battery tender charger

[PoorOwner]

Hey, many of us have non daily drivers. I have a couple of "battery tenders" made by deltran, One is the old style battery tender plus, the other is the newer 3amp power plus that is fully plastic.

Will it prolong life to start using them regularly? I recently killed a couple of battery without paying attention to let cars sit in the garage, over a extended long weekend on the daily driver, and a 2 week vacation on the non daily, battery drained enough and cell seemed to be shorted and cannot charge it back up to full capacity. Requiring the battery to be replaced. When the car used to start after 10 days, I just assumed it was good enough, but overtime the draw from the days in between put a demand on the battery and seemed to shorten its life.

So , just wanted to know if I should keep up with a regime of the putting the tender on the daily driver during weekend (friday to monday),
and the non daily driver that driven about once a week I think I should have the battery tender on there whenever parked.

Do you guys have any trouble with using these chargers long term? I figure it would help but not sure if there are side effects like electrolysis. I once had a freeze plug rusted out on a car in storage for a couple years. Not sure if that was related to the tender charger that was on it.

 

[Ilikeike]

I use tenders on my muscle car, boat,and other batteries that just sit on the shop floor for weeks and months.
But if you're loosing a battery in 3 days,you have a problem with the vehicle or the battery is way past time to be recycled.

 

[ford33]

I have used the Deltran battery tender junior for a few years. It works well. The first one failed after 4 months but the replacement lasted this long. The wire they use to connect the battery is not of good quality. It appears to be cheap lamp cord. I have replaced the wire and battery side connectors with better quality cables.

I have had no issues with battery damage.

 

[pdl2mtl90]

Have 2 I use every day. One on the Mustang that can sit for weeks at a time. The other one I alternate between the 2 daily drivers (wife and I started car pooling so only 1 car gets driven at a time). Haven't bought a battery in about 7 years since I started using them.

 

[PoorOwner]

I have fixed all the parasitic draw that I know of. Yes there was a drain, but it was also due to not driving it. If the car was driven daily the drain would not be noticed or be enough to manifest into a battery issue.
on one car, it was turning the satellite radio on to get updates and I had the dealer update the software that makes this no longer happen.

One thing I noticed is the battery tender plus when connected fully charged is 12.8V, and the tender power plus (the newer one) fully charged reads 13.1V

 

[apollo11]

I like C-Tek better

 

[theoldwizard1]

I recently killed a couple of battery without paying attention to let cars sit in the garage, over a extended long weekend on the daily driver, and a 2 week vacation on the non daily, battery drained enough and cell seemed to be shorted and cannot charge it back up to full capacity.

If the batteries were in good condition to start with and there are no parasitic loads, you would not need a "maintainer" in either of those situations.

Do you guys have any trouble with using these chargers long term?

Lead acid batteries do NOT like being on a maintainer 24/7 for weeks/months on end. Plug your maintainer into a cheap mechanical lamp timer and only charge for a couple of hours a day.

 

[PoorOwner]

If the batteries were in good condition to start with and there are no parasitic loads, you would not need a "maintainer" in either of those situations.



Lead acid batteries do NOT like being on a maintainer 24/7 for weeks/months on end. Plug your maintainer into a cheap mechanical lamp timer and only charge for a couple of hours a day.

If I understand correctly these chargers slowly taper off the amps as the battery approaches fully charged state. But it doesn't continue to give it charge or trickle until the battery voltage is given a chance to drop a bit, so I am not sure if putting a timer on these chargers has an advantage at all.

 

[jshillin]

I've been using a couple Battery Tender JR's for several years now and they have worked flawlessly.

 

[dogdog]

I got two of these for the generator starter battery and a car battery I bought new then not being used... it's been on the maintainer for a good few years... now you mention it, I should go and check them..


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XM1-5-Maintainer-1-5-Amp/15140193

 

[Colin Len]

Yup, others pretty much hit the nail on the head. If your battery can't last a weekend or even 10 days without a charge there is a problem with that battery or with excess draw. I regularly leave my daily for that long as well and leave my pickup even longer without problems. Recently the pickup battery did die though after sitting for about a month. This is a new phenomenon so now I know I'll be shopping for a battery soon.

My 3rd car stays in the garage with a battery tender jr hooked to it all the time (odyssey pc680 battery that doesn't last long if not maintained). Ever since starting to use the battery tender I haven't had any battery issues on this car. In my situation (car rarely gets driven or even started) a battery tender/maintainer is mandatory.

