The Battery Minder

I mentioned the "Battery Minder" previously that helped my 2005 Toyota start in its last years.  Well it may not have been the Toyota's fault.  I just don't drive far or often.  I know most people enjoy driving; I don't.  But it did make up for my lack of driving.

I discovered my new Subaru Forester was starting "slightly" slower than before I fell off the ladder and was taking some steps to attach the battery-minder to it the day I fell off the ladder.  But the Subaru battery is farther back under the hood than most batteries are.  The wire wouldn't reach!  I had 2 wires with the Minder and I spliced them together.  Used some brush-on rubber insulation to help prevent a short.  And there it say for 7 weeks!

Well I got back to hooking it up to the Subaru battery a few days ago.  I wrapped electrical tape around the new rubber insulation on each wire and them wrapped both together.  And set about attaching the spliced wire to the battery with the hood open.  The wire worked; the Minder came on flashing the appropriate lights. But you can't just leave the wire there, the hood will crush it when closed...

So I set about feeding the wire through the grill to the battery.  What a PAIN!  It didn't want to go from the battery out through the grill and it didn't want to go in through the grill to the battery!  It is REALLY cluttered in there.  No room for human hands...

I tried a bunch of different ways to feed it through and/or grab it with something.  It was getting REAL uncomfortable bending down into the engine compartment.  I FINALLY found a space I could get a hand into, but it wasn't enough.

Well, when several approaches don't work, try something else, right?  

I pushed a stiff wire in through the grill, and with one hand, guided it into view.  I made a loop on one end and tied some string to it and tied the wire to the string.  Perfect.  No.   The outside plug wouldn't pass through a narrow spot.

So I had to reverse the pulling wire.  The battery connection has 2 flat washers that slip over the battery posts.  I got the stiff wire through the grill from inside and attached the washers to the wire.  THAT didn't work; too stiff to get around a sharp corner.

So I pulled in partially back out, tied the string to the pulling wire (crushing the loop tightly) and pulled/twisted the pulling wire carefully.  

SUCCESS!!!

The Minder wires were through the grill and reached the battery.  I attached the washers over the battery posts and tightened them.  

Attached the Minder plug to the grill (so it wouldn't get pulled in).  Plugged the Battery Minder to an extension cord, the Minder plugs together, and the Minder showed normal charging signals.

And the car needed it!  It stayed on trickle-charging (solid red light) for hours before it turned green (charged).  HURRAY!

I just don't drive enough to keep a battery charged without help.  Seriously, my new-bought 2005 Toyota only had 30,000 miles on it when I donated it to Vehicles For Change in 2020!  My new Subaru has only 500 miles after 7 months.  

But I got that battery-discharging problem fixed, and that is the important thing.  When I want to do a short errand, the car has to work.  So I make sure it does.

It's the story of my life; I am just not "standard".  The world just isn't built for my habits.  I always have to struggle...

I usually win eventually, but it sure is never easy.  ;)