disconnecting it's battery.
Semi permanent harness connected to Positive Stud...... Harness Connected to Negative Battery Harness Plugged into Charger HARBOR FREIGHT Harness Plugged Into 110V Harbor Freight Under $24 and less if you find a 20% Off Coupon
Thanks everyone for your responses. I am taking it to get the battery checked. I will replace the battery if it is the original. I will still purchase the charger for the winter months. I am assuming the CTEK Corvette charger just simply plugs in the little port in the right rear section of the trunk. Is this correct?
Yes, but you can buy a $10 lighter adapter for the Deltran BT+ and BT Jr. that will accomplish the same thing for a much better price. I have the C7 Ctek, a 17-YO Deltran BT+, a Deltran BT Solar, all currently in use--and used a Deltran BT Jr. a few years back on my Harley. If I needed to buy a maintainer for my car or truck I would go with the BT Jr., as It works fine in that capacity.
I have Noco Genius 5; best one I've ever had, and even works with Li Ion batteries with BMS..
I have the Noco Genius series. a 4 bank and a Genius 1 and 5. These are for everything I need to charge. That includes 1 Deep Cycle for the RV and 3 lithium batteries for the different stuff and 1 for the C7. Reason is that I have lithium so I want it to be the same across the board since the connections are different. Beyond that, I would suggest any system that can charge a lithium and AGM. Why? Because it makes it useful and you can mix and match. IF all you can do is the old school stuff, it won't mix and match.
07-12-2022, 09:52 AM
Best Battery Tenders for C7
I did not read the entire post, just the heading. If you are getting warnings of low battery, get the battery changed first.
