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battery maintainer

A

autoguru_23

Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2006
Messages
7
Location
Cape Cod,Ma
hi fellow garage junkies again,another question,my mom's motorcycle battery needs a battery maintainer of some sort,i charged it up 100% again @ 2 amps of 12 volt dc electricity from my battery charger,but i'd like to find a battery charger/maintainer i could hardwire permanantly and leave plugged in all the time, i like griots garage so i may go look there right now.

Hope you all can help reccommend where to buy,i know most of you aren't local to Cape Cod,Massachusetts but i'd like to buy local to the zip code 02649 if possible.

Thank you in advance fellow garage junkies :)
 
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kidney

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
230
Depends on the bike, that will help with your choices. For a generic charger (which is what i use), you can't go wrong with a Battery Tender. It comes with two battery hook ups. One is a alligator clamp and the other is one you can screw down to your battery. The one you screw down can be routed so that you can pull into your garage and just plug it in. It's a smart charger, so you don't have to worry about over charging. Using the battery tender, I got 5 years out of a battery. The only reason I replaced it was just due to it's age. As for the other options...I don't know if it's still made, but Crane made one for Harley XL motors, that was a battery charger and voltage regulator all in one.
 
S

Skinny_Blinky

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 23, 2007
Messages
53
Battery Tender ==> www.batterytender.com

One of the best investments I have in the garage. I have 4 of them running on different applications. When I park the tractor and truck, I plug them in to the pigtails that I have installed. Done deal.

Uncontrolled battery chargers are what kills most batteries in the manner of trickle and hope while a battery sits. I use the Battery Tebder Plus model for my needs.

The nice thing about these gadgets is that I don't give a second thought to the batteries all winter, knowing they are tended well and will be good in the spring (boats and lawn mowers).

Optima batteries also make for a good investment for battery savy folks. Well worth the investment.
 
L

-lecroix-

Banned
Joined
Jan 28, 2006
Messages
946
Harbor Freight battery tender does the same thing for less money. I have several (mower, bike, and spare battery for truck) and never a minutes trouble out of them.

As far as the Optima ... good batteries, but when they die, they are DEAD! And if decides to die while you're away from home, you're stranded. I didn't buy an Optima as a replacement.
 
T

tweety652

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
256
ive heard the acdelco auto batteries are good but i kinda wonder why the AA & AAA ive seen have been at dollar stores.
 
V

volvo

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
1,304
Location
PNW 45th Parallel
. We have been using the Schumacher brand on car mounted battery maintainer charger for our low end car/boats to the +2k units for the past 30yrs. Customer only has to plug it in to charge or unplug to go, fully automatic. Approx $36 from our local battery supplier or on line $46. Never had a problem as long as the customer uses it. ( Customer decides to quit using it and then has low voltage computer network related problems later).

http://store.schumachermart.com/se-1-12s.html
 
D

Danglerb

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Sep 6, 2007
Messages
9,736
Location
SoCal
The HF is like $8 on sale, if you look you can also find a "conditioning" charger in the $50 to $75 range that uses a special tuned pulse technology to remove sulfate crystals.
http://www.pulsetech.net/

In the latest round of battery wars in another forum Autozone is popular and its $46 is claimed to be the same high end Interstate battery sold for double elsewhere.

Putting in the permanent easy hookup lead is a good idea. Finding out what is draining the battery is also a good idea.

My recent personal experience is that Bosch is junk, two died on me within a year with bad cells, and the 2 year free replacement isn't that satisfying when you are lugging around Group 49 batteries. My 84 month Diehard are pushing 5 years or so and doing fine, despite serious abuse by me. I bought car setting with a dead Energizer battery, put my charger on it, coaxed it into charging, charged a couple days and it now seems fine, but scheduled for a trip to be tested anyway. Normally setting for months dead kills a battery.
 
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V

VDubJoe

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Joined
Jan 22, 2006
Messages
319
Location
New Port Richey , Fl
Yes the Harbor Freight one work great. They are on sale here for 5.99
I just bought a couple of extras. Installed my own disconect for the bike.

Joe
 
M

MGUY

Active member
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
30
Black and Decker also made their own battery maintainer also.

I seen one earlier this year mark down at Walmart.
 
S

snorvet

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Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
777
Location
Northern Illinois
I'll throw another vote in for "battery tender". I put the corvette on one in November and take it off in April - every year since 2001. The 2001 car starts up fine every spring and is still on the original battery
 
U

Uncle Buck

Banned
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
9,120
Location
Kansas
-lecroix- said:
Harbor Freight battery tender does the same thing for less money. I have several (mower, bike, and spare battery for truck) and never a minutes trouble out of them.

As far as the Optima ... good batteries, but when they die, they are DEAD! And if decides to die while you're away from home, you're stranded. I didn't buy an Optima as a replacement.
Click to expand...

I have never used them but at that price it looks like I need to start.:thumbup:
 
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