12 volt maintenance. Long term storage.

[webeleafowners]

The OP has a 2016 Leaf. From 2014 or 2015 on, there is no sign of the 12 volt charging issues seen with earlier Leafs. With no telematics "upgrade" to drain power and no known charging issues, what I originally wrote stands. I usually tell people to use a maintainer, but in the above case the very most that should be needed is fully charging the 12 volt battery with an external charger before parking it.

I agree with Leftie.. I left the traction battery @ 50% charged. Then I fully charged my 12V battery with an external charger, and parked the car in my garage for 2 months. No problems whatsoever when I returned.

Well, I have an external charger. Maybe I’ll give that method a try.

Thank you.

John.

[LeftieBiker]

The car will add charge to the battery either every few days or whenever it needs it, depending on who you believe. With no significant parasitic drains the battery should be fine even if not externally charged first, but it certainly won't hurt to top it off beforehand..

[webeleafowners]

The car will add charge to the battery either every few days or whenever it needs it, depending on who you believe. With no significant parasitic drains the battery should be fine even if not externally charged first, but it certainly won't hurt to top it off beforehand..

Thank you.

[GerryAZ]

I leave my 2015 at approximately 60% charge when I park at the airport or my office for extended time. I did the same with my 2011. I have never connected an external charger to either Leaf. The only time I had an issue with the 2011 was when I forgot to unplug the Bluetooth module from the OBDII port. I have had two instances of returning to a dead 12-volt battery in the 2015 related to the telematics upgrade, but you should not have that issue with a 2016. I recommend that you unplug any devices from the OBDII port, turn off the car, lock the doors (if desired) and enjoy your time in Palm Springs without worry.

[webeleafowners]

I leave my 2015 at approximately 60% charge when I park at the airport or my office for extended time. I did the same with my 2011. I have never connected an external charger to either Leaf. The only time I had an issue with the 2011 was when I forgot to unplug the Bluetooth module from the OBDII port. I have had two instances of returning to a dead 12-volt battery in the 2015 related to the telematics upgrade, but you should not have that issue with a 2016. I recommend that you unplug any devices from the OBDII port, turn off the car, lock the doors (if desired) and enjoy your time in Palm Springs without worry.

Thanks Gerry. We'll give it a little charge before we go. Any problem with hooking the leads of the charger straight to the battery? Seems somewhere I think I read that one is supposed to use a special negative post or something.

[LeftieBiker]

You're supposed to connect the negative lead to a chassis or 'engine' ground, not the negative terminal. The reasons are to prevent sparking at the battery and to avoid damaging the current sensor on the Negative terminal.

[webeleafowners]

You're supposed to connect the negative lead to a chassis or 'engine' ground, not the negative terminal. The reasons are to prevent sparking at the battery and to avoid damaging the current sensor on the Negative terminal.

OK. Ill follow the negative lead back to the frame.

Thanks

[LeftieBiker]

You can use one of the bolts on top of the part of the motor/inverter stack that looks like an ICE valve cover. That's also a good place to connect a maintainer hardwire ground lead.

[GerryAZ]

I leave my 2015 at approximately 60% charge when I park at the airport or my office for extended time. I did the same with my 2011. I have never connected an external charger to either Leaf. The only time I had an issue with the 2011 was when I forgot to unplug the Bluetooth module from the OBDII port. I have had two instances of returning to a dead 12-volt battery in the 2015 related to the telematics upgrade, but you should not have that issue with a 2016. I recommend that you unplug any devices from the OBDII port, turn off the car, lock the doors (if desired) and enjoy your time in Palm Springs without worry.

Thanks Gerry. We'll give it a little charge before we go. Any problem with hooking the leads of the charger straight to the battery? Seems somewhere I think I read that one is supposed to use a special negative post or something.

There is no need to use an external charger (I have NEVER connected an external charger to either LEAF's 12-volt battery). The DC-DC converter recharged the 12-volt battery quickly after jump starting the total of 3 times (once on 2011 due to Bluetooth adapter and twice so far on 2015 due to telematics upgrade) when abnormal conditions caused me to return to a dead battery. I personally would never leave a charger/maintainer connected long term and unattended on any vehicle. That is one of the reasons I like the Leaf for my daily driver (because I can park for long term without worrying about the battery). If you really want to charge the 12-volt battery with an external charger before you leave, it is OK to make temporary connections directly to the battery terminals or connect the negative to chassis ground (makes no difference for charging). Again, I strongly recommend against leaving a charger connected while unattended.