Dirk,
Longtime no hear, buddy. I still remember my second trip to Moab quite fondly, although I have been back a couple of times since then. Likewise I still remember how you said "We should keep going, we are doing OK." on the Poison Spider Mesa/Golden Spike trail marker, and then spending a cold night on the Gold Bar Rim trail sleeping in the Jeep seat.
Anyways, recall that I am a EE with a degree in EE although it is not a new one. I use and reccomend the Blue Sea Systems hardware. BSS publishes specifications AND they meet the published specs. They are also a USCG-approved vendor that makes stuff for USCG vessels. Frankly, you will not know anything about hardware bought at HF. I do shop there, but I don't use their stuff in anything vital that would cause the Jeep to burn up if it failed.
Your battery is probably going flat because of the number of accessories that use "parasitic power" to maintain the settings when the vehicle is parked. This includes the stereo, any aftermarket radios and even the stock Jeep PCM. So your first decision is between do you want to maintain the battery charge, or disconnect it.
Maintaining the charge requires you to either park indoors and plug a battery maintainer into a power receptacle, or park outdoors with a solar battery charger. However, you keep everything from the radio presets to the alarm function.
Disconnecting the battery preserves it indefinately as long as it is a quality battery in good condition and fully charged. However, everything from radio station presets to stored PCM trouble codes may be lost if you disconnect, and you spend time re-setting it all.
Whether you want to run a dash control panel or use the switches under the hood is yet another decision. I use high-amperage battery switches under the hood, and I keep all the connections short and direct, for maximum reliability. A secondary consideration is that any form of remote control from the dash requires a few milliamps to run the small relays that operate the high-amperage solenoid switches (or a few micro-amps if you use solid-state relays). Therefore a remote control setup itself requires power that can flatten out a battery over a few weeks.
I realize that depending upon your situation, you may not have the full range of options, but the two extremes would be:
1) For a known prolonged deployment, I would store the Jeep indoors or under a protective cover outdoors, with the battery removed and attached to a maintainer in somebody's (buddy or girlfriend or relative's) garage. I would lift it off the tires and use jackstands to avoid flat spots. I would use a fuel stabilizer and squirt a few drops of oil in each spark plug hole, an leave the plugs disconnected and finger-tight. I would make sure both the anti-freeze and brake fluid were fresh. Before driving the Jeep I would inspect all fluids.
2) After properly equipping the Jeep, I would park on base in a location where the solar panels protect the battery, set the alarm, and walk away. Even if gone for a prolonged deployment, the battery stays good and the alarm functions - and the bird poop accumulates. What service items you perform (if any) are up to you when you return.
Lastly, I will mention that low quality batteries will lose charge all by themselves. That typically means a cheap wet cell battery (the local autoparts store cheapie with 36-month warranty). All of the AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) type batteries tend to do better, but of course are not cheap.
As usual, questions are free.
