Yes, I charge my battery from the battery posts under the hood. Works fine. Getting under the seat seems a bit of a pain. I also fully charge the battery after not using the car for a few days. The car relies on a good battery charge for so many functions, and many issues arise from low battery charge, and there is a parasitic drain all the time. Cheers.

 

What size (amperage) battery charger do you use?

 

25 Amps.

 

Excellent. Thank you!

 

I use a Battery Tender on mine. I use the SAE connector that comes as part of the BT package connected to both under hood terminals. Works great👍

 

If you are talking about the small ring connectors that attach directly to the terminals with a screw, may I ask how you connected them? I would like to do this so I don't have to keep opening the hood, and screw around with the alligator clamps all the time. But I don't see any screws or attachment points for the eyelets.

 

I keep a battery tender on all mine. Using the under hood terminals on the Jeep it works great. Good luck with maintaining that high charging rate!

 

My maintainer is 1.5 amps works great usually hook it up once a week overnight

 

This morning I hooked up the charger and set it on AGM, at 8 amps. And ran it for 2 hours. I then hooked up the Battery Tender Jr. And it flashed green for about 10 minutes, then went to solid green, (float setting).

So tomorrow I'll test it after it settles down, and see where it's at. It should be at or near 100% charge.

 

Ignorant question: what is the difference between a battery tender and a portable jump charger, such as an Anker? I have an Anker that I have used on another vehicle to jump start, but is that the same thing to use as a charger? There is a light indicator on it that changes from red to green before I jump start. Thx!

 

Note that many of the portable jump chargers such as those offered my Anker do not work with AGM batteries, as I once learned the hard way.

 

A Battery Tender only puts out 700 milliamps, or 7/10 of one amp. The portable jump starters can put out several thousand amps. Albeit for a very short time. Enough to get your vehicle started. The Battery Tender is designed to prevent the battery from discharging on it's own from sitting, or from parasitic draw.

 

Thank you for the clarification.

 

I bought a NOCO GB4000 for jump starting our vehicles. We keep it on whatever we are driving/riding. I also keep both cars and our motorcycle on Battery Tenders whenever they are in the garage.
Get around 6 years from each battery.

 

I also have been using Battery Tenders on my vehicles for almost 20 years and have never had an issue with the Batteries connected, or the other electronics of the vehicles, including my '09 Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4..
It is easy using their connectors and getting longer cables with them, to hook up to the battery and then just find the connector end wherever you placed it, and plug in the Battery Tender when you park the vehicle...
My Batteries also go years and years without problems...Float Chargers are easy on the Battery..

 

FYI - My local Costco has the Battery Tender Brand available at the moment for $43. Works very very well.

 

FYI - My local Costco has the Battery Tender Brand available at the moment for $43. Works very very well.

Good to know a decent price. No COSTCO near me. Thx.

 

I only use a battery charger for AGM batteries. I use the terminals under the hood with no problems and fully charge my battery at least once a month overnight. this program keeps everything happy including the secondary battery for the Start /stop system on the newer 3.6L V6's. AGM batteries like slower charges as opposed to a rapid charge.

 

Thx. Noted.

 

I spent some time looking under the hood, trying to find a way to route the Battery Tender lines out through the front grille. It's not easy. They have the entire front of the vehicle sealed off, so all of the air entering the grille has to pass through the radiator. There are no openings to route the wire leads through, and out to the front of the grille.

Both the positive and negative charging posts appear to just unscrew from the threaded studs. Which makes connecting the ring eyelets of the lead Battery Tender wires easy. But trying to route the wires is going to be a challenge.

 

Both the positive and negative charging posts appear to just unscrew from the threaded studs. Which makes connecting the ring eyelets of the lead Battery Tender wires easy.

Keep in mind that the positive boost post is directly connected to the battery. It is best to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery while you're working on the boost post. That way, you'll avoid unexpected fireworks.

 

In the garage, I just open up the hood and hook up the BT after a run. It also helps remove the under hood heat sink effect 👍

 

I would prefer doing it that way, too. Having the hood up would remind me that I need to disconnect the battery charger before backing out of the garage.