 

[xyster101]

You don't need them on a car with a good battery. I leave my car alone sometimes for 2 or 3 weeks and it starts fine with a 4.5 year old battery. You have other issues if the battery dies that fast.
I use them on my mower and sports car over the winter. One week on and one week off as I only have one tender.
I also only start 1 atv ever few weeks. No tender.


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[2CRUZ]

You don't need them on a car with a good battery. I leave my car alone sometimes for 2 or 3 weeks and it starts fine with a 4.5 year old battery. You have other issues if the battery dies that fast.
I use them on my mower and sports car over the winter. One week on and one week off as I only have one tender.
I also only start 1 atv ever few weeks. No tender.


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I don't by this at all. I have had the same battery in my 57 Chevy for over 9 yrs. on a battery maintainer still no problems with the battery. Now you tell me one will last that long all by it self.

 

[vtcat]

No,but some people claim to have had problems with some maintainers over charging batteries long term and boiling the acid out.

 

[apollo11]

That is why I use a C-Tek

https://smartercharger.com/battery-chargers/

 

[onewheat]

I got 11 years out of a motorcycle battery - plugged in whenever I wasn't riding it. I think I have 6 Battery Tenders now. They're awesome.

 

[Wanna Ride]

I have one, Deltran Tender Plus. During the cold, midwest winters (in my heated garage), it frequently gets below 0* outside, for weeks on end, but I keep my garage at 50*. I alernate my tender in one week intervals, between my Harley and my Polaris RZR. The last battery in the bike, lasted six years. Everyone I know locally, that doesn't use a tender, never get over about two years on their Harley batteries, but in all fairness, they don't heat their garages in the winter. I've had the same battery in the RZR, since I bought it.

As for your daily driver, that battery should easily last a month (and more!) of sitting still in regular weather. For it to go dead over a weekend... you definitely got a problem somewhere.

Never had a single problem with my tender, and I bought it new just over fifteen years ago. Some folks like to make everyone think that the gadget they bought, is better than what's been around for decades.

 

[matt_i]

Lead acid batteries do NOT like being on a maintainer 24/7 for weeks/months on end. Plug your maintainer into a cheap mechanical lamp timer and only charge for a couple of hours a day.

Not sure where this came from.

I've gotten 10 years out of forklift batteries (for starting propane IC engines) that sit 99.9% of the time on a battery minder.

I think that you're thinking of a "dumb" float charger that just pushes current. The better minders actually exercise the battery, drawing it down slightly and then switching back over to charge it up. The better minders also sense the exterior temp, there are different needs depending on how hot or cold it is.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

I have 4 battery tender jr's in the garage. One is hooked up to my STi that never gets driven. Battery is 7 years old in it. Our Mercedes gets driven every once in a weekend, that's hooked up.

Both my street and track motorcycles are on jr's as well. I like the battery tender jr because it plugs directly into the wall outlet compared to other models that have a cord and then you have to figure out where to mount the or put the device. I find that super annoying. If I had a dedicated shelf or what not then it might be easier to have one of the battery tenders that branch off into 4-6 splits... but then I'm running cords from one side of the garage to the other. These are cheap and they work. After I drive the cars and pull them back into the garage it takes about a day or two until the blinking red goes to solid green. If these put out more juice then I'm sure it would be faster... but honestly it doesn't bother me at all. I've had one battery tender jr go back in the 8 years I've had it.

-Nigel

 

[58Yeoman]

I had one Battery Tender (brand) go bad and ruin the battery in my Galaxie. I still use them.

 

[xyster101]

I don't by this at all. I have had the same battery in my 57 Chevy for over 9 yrs. on a battery maintainer still no problems with the battery. Now you tell me one will last that long all by it self.

Do you daily drive your 57?
If you used a battery daily or a few times a week you don't need a maintainer. But by all means if it is worth your time to plug and unplug a maintainer twice a day to save $100 every 10 years then keep a maintainer on your daily driver battery.
If you drive a car once every two weeks then yes put a maintainer on it.


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[Schurkey]

Stay the hell away from Schumacher (also sold as Die Hard at my local Menards) automatic tender. This one, or one very similar:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009IBJAS/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Mine died for no apparent reason. Out of warranty, but typically only used "overnight" a handful of times.

Chinese ****, under-engineered, and non-fixable because the entire guts is a surface-mount-device "chip" on a small circuit board with a microscopic transformer attached. Pure junk.

