Battery maintenance system

[Mike14k]

Alweays full of questions.....

I have several vehicles, from 5 cars to a CanAm Roadster. I'd like to maintain the batteries in all of these with some kind of "maintenance-type charger". The typical, small 1A charger type device that plugs in 120VAC. I'm tired of stuff that won't start.


So I have a couple concepts:

- Use an overhead AC reel, pull it down and plug it into a normal small charger that sets on/under the hood, which is connect to the battery with the "supplied" 12V disconnect plug. Pull the 12V plug, set it aside when I want to drive.

-Use the same deal as above, but use one of the "on board" maintenance chargers, (clamps to the battery)and just disconnect the AC.

BTW, two of the cars have the battery located in the trunk.

On the ATV and CanAm, there is no room for room for"on board" charger, so thats a given for external.

I'm curious what others are doing to keep batteries charged, using on board or external chargers.... or maybe I just missed a post.

Thanks much for the information you guys always provide.

Mike14k

 

[theoldwizard1]

Sounds like you want a Battery Tender Jr and/or a Battery Tender Waterproof

Both come with pigtails (ring terminal harness) that can be permanently connected to the battery and then quick connected to the charger. The waterproof one would be good for permanently mounting in a vehicle. They also sell, extra ring terminal harnesses and charging cord extensions.

 

[xcgates]

The Battery Tender is a good option, I have a similar item, different brand.

Just mount up a remote connection to the batteries, and move the tender around to different vehicles. (Using an extension cord) You don't need to keep a battery on a tender nonstop, so no reason to buy multiple ones, unless you want to.

When I have needed it (rarely) on my Duck, there is an always on socket for power, and that lets me plug in a tender through an odd conglomeration of adapters and alligator clips. My Kawi is just an SAE connector I fish out from the area under the seat.

The car I just pop the hood one Saturday a month or so, clip on the charger, and let it run for most of a Saturday. Doesn't get the battery fully charged, as the tender is designed for the smaller batteries in motorcycles, lawnmower, ATVs, etc, but it does keep it up to the level where the car will start with a little encouragement.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Battery Tender. You can attach the quick connect harness. We do that with the motorcycles.

 

[87GN]

I use a 1.5 amp charger on each of my cars. It stays plugged anytime the cars are in the garage. Since both cars are covered, I ran the two wires out from under the hood to a two wire connector and use a mating connector on the charger. I just unplug the connector and attach the jumper harnes to the backside of the bumper usung velcro when I drive the cars.

 

[murph3204]

Battery Tender. You can attach the quick connect harness. We do that with the motorcycles.

me too. been using one for years.

 

[weegaz22]

Battery isolator switch on each vehicle? it wont drain as fast if its not connected to a wiring system that will have small milliamp drains.

 

[J Persons]

www.batterybutler.com They're about $17.00 each, I've used them for years. It even brought back a discharged Optima yellow top.

 

[Fish-man]

www.batterybutler.com They're about $17.00 each, I've used them for years. It even brought back a discharged Optima yellow top.

Do you leave the cars battery cables hooked up while the butler is on?

I've got other small chargers that I unhook my cables first...

 

[J Persons]

Do you leave the cars battery cables hooked up while the butler is on?

I've got other small chargers that I unhook my cables first...

I leave the cables on. I would be gone sometimes for a month or so, and when I got home, the battery would be fully charged. The Battery Butler now has an optional cigarette lighter plug, so you don't even have to access the battery anymore, just plug the charger in.

 

[weegaz22]

I leave the cables on. I would be gone sometimes for a month or so, and when I got home, the battery would be fully charged. The Battery Butler now has an optional cigarette lighter plug, so you don't even have to access the battery anymore, just plug the charger in.

Might not work on some vehicles though, on some the cigarette lighter is switched with the ignition switch, the battery optimisers i have for my motorcycle have a quick connect cable that you leave hanging down from seat cowl that way you dont have to remove seat to put charger on, could rig up something similar on the front grill.

Battery disconnect switches are also a good idea, especially if you have a classic that's running original wiring, i dare many people have lost cars/garages to fire that's been electrical. serious car collectors will add them to their vehicles, might also help with insurance in those circumstances too.

 

[johnzcarz]

Battery Tender. You can attach the quick connect harness. We do that with the motorcycles.

