Is your battery maintainer working?

[rodster_67]

You installed a battery maintainer to keep your battery charged but are you sure it's working?

Lights are on so all must be okay right? Not necessarily.

I've had such bad luck with battery maintainers lately I've gotten into a habit of checking the battery voltage once in awhile.

Come to find out, it looks like one of my Schumacher units is not functioning in maintain mode. It's a SC-1200A with a digital display and when I checked the voltage it was 12.7 vdc. Toggled the unit off/on and the display read 65% charged.

Called technical support and they said it should maintain around 13.1 vdc. (Another SC-1200A I have maintains at 13.1 vdc)

Battery is good, maintainer is not.

I'll be curious if anyone else finds a defective unit so grab your meters and report back.

 

[SARG]

I've been replacing my older units with the XM1-5 style. I like the way they function better. No chance of wrong connection etc.

Started when I found a bad connector on an older unit.

Four new ones so far with a couple to go.

 

[Interex]

I haven't had a single issue with my Battery Tender Jr.

 

[APEowner]

Between home and work I've got 4 battery tender jrs running flawlessly.

 

[abk241]

My $80.00 Accumate has kept my 2 MC batteries alive for 9 & 10 years.
I'd say it's working.

 

[Mcjohn925]

I use this. It was on sale at lowes for 15 bucks. Brought my battery back from 11 volts and now maintains it for the last month or so. It makes a clicking noise and when switched on it produces 13.4 volts IIRC. Not sure it's going to last a long life due to the mechanical sound of the clicking.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[CNGsaves]

I've got both Battery Tenders and the Schumacher brand from WalMart and they work great.

One warning I'd give everyone is leave HOOD Open if storing in rural setting, barn, etc where there might be pests like mice/rats. Had all wires of Battery Tender eaten through by rat when car was stored in barn. The hood was dropped down and rat had gathered up straw, etc and made nest up on top of engine. With hood down, bastage felt "safe" to chew all my wires!!

MORAL OF STORY . . . Leave Hood Up . . and. . . put out LOTS of poison and traps for those pesky varmits . . . . arrrrrgh. Then connect your Battery Tender !!

 

[MikeF2316]

I got 13 years on the battery in my bike. It never came out in that time, just had my battery tender on it no matter how cold it got. The battery tender wasn't used in the warmer months when I was riding frequently.

 

[wkndwarrior29]

I have a CTEK 7002 which I had purchased for an M series that I used to have, it works perfectly every time and can be left on the jump posts or using a cigarette lighter adapter to maintain. It was well worth the money, you get what you pay for with these things.

 

[rodster_67]

I use this. It was on sale at lowes for 15 bucks. Brought my battery back from 11 volts and now maintains it for the last month or so. It makes a clicking noise and when switched on it produces 13.4 volts IIRC. Not sure it's going to last a long life due to the mechanical sound of the clicking.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

I've returned some Stanley units due to the constant clicking. Like you, I figured they might have a shortened life due to this. I called tech support on these too and they said they shouldn't constantly click. I have 2 that are working fine.

I have a CTEK 7002 which I had purchased for an M series that I used to have, it works perfectly every time and can be left on the jump posts or using a cigarette lighter adapter to maintain. It was well worth the money, you get what you pay for with these things.

There is a point of no return, $200 maintainer to keep a $50 battery alive? Hmmmm

 

[rodster_67]

I got 13 years on the battery in my bike. It never came out in that time, just had my battery tender on it no matter how cold it got. The battery tender wasn't used in the warmer months when I was riding frequently.

Wow, I wondered how long a battery would last if it was kept on a tender while not being used. Bet battery manufacturers aren't fans of tenders.

 

[geojag]

I have 2 battery tender jr.s over 3 years old working perfectly.

 

[wagzilla]

Between home and work I've got 4 battery tender jrs running flawlessly.

I have had really good luck with the battery tender jr. I have 29 trucks with battery tenders, I have a quit a few tenders go bad seem like when they are under 13 volts they are bad.


James

 

[rodster_67]

I have had really good luck with the battery tender jr. I have 29 trucks with battery tenders, I have a quit a few tenders go bad seem like when they are under 13 volts they are bad.


James

I believe they are suppose to maintain a 13.2vdc so less than that they could be bad.

Don't know what size truck batteries you have but the Jr seems like it could be a little under powered (.75amps) for that task. ?

