I've got a '93 Loyale, but this would apply to almost any car. Like all good consious mechanics, (o.k. shadetree mechanic), I disconnect the battery before doing anything that might result in a nasty shock and/or fried electronics if I don't. The problem is I've got one of those fancy-schmancy radios that you can program with the time, preset stations, station call letters, bass / treble / balance for each preset, etc. The problem is that when I disconnect the battery, I lose all the settings. It can take up to 30 minutes to reprogram all this stuff in.

 

Does anyone know of a way to hook a small battery into just the radio circuit so that the radio memory doesn't get wiped out?

I believe there is a 9 volt battery thing that plugs into your cig charger so that you don't loose your presets.

Go to Radio SHack and get a 4 AA battery pack(plastic holder). You can hook up the power wire to it to maintain your radio settings. It doesnt take 12v to do it either.

If you place an extra battery in the circuit be sure to put a isolation diode into the line so the cars battery doesn't try to charge the lesser voltage pack. You will smoke something otherwise if the battery is connected.