Trickle chargers

[steve6864]

Happy new year to all.Been pretty mild around here,but,now starting to get cold.Want to use a trickle charger and was wondering 2 things.Is Battery Tender the only way to go or are the ones sold at Harbor Freight for example just as good?Also,where do you hook it up,on the battery or in the engine compartment as if you were doing a jump start?Thanks,Steve6864.

[BTTF-1]

Battery Tender is what I use. I plan on purchasing a Battey Tender Solar Powered as well.

I would think twice if the product is made in China. I have purchased many Chinese electrical products and for the most part they are are really crap.

Two examples out side lights "CFL's and outside motion lights".

Just a thought!

Ed:wrenchin::nana1::wrenchin::Headspin:

[Silverