We need to ship 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo by boat which should take 3 weeks to arrive. They need to disconnect the battery which will cause the computer on board to shut down. By the time it arrives the battery will die and the computer will need to be reset. Is there a way to keep the computer working so that it would not need to be reset? Is there some type of battery keeper or something? Any advice on how to safely ship it? Our worry is that it will not start once the battery is hooked back. Thank you.

 

Well, a lot of very good lead acid or spiral gel batteries will keep their charge for more than three weeks if discounnected, and put up well, but to be on the safe side have someone recharge the battery at the other end, or better, just replace it with a fully charged and new one -- a deep cycle that long takes a bit of life out of it.

 

A fully charged battery should easily last the entire time of shipping. I have a 2007 Targa 4 which I store for the winters. I do not remove the battery but I had no problem starting the car after 4 months of non use. I do not lock the doors during that time to prevent current drain on the battery. If your battery is strong, It will easily survive the trip..

Steve in Saratoga Springs, NY

 

A disconnected battery will not discharge. They will be able to hook the battery up on the other side, fire it up, and drive away. No resetting of anything is necessary.

 

True. There is no reason a fully charged battery with no drain should give up the ghost in 3 weeks.

You might want to look at a dry cell called Odyssey. See: http://www.odysseybatteries.com/

Many of the Ferrari guys are using these because: a) they save 20-22 lbs over a conventional wet cell battery; b) they last 8-9 years!; c) since our Ferrari's have the battery in the footwell of the passenger compartment, it's a safety feature if an accident.

I have an Interstate wet cell in mine but plan to change out to an Odyssey.

Try the Odyssey. They can tell you what's best for your car. They are quite helpful.

Here's what we use: http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc925.htm