That's what I have used for years (the Jr. model) - on bikes and cars that are stored 5-6 months out of the year, no problems.

 

[Berserker]

I've never used chargers on my bikes, don't need to if you ride them. But I am looking at adding a third. So maybe.

Maybe come off the garage door opener and mount the charger up high, out of the way. If you cut the alligator clips off and go with a plug you don't need to worry about the leads touching.

If you really wanted to get into, could do switched outlets.

 

[Greatbear]

I've installed Battery Tender charging pigtails on most of my rides, if they get parked for any length of time I connect one of my Battery Tenders or clones to keep the battery fresh. The worst offender in my '03 MINI Cooper S that has destroyed a total of four batteries, three of which are Optima Yellows. With the maintainers, it's not a problem.

I installed a Minn Kota 6 amp marine charger under the hood of my '07 Chevy duramax. If I use the engine block heater I also hook up the charger to make for happier batteries in extreme cold. I have similar on my old '89 Dodge Cummins with an onboard Schumaker charger. The backup generator got a similar Schumacher charger for its battery.

I recently bought a 2 amp Stanley-branded charger/maintainer from Lowe's for $20 bucks mainly because it has a 6/12 volt selector. It also has the same two-pin connector that matches the Battery Tender and most other maintainers, and it also charges with a 4-step charge strategy. Excellent product for the price, and is waetherproofed to boot.

 

[GrantM2Gar]

CTEK charger with quick disconnects.

 

[gandyj]

Depending on where you store your vehicles a multi bank battery tender with 25 ft. entensions might work for you. I have a couple of the battery tender pluses (sic) that I can move around and a two bank battery tender with 25 foot extensions for the two cars that stay in the same garage. I also installed permanent pigtails on the batteries for ease of hook up.

http://batterytender.com/automotive.html

 

[xcgates]

One thing to ponder if you use leads on the DC side of a tender is that I've read (don't take this as gospel, I can't tell you where I heard this) that long leads can play tricks with the electronics, as the added resistance *can* come into play.

Seems much easier to keep one tender, one long extension cord, and move it around once in a while. It's not like a lot of vehicles need a tender on them 24/7. Heck, with my Kawi, I would park it during winters (upstate NY) and just bring the battery inside the house, or inside someone's attached garage, and put a tender on it a week or so before I thought I was going to need it. And I've had the same battery since about the spring of '08.

 

[Matt M PA]

Perhaps not workable for some vehicles, but I made up cigarette lighter plugs for the Vipers....easy to use.

 

[J Persons]

this is what you get with the Battery Butler. The cigarette plug is optional for $5.00 more
http://www.lectriclimited.com/battery-butler.htm#BBFC100 - Float Charger

 

[theoldwizard1]

One thing to ponder if you use leads on the DC side of a tender is that I've read (don't take this as gospel, I can't tell you where I heard this) that long leads can play tricks with the electronics, as the added resistance *can* come into play.

Any electrical contact in a vehicle, especially one that is uncovered, should be coated in silicon dielectric grease. Again, if it is uncover, the grease should be cleaned off and reapplied at LEAST once a year.

 

[y20dth]

http://autospeed.com/A_110354/cms/article.html

 

[5lima30]

+1 on a Battery Tender with several sets of harnesses! YMMV.

 

[LWW]

For the price the Battery Butler is a great idea. 4-6 of them plugged into a power strip and you've got yourself a pretty good distribution system. Add some some clamps or some ring terminals on one end and a quick connect terminal on the other and you're in business.

I have 2 original Battery Tenders, a Jr., a dual and a quad. Eight Battery Butler's would have cost less than just the Quad Battery Tender.

The unfortunate side affect of having too many cars/bikes that I can't drive everyday...

 

[HOTFR8]

+1 on the C-Tek or the Deltrans. I've just had a customer tell me has has not replaced the battery in his Harley for 12 years and it still starts easily.
I've been selling them for a long time and even sell some of the newer Battery Rescues etc. that are now made here in Australia.

 

[ibedayank]

battery tenders are what we use both here and in town at the shop both 6 and 12 volt

 

[Sick Puppy]

+1 on the C-Tek or the Deltrans. I've just had a customer tell me has has not replaced the battery in his Harley for 12 years and it still starts easily.
I've been selling them for a long time and even sell some of the newer Battery Rescues etc. that are now made here in Australia.

