I was just wondering if anyone connects their battery tender to the connectors in the engine bay (used for jumping the car) instead of the battery directly. It seems like that should be fine and it is a lot more convenient for me (a lot closer to the outlet). I know it works on my BMW (it has the battery in the trunk), so I don't see how this would be different?

Thoughts?

 

Nothing more convenient than the cigarette lighter plug!

 

Hmm, that would work as well. Do I just need a connector that hooks up to my battery tender cable? Can you close the door with the cable or do you run it through the open window?

 

I suppose you can wire up a connector, but I got mine from Porsche. It is a CTEK "Charge-O-Mat". You see them on the Marketplace once in a while. Works flawlessly and "maintains" the battery by cycling it regularly. I just leave a small gap in of my rear windows (cabrio) and run the cable through. Very convenient!

 

I already have a battery tender so it looks like this may be all I need:

 

I agree nothing easier then cig. Lighter plug.
That's what I use. Works great

 

That will probably work. I just don't know if there are any special electronics in the one I have that allows for charging through the cigarette lighter plug. You may want to verify that through Battery Tender.

 

I run the cord out of the hood in front; the little connector then tucks perfectly into the gap under the left HL assembly. Un-noticable, and hood stays closed.

 

The oem tender from Porsche is a cigarette lighter plug, works awesome. Not super expensive either, its a smart trickle charger.

 

I'll do some research on the cigarette lighter adapter but I doubt the Porsche one is anything "special". It supposedly works on my BMW as well, so I can use it for both

In the meantime I'll try and use the connection points in the engine bay; I don't see a reason why that wouldn't work.

 

Trickle charger through the cig lighter going on 7 years...No problems

 

Keeping the engine cover open with OP method would be annoying and the light waould stay on. I run my cable through the small opening on the passenger side cowl. Hood shuts and no pinch issues.

 

the cig lighter charger only works on cars that have an unswitched cig lighter - porsche, ferrari, lambo etc.

i don't know about bmw but mb and most other cars have cig lighter that are switched off when key is not on.

to answer OP, the battery tender can be connected to the front hood's jump start terminals. it does not have to be connected to the battery itself. i have this setup for my MB. very easy to do with a 10mm wrench usually.

cig light option requires the window to be opened a tad. it works fine if the car is indoors. if you park outside, i would be worried about rain, critters and thieves. for cars like murcielago, a cig light is easiest since there aren't jump start points and the battery is hidden in the fender. for your porsche etc, i still find it easier to wire up a pig tail in the front trunk. less extension cords to trip over.

 

Thanks for all the info! My BMW has a live cigarette lighter as well; none of my other cars do.

I'll still get the cigarette lighter adapter but will connect through the engine bay over the weekend; it's pretty much next to the outlet, so pretty convenient.

 

I have a Porsche battery tender I use for my GT2. It plugs into the cigarette lighter and runs a very thin power cord right under the door. The door closes right over top of it with no issues, as it is meant to, so no windows need to be open. It was not expensive, except maybe compared to a $20 Sears trickle charger.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-Batt...03f70d&vxp=mtr