Battery tender setup with magnetic connection

So, long story short, my 2010 Maxima has a small power draw due to a remote start install. It's very small, but enough to kill the battery in about a year if left unattended. I have tried my darndest to track it down, but have yet o to figure it out. So I've just kept it on a battery tender 24/7 for the last few years. I have the pigtail sticking out of the hood so it's fairly easy to hook up.

But I want a better solution. I'd prefer to relocate the connection to the grill or something, and I'd love to have a magnetic connector, so when my wife forgets to unplug it, it will disconnect easily without tugging in the cable.

I've seen one solution, but it's like $150 just for the adapter, not including the battery tender. I wouldn't mind paying that much if it were a nice all in one solution.

Just looking for ideas. I've seen connectors thay I could wire up myself that would work, but they would leave bare contacts showing and could be dangerous, or cause a short maybe.

Anyone have a good permanent charging solution you like?

You could fabricate up your own magnetic connection with a small series fuse to protect it from shorting out. The fuse would only need to be rated a bit higher than what he battery maintainer can provide. If you used the donut rare earth magnets that can accept a countersunk screw, they'd be easy to attach wires to. However, you'd probably want to go with a triangular pattern and only connect two of the three magnets to make it difficult to hook it up incorrectly. I don't know that you can get the donut magnets in opposite magnetic polarity, but if so, that would further reduce the chances of connecting incorrectly.

Another protective measure would be to install a Schottky diode in series with the positive feed from the connector to the battery which should not cause much voltage drop but further reduce the chances of the exposed magnets shorting out if something conductive were to land across them. Oh, and if you have access to a 3D printer, you could print mounting points to have the magnets recessed, and recessed different amounts so that you wouldn't make a connection if you had the connector reversed and it would further reduce the chances something shorting across the magnets. Although if you're 3D printing a mount you could also just key it such that you can't insert the mating plug upside down.

-Rod

You could fabricate up your own magnetic connection with a small series fuse to protect it from shorting out. The fuse would only need to be rated a bit higher than what he battery maintainer can provide. If you used the donut rare earth magnets that can accept a countersunk screw, they'd be easy to attach wires to. However, you'd probably want to go with a triangular pattern and only connect two of the three magnets to make it difficult to hook it up incorrectly. I don't know that you can get the donut magnets in opposite magnetic polarity, but if so, that would further reduce the chances of connecting incorrectly.

Another protective measure would be to install a Schottky diode in series with the positive feed from the connector to the battery which should not cause much voltage drop but further reduce the chances of the exposed magnets shorting out if something conductive were to land across them. Oh, and if you have access to a 3D printer, you could print mounting points to have the magnets recessed, and recessed different amounts so that you wouldn't make a connection if you had the connector reversed and it would further reduce the chances something shorting across the magnets. Although if you're 3D printing a mount you could also just key it such that you can't insert the mating plug upside down.

-Rod
Thanks for the ideas! I will look into that, although it seems a little more on the diy end of the spectrum than I'm hoping. Although I'm not opposed to doing something diy. But I don't have a 3d printer. I'll look into those options though thanks.