 

[lakeroadster]

Another satisfied Battery Tender owner.

I have 5 of them, bought the first one a long time ago, about 1990 as I recall.

In any event I still have the first one and have added more as we acquired more vehicles.

 

[justme-]

Battery Tender Jr working great on one cycle battery something like 10 years now. Had a HF float charger on the other cycle battery and the charger failed to a load state. I have been trying to save the battery but I believe my 8 year old gel cell is toast. Unknown how long the failed charger was on - between a couple of days and couple of weeks.
My Schumacher charger is questionable - I've had the same instance occur a couple of times and other times it's correct. I have also had it report fully charged at 15v, confirmed voltage with a DMM.
I'm not pleased with Schumacher and recommend not going with them. Several bad experiences with their stuff at work. Looking for another few battery tenders

 

[CJM8515]

I have the battery tender, the larger units not the jr. Both of them have worked flawlessly, no issues. One is 8 years old and one is 4.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

All my Deltrans (3) work great...

 

[Arps]

I haven't had a single issue with my Battery Tender Jr.

 

[angrystroker]

Battery Tenders here also, 20 years working, the original idea and product always out last the new and not so improved.

 

[66HertzClone]

I have one I purchased from Griots Garage years ago and it works great. I use it on my Mustang, to make it easy to connect I put a female jack in the grill. I ran a wire from the ground cable connection on the block and from the start solenoid to a 1/4 female headphone jack. Made an adapter cable for the charger, now I don't even have to open the hood when I want to connect he charger.

 

[APEowner]

There is a point of no return, $200 maintainer to keep a $50 battery alive? Hmmmm

This is certainly worth thinking about. Of course it's not just one battery it's however many you'd have to replace prematurely if you didn't have the maintainer as compared to the cost of the maintainer.

You're also paying for the ability to have a high level of confidence that whatever you're maintaining is going to start when you want it to.

And, here at the GJ some of use just appreciate really nice stuff. Heck, a bunch of these battery tenders are hooked to things that we really don't need in the first place like race cars and motorcycles.

 

[MrGiggles]

My boss bought a dozen or so Yuasa maintaners 5 or 6 years ago. I think there's 3 left that still work.

We replaced them with Battery Tender Jr's and haven't had an issue with them. They have a 5 year warranty too. You can get them on Amazon way cheaper than Oreilly's.

 

[BD1]

My battery tender still putting out and four years old.

 

[MikeF2316]

I just checked mine. It's reading 12.59 volts. Interesting. According to the batterytender.com website, at rest a fully charged 12 volt battery should be 12.9. Although, my battery is not at rest, it's powering the clock and alarm, and receiving something from the charger.

 

[justme-]

When I bought the batteries in my bikes they were in excess of $200 each. Well worth the cost of a maintainer to keep them going. My first bike I would replace the standard liquid lead acid battery every 2-3 years at $40+ each. After 1 winter not maintained it wouldn't have the capacity to run the electric started and I'd have to kick it and after the 2nd winter it was a toss up how long they would hold a good enough charge to power the field coils to let the engine even light.

as to resting voltage - IME 12.5 is about the normal for a battery resting in a vehicle connected. That will start most engines.

 

[redmondjp]

I've returned some Stanley units due to the constant clicking. Like you, I figured they might have a shortened life due to this. I called tech support on these too and they said they shouldn't constantly click. I have 2 that are working fine.

The clicking is normal - it's the relay inside which clicks every time it turns on (charging in process) or off.

 

[redmondjp]

I just checked mine. It's reading 12.59 volts. Interesting. According to the batterytender.com website, at rest a fully charged 12 volt battery should be 12.9. Although, my battery is not at rest, it's powering the clock and alarm, and receiving something from the charger.

That voltage is too low when on a tender - it should be closer to 13V - what kind of volt meter are you using?

As far as determining the state of charge from open-circuit voltage, it can be done with the battery at rest and not having been charged/discharged for 24 hours or longer. A fully-charged battery will read 12.7-12.8V - if reads 12.9, it has a surface charge on it from being recently charged.

 

[rodster_67]

The clicking is normal - it's the relay inside which clicks every time it turns on (charging in process) or off.

Not the constant clicking. (every 15-30seconds) I have two Stanley units that work and hold a charge and don't constantly click. Once in awhile they will click, the light will flash then after charging, return to a steady light and no clicking.