 

I know you can jump start them off the positive and negative jumper posts under the hood. But what about using a battery charger or maintainer on them?

Both functions are exactly why those posts are conveniently available under the hood of the "WK2" design.

 

Just on a related note----most of the modern smart chargers will fully charge your battery and then continue to trickle charge them as needed, just like a dedicated battery tender does. So you can keep them connected to the battery pretty much forever if you wanted to do that. I have a CTEK that I use like that for a car that I don't often use in the winter months.

 

Now I am confused. When you say "modern smart charger", are you saying that my ( Anker) portable jump starter can also serve as a battery tender and I really don't need a tender device? I understand jump starters put out out far greater amperage than a tender device. Does that not matter? Thx.

 

I was wondering, but I never tested it. Will a WK2 Jeep Grand Cherokee allow you to put the transmission selector into reverse or drive if the hood latch is popped? I know the remote start feature won't engage if the hood is open.

I see where there is some wiring going to the hood latch. I don't think you can move the transmission selector out of Park, if the hatchback is open as well.

 

You can't even take the transmission out of park unless the engine is actually running. I have tried to put mine in neutral to push it a bit inside my garage without starting the engine, but it doesn't allow me to.

 

One feature to look for in smart chargers is a "12 volt supply" mode. While that seems like something that is just nice to have, it does have an important benefit. Most smart chargers have a fair amount of protection built in. One of those protections Is that the charger won't start charging unless it detects a certain battery voltage when connected. That's typically between 2 and 4 volts. The problem with that is that if you have a badly discharged battery, you can't charge it. With a "12 volt supply" mode, you can force some charge onto the battery and bring up its voltage enough that the regular smart charge mode will work.

The newer Noco chargers have gone one better with a "force mode" which automatically switches back to a charging mode.

 

I have couple of NOCO Genius battery maintainers and also an old Battery Tender Plus. Recently, I purchased a NOCO GC003 accessory (pic below). I have the battery maintainer mounted on the wall right next to my Jeep.

I drive into the garage, open the driver side window, reach out and plug this to the "cigarette" lighter in the center console because it is always powered even when the Jeep is off. I don't need to open the hood using this accessory.

 

I have couple of NOCO Genius battery maintainers and also an old Battery Tender Plus. Recently, I purchased a NOCO GC003 accessory (pic below). I have the battery maintainer mounted on the wall right next to my Jeep.

View attachment 239803

I drive into the garage, open the driver side window, reach out and plug this to the "cigarette" lighter in the center console because it is always powered even when the Jeep is off. I don't need to open the hood using this accessory.

I like this. Please elaborate because I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to electrical systems in cars. Are you saying that with this "cigarette lighter adapter", you are charging your battery, by reversing the flow of power through the cigarette lighter port, back into the battery?

Does this effect the operation of the charger in any way? By that I mean will it still sense a full charge and go into "Float Mode" the same as if you were charging from the jumper posts?

 

Have 2011 GC HEMI USE A Battery Tender /Charger via Posts under hood. Works Fine.

 

Yep, charging from the posts works fine. I use a trickle charger on my 2020 Trailhawk as well as my wife's 2019 SLC

 

I have successfully charged by connecting under the hood.

 

I know there is a tendency to worry about the electronics running down the battery, but I have legit JGC Overland sit for 7-8 weeks several times while travelling, and it Always fires right up. Always.

 

Just for giggles, if I had to use the terminals under the stupid passenger seat to charge I would BEAT MY CAR WITH A BASEBALL BAT.

 

I use Optimate battery charger/maintainers. I select the models than can charge / maintain the most battery types and have a few that can restore weak or dead batteries. I have 9 chargers that I use continuously on seasonal equipment, snowmobiles, golf cart, diesel mower/tractor, SxS, and always have a few extra that I can lend or give as appropriate. I have batteries that are 8-10 years old and are still serviceable on equipment that are used at least weekly during their active season. And yes I use the under hood charging adapter for my Jeep and my 2009 Journey that current.has 206,200 miles. The Optimate 1’s are the equivalent of battery tenders but typically seem to do a better job of maintaining batteries without damage due to over charging through the use of float charging. And I have never had one fail in he 15 years I have used them.