Hotfr8, have you come across any of the Ozcharge chargers? Are they any good?

I had a Ctek, the quake killed it. Purchased a cheapie in the meantime, no idea if it works, looking to grab another ctek once able...

 

[ddawg16]

Alweays full of questions.....

I have several vehicles, from 5 cars to a CanAm Roadster. I'd like to maintain the batteries in all of these with some kind of "maintenance-type charger". The typical, small 1A charger type device that plugs in 120VAC. I'm tired of stuff that won't start.

Mike14k

What kind of time frame are we talking about? If you have good batteries and the electrical systems are good....you should be able to go 6 months to a year without issues. If your not driving them at least once in 6 months....might be worth disconnecting the battery.

Lead acid batteries have a pretty much fixed life. Not a whole lot changes if you use them a lot or don't use them....(except for deep cycling in a non-deep cycle battery).

Yes...some vehicles do have constant drains on batteries....radio, computer, clock....but those are pretty small drains.....if it's killing the battery in less than 6 months....something else is wrong.

 

[HOTFR8]

Hotfr8, have you come across any of the Ozcharge chargers? Are they any good?

I had a Ctek, the quake killed it. Purchased a cheapie in the meantime, no idea if it works, looking to grab another ctek once able...

Sorry I have to say not I have no heard of them. How did the quake kill your C-Tek ??? A Power surge ??? You will have to tell us more as to how it was killed. Do you see anything in NZ by MATSON ? If so a Battery Rescue would be good and much cheaper than a C-Tek.

 

[HOTFR8]

What kind of time frame are we talking about? If you have good batteries and the electrical systems are good....you should be able to go 6 months to a year without issues. If your not driving them at least once in 6 months....might be worth disconnecting the battery.

This would be handy to know. how often is it driven or how long does it stay parked ?

Lead acid batteries have a pretty much fixed life. Not a whole lot changes if you use them a lot or don't use them....(except for deep cycling in a non-deep cycle battery).

I was told you can expect 3 or 4 years from the average battery. Any longer if it is not on a tender style charger is a bonus. An average car battery for me on a tender will last longer than the expected life span.

Yes...some vehicles do have constant drains on batteries....radio, computer, clock....but those are pretty small drains.....if it's killing the battery in less than 6 months....something else is wrong.

I have to agree if something is killing a battery in that time you have something seriously wrong with the vehicle.

 

[lh4x4]

I store 5 sports cars, five motorcycles, a truck, trolling motor battery, trailer brake back up battery and two extra motorcycle batteries for over five years now.

A tender is the right piece of equipment for your needs that will float the battery at it's top level.

I use the Schumacher 1.5 amp maintainer which costs about $20 at Walmart.

I have never had a battery problem even with those that sit a year or more. I have a motorcycle battery that has went over 9 years now and that is almost unheard of.

I have one problem. So many extension cords on the floor that I trip over. My to do list includes that I install overhead outlets to do the job better. but at my age it takes me longer to do less than ever.

 

[e-tek]

I set up a system (from an idea I saw here of course!) that uses a pull-down wire like the OP suggested. One charger, the rell in the middle of the shop and I can "tend" any battery. I rotate it around all winter.
Plus, I have a charger on my battery stand that I rotate through my extra batteries.

 

[38Chevy454]

I have several of the cheap ($5 on sale) Harbor Freight battery maintainers that I keep plugged in on several vehicles. So far they all start and have good batteries when I need them. The only real issue with the HF cheapie is they have alligator clips that I have to unhook form the terminals, but not a big problem at all. They just stay plugged in all the time and cables on battery hooked up in vehicle. One is outside under the hood of my old 9N tractor and it starts right up in the cold. For a total investment of $5 each they work great for me.

 

[LWW]

I had one of the HF $5 trickle chargers and it melted on me... Out of the ensuing fire paranoia I bought my first Battery Tender. I probably just got a bad HF charger, but I'm skeptical of HF's build quality/QA on anything other than their heavy duty sockets which are freakin' indestructible.

I'm still leaning towards a bank of Battery Butler's on a 6 outlet power strip connected to a ceiling mounted auto-retracting cord reel next to my ceiling mounted air hose reel...