I like to switch off my battery and use a tender when not being used. Of course this kills the radio memory. Any one have any ideas or a device to keep radio alive while battery is off?

 

Don't disconnect the battery, use the tender with it connected.

 

Guess I'm just paranoid about leaving car with old wiring sitting for long time with power on. Especially when gremlins like I have now slip in (see previous post on grounding problem). That may be the only answer tho...thanks!

 

Once you find your Gremlins, that is.

 

if you have the disconnect on the pos. side you could run the radio menery pos. wire to the other side of the disconnect so only it would be hot

 

You can buy an adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter and uses a 9V battery to retain the radio memory.

 

If it were me, and I was that worried, I would connect a ¼" mono headphone jack in an inconspicuous place, connected to the radio memory wire, set up so that when the plug is inserted in to the jack, the circuit to the memory is broken, set up a motorcycle battery with a ¼" mono headphone plug on it, set it on the floor of the car, and plug it in when you want the battery disconnected.
A M/C battery ought to power the radio memory all winter, then you could recharge it during the summer.

It's not me, though, and I'm not nearly that obsessive - I just leave it hooked up and put a battery tender on it every month or two to keep the charge up.

- Eric

 

Wire a fuse in parallel with the disconnect. With the disconnect open the car will still be powered but protected by the fuse. A 5 or 10 amp fuse would be plenty to keep the memory alive and not blow if you open the door or trunk, but be small enough that any wiring issue would prevent the car from burning up. Obviously the fuse will blow if you forget to close the disconnect and try to start the car.

 

Yes, this works and is a great solution. I have a BMW and MINI to babysit and swapping out batteries can be an issue if the car's stored logic that it "learns" gets dumped. You simply need to remember to insert/remove the device properly. Plugging it in while hot doesn't affect anything but leaving it in with the higher 12V present may not be a happy thing for a conventional battery? Mine is a rechargeable 9V batt. designed to handle the voltage difference.

 

Thanks guys, some great ideas! Joe, the cig adpapter sounds great...will give it a try. Thanks again.