Author Topic: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?  (Read 5856 times)

joes

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Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« on: January 11, 2011, 13:34:40 »
Happy New Year to all.

Doing a few winter projects in the garage and waiting for the snow to melt (snowmobiling is great but would rather be PAGODA-ING).  The radio is out of the car so I thought it would be a good time to access and remove the clock through the hole in the dash and send it out for repair.  The repair guy called me yesterday to let me know that it is now working fine and is going to send it back to me.  He recommended to disconnect the battery in the winter months so the clock internals will not "wear out" and thus prolonging the life of the clock.  I guess that makes perfect sense. 

I know these cars are not like the modern day ones where there are lots of electrical and memory issues that would come with not having power for awhile but are there any other concerns with disconnecting the battery?  Do you guys/gals do this?  I usually just winterize my cars and connect a battery tender them.

Best regards,
Joe
71 280SL, auto, white-grey (158)/brown (138)
72 911T, 5 spd, silver/black

thelews

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2011, 14:17:13 »
Isn't going to hurt anything to disconnect the battery, but, clocks usually seize up from disuse rather than use.  Get a 113 clock with quartz guts and you won't have any problem.  Put the original in a box inside the house.  You'll have the advantage of the correct time showing in your car too.


Enjoy some pictures at this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8292359@N06/sets/72157603240571101/show/

John - Wisconsin
1967 Early 250 SL Red/Caviar, Manual #1543
1961 190 SL 23K miles
1964 Porsche 356
1970 Porsche 911E
1991 BMW 318is
1966 Jaguar XKE
1971 Alfa Romeo GTV 1750

Ulf

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2011, 15:09:26 »
I'm not disconnecting anything, I tricke-charge occasionally, but that's about it...
1965 230 SL in silver (DB180)
1982 Land Rover Series III SWB
2008 Jaguar XF 3.0
2005 Mini Cooper

thelews

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2011, 22:58:48 »

xxxxxxxx

« Last Edit: February 27, 2011, 20:52:49 by thelews »
Enjoy some pictures at this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8292359@N06/sets/72157603240571101/show/

John - Wisconsin
1967 Early 250 SL Red/Caviar, Manual #1543
1961 190 SL 23K miles
1964 Porsche 356
1970 Porsche 911E
1991 BMW 318is
1966 Jaguar XKE
1971 Alfa Romeo GTV 1750

66andBlue

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2011, 06:22:58 »
...nAn Error Has Occurred!
Your attachment couldn't be saved. This might happen because it took too long to upload or the file is bigger than the server will allow.
Please consult your server administrator for more information. 
Are you trying to be funny ???
How many more times do we need to read your rants about the web site or the webmaster?
Alfred
1964 230SL manual 4-speed 568H signal red
1966 230SL automatic 334G light blue (sold)
1968 280SL automatic (now 904G midnight blue)

thelews

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2011, 13:39:17 »
I was trying to be funny.  

I don't recall ever making rants about the webmaster, please point me to them.  I have expressed frustration with the process of posting pictures, so valuable to the discussion, from time to time.  But, it is what it is and THIS IS A GREAT SITE!!!!!   ;D

Back to the discussion though, pretty nice quartz clock, huh?
« Last Edit: January 13, 2011, 13:41:20 by thelews »
Enjoy some pictures at this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8292359@N06/sets/72157603240571101/show/

John - Wisconsin
1967 Early 250 SL Red/Caviar, Manual #1543
1961 190 SL 23K miles
1964 Porsche 356
1970 Porsche 911E
1991 BMW 318is
1966 Jaguar XKE
1971 Alfa Romeo GTV 1750

114015

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2011, 17:20:58 »
Quote
Back to the discussion though, pretty nice quartz clock, huh?

Hello John,

Is it a quartz unit? Have you got it converted? It looks so great and the chrome bezel and face plate look factory-original (not the 280 - late style).

However, I realised another thing.
Your Blaupunkt radio has an all-black face plate, not pin-striped. ;)
Very interesing!  :D
Oh, no, no. I am not saying that this "might not be original", absolutely not. However, I knew younger cars than yours with Blaupunkt radios which still also had the pin-striped design matching tach, speedo & clock.
So yours is most likely some sort of a contemporary variant, wow. ;)

We never stop to learn about these cars.

Best,
Achim
(whose '71 114 once had a Blaupunkt Frankfurt with black face plate as well - now replaced by a Becker Mexico)
Achim
(Germany)

thelews

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Re: Disconnecting the BATTERY- a good idea?
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2011, 19:30:21 »
Original clock from the car is not converted.  I have stored the original ticker one from the car that keeps poor time.  Found this quartz conversion from the same guy I got my quartz 190 SL clock.

Radio is original, as far as I know.  You'd have to ask Vince, the previous owner of 37 years and member of this board.  I don't believe he changed it considering his fanatical adherence to originality and copious records I have of his documenting originality whenever he disassembled anything.

« Last Edit: January 13, 2011, 19:35:05 by thelews »
Enjoy some pictures at this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8292359@N06/sets/72157603240571101/show/

John - Wisconsin
1967 Early 250 SL Red/Caviar, Manual #1543
1961 190 SL 23K miles
1964 Porsche 356
1970 Porsche 911E
1991 BMW 318is
1966 Jaguar XKE
1971 Alfa Romeo GTV 1750