 

[rodster_67]

I just checked mine. It's reading 12.59 volts. Interesting. According to the batterytender.com website, at rest a fully charged 12 volt battery should be 12.9. Although, my battery is not at rest, it's powering the clock and alarm, and receiving something from the charger.

What type of tender do you have? Most I've seen will hold a float voltage of about 13.2vdc.

Sounds like yours isn't working.

 

[MikeF2316]

That voltage is too low when on a tender - it should be closer to 13V - what kind of volt meter are you using?

As far as determining the state of charge from open-circuit voltage, it can be done with the battery at rest and not having been charged/discharged for 24 hours or longer. A fully-charged battery will read 12.7-12.8V - if reads 12.9, it has a surface charge on it from being recently charged.

What type of tender do you have? Most I've seen will hold a float voltage of about 13.2vdc.

Sounds like yours isn't working.

I have meters by Blue Point, an expensive one from Radio Shack and a couple of $5 ones from Princess Auto. All read these voltage levels within .05 volts of each other.

I just went out to the bike again, now about 24 hours later. Using the same meter from last night, the voltage was now down to 12.53. I then turned on the ignition until the green "float" light went off and the red "charge" light came on. With the ignition off, the voltage slowly climbed to 13.28, then the lights switched back. I would say it's working as designed.

 

[rodster_67]

Could be, but most tender algorithms I've seen ramp up to 14-15vdc, then float around 13.2vdc.

My original post was due to a Schumacher tender that went through the charging cycle but failed to maintain a float voltage.

I believe what batterytender.com says about a fully charged battery at rest voltage being 12.9vdc so I would want a tender to maintain at least that.

Still guessing your tender isn't working or maybe the battery is bad?

 

[MikeF2316]

Could be, but most tender algorithms I've seen ramp up to 14-15vdc, then float around 13.2vdc.

My original post was due to a Schumacher tender that went through the charging cycle but failed to maintain a float voltage.

I believe what batterytender.com says about a fully charged battery at rest voltage being 12.9vdc so I would want a tender to maintain at least that.

Still guessing your tender isn't working or maybe the battery is bad?

The battery can't be bad, it's only 8 years old...

Seriously, the battery was working fine last time I used the bike, back in November. I've had this Battery Tender and used it on the battery in this bike since 1996. And with how long it's made my batteries last, I'm not going to condemn it just yet.

 

[rodster_67]

Gotta agree.... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[redmondjp]

Gotta agree.... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

But it is - a fully-charged battery has an open-circuit voltage of 12.8VDC.

Anything less than that and that battery is not fully charged which over a long time is not good for the battery.

Time for a new maintainer.

 

[chris142]

The $4.99 ones @hf don't work. I had 2 and both boiled a battery and killed them.

 

[kball]

The $4.99 ones @hf don't work. I had 2 and both boiled a battery and killed them.

Those aren't "maintainers" they are just trickle chargers. Good for overnight charging but not permanent hook up.

 

[e30bradley]

I just ride year round.. I was riding my bike today, plowing snow this morning. Battery's that I have that I feel like maintaining get handled by my hf floater and my Schumacher charger

 

[wkndwarrior29]

There is a point of no return, $200 maintainer to keep a $50 battery alive? Hmmmm

I guess it's all about your perception of the risk of connecting a $35 unit to an expensive battery and significantly more costly and sensitive electronics system, there are examples where tenders damage the vehicles computer.

I chose the CTEK line based on strong recommendations and have not had issues. Besides, keep in mind that most cheap units are not compatible with gel batteries. This tender also desulfates.

 

[rodster_67]

I don't consider brands like Schumacher and Stanley 'cheap' units as they also have the option for AGM batteries and desulfate. The brands have had good reputations for many years and the ones that work, work fine, some people report no problems. However, maybe they sold their soul to lower cost/lower quality control.

To me there should be no reason, other than marketing, to design and build a unit that sells for $200. The electronics and software behind a tender is nothing compared to a simple point and shoot camera for example.

The cheap HF and similar units I understand and avoid.

Most of my batteries are not expensive and no computer to worry about. On cars with a computer, I disconnect the battery.

What are the examples of tenders damaging a computer? I know automotive electronics are designed to withstand extreme operating conditions.