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Old November 3rd 04, 02:05 AM
Gary
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Default Battery Dead Again!!!

1990 Miata with WestCo battery:

I seem to forget to turn my lights off and run down the battery too often.
I'd say it happens about twice a month. I have a portable battery jumper in
my house and its no problem starting the car when I forget to turn off the
lights at home. But it really hurts when I forget away from home. I may have
to keep the portable battery unit on the passenger's side floor. I'm afraid
to put it in the trunk, because you know what will happen. A dented trunk,
from within.

To be properly warned, I bought one of those light minders from Miata
Marketing. Its a buzzer and has two wires that attach to a couple fuses
inside the car. Unfortunately, the ends of the wires have clips which go
under two specific fuses, but its too thick to insert them into the fuse
holder without forcing them in and damaging the fuse holder. Yes, I used the
right clips (there were 3 depending on year and model). The bottom line: I
had to cut the clips off and wrap the bare wire around the fuse leads and
insert them in. That worked for a while, but the vibrations cause it to no
longer make a good contact and the warning buzzer no longer works. I plan to
solder the wires onto the fuse leads, but what if that fails?

My other idea is to get one of those Priority One units which cuts off the
battery when in reaches a threshold. Then if I leave the lights on, I can
open the trunk and press a button to allow the battery to work enough to
crank the engine. However, the friggin thing is almost as much as buying a
new WestCo battery.

Other than telling me to not ever leave the lights on again, is there any
advice or tips or products?

Thanks,

Gary


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