 

[AMCguy]

I have several Juniors. One on each bike, the collector car, the lawn tractor and seasonal work truck. Every time they go on sale I can't resist buying one. Now I need to get another car, or bike.

 

[Beemie]

I use Battery Tenders on several stored vehicles and I can't remember the last time a battery failed. They really work although some will argue about fire risk in the event of a failure. I never had a problem.

 

[ptgarcia]

I have an old Battery Tender I bought in 2000 for my Seadoo that I now use for my motorcycle. It has been kicked and dragged across the garage floor more times than I can count. The green indicator light on the front is missing and the steel cover is bent out on one corner but the thing still works like a champ!

 

[Falcon67]

I run one tender on the Mustang race car because it has sat most of the year. It has a newer Optima that I just don't trust. The dragster gets a 30 minute 10A boost the day before a race. There is no parasitic on that because it sits disconnected from everything. And, it hits the charger anyway after every round. It's a regular auto battery - which is being abused. Hence the saved receipt and 3 yr warranty. The dailies get nothing, even the F150 that might sit several days. The F350 sits for 1~3 weeks between use - it gets nothing and the battery is from 1999.

 

[aschen]

I had a battery tender branded unit fail on me several years ago. Now I keep my two hobby cars on these super cheap black and decker units which seem to work well

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

I use Battery Tender Jrs on all my bikes. In the past 10+ years, only one had died on me. My experience is that they help prolong the lives of the bike batteries.

 

[Jeepster04]

Ive got a Jr and also the 4 unit battery tender. Rarely do I have the 4 unit tender loaded up but its going on 2 years. If you read reviews on Amazon they do get a lot of bad reviews... Seems quality is slowly declining but so far so good for me. I leave them on two of my Jeeps year around...

 

[reader2580]

I use Battery Tenders full time on my standby generator and my motorhome. Most of the time they aren't charging when I look at them. The light is red when charging and green when not charging. The motorhome has a serious parasitic draw that kills the batteries in two to three weeks without a charger. I gave up on finding it as the wiring diagrams for just the chassis are over thirty 11x17 pages.

I have a generator in the motorhome with separate battery. I need to get another Battery Tender I think as last battery died before three years.

 

[jdieter]

I've got several Battery Tender Jr's. Don't know if its a coincidence or an issue with them but I had the hour meter on my gator quit shortly after connecting the tender and the hour meter on my ZT cub mower clocks constantly. Anybody experience anything like that with Tender Jr's on stuff with hour meters?

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have a Battery Tender Jr. My results may not be typical but I put it on one of my cars that was stored over the winter, and in the spring the battery was boiled dry and ruined. I haven't used it since.

 

[rustyjames]

I like the Tender Jr., but I never leave it plugged in all the time. Just don't trust it. So, every few weeks I test the condition of the battery with a volt meter, bulk charge with a regular charger and finish with the Jr., just letting it float for a few hours.

 

[C_F]

I have three of the larger metal Tenders, that are almost constantly tending to one battery or another. I've been super pleased with them over the 14-ish years I've been using them

 

[lakeroadster]

I have (4) Battery Tender Plus's, (1) for each hot rod and (1) on the John Deere.

They work great.

The newest one is about 9 years old. I am pretty sure a couple are about 20 years old.

 

[Paco Pena]

I use CTEK for the cars and truck and a Yuasa smart charger for the bike. Still on the original bike battery (2004 July build).

Paco

 

[HOTFR8]

A pretty common topic. Most of my vehicles have batteries lasting longer than ten years from new simply because they are kept on tender chargers.

I have four Battery Tenders, One would be 18 years old on my Genset. Two on my cars and one bigger unit that backs up my Solar power for my office.
I also have C-Teks, one on the mower and two bigger units on the trucks. I also have a Matson Battery Rescue and that is on the enclosed car trailer.

Never had an issue with any of them but have heard the C-Teks now made in China are not so popular.

 

[apollo11]

I use CTEK for the cars and truck and a Yuasa smart charger for the bike. Still on the original bike battery (2004 July build).

Paco

C-Teks are by far the best but they cost more.
To me, it's worth it.

EDIT: WHAT ? They are now made in China?
Well what isn't

 

[Done That]

I've had good luck with Ctek as well, use the cigarette lighter adapter most if the time.

 

[HOTFR8]

EDIT: WHAT ? They are now made in China?
Well what isn't

I stopped buying and selling them once they stopped making them in Sweden.
The quality is sadly just not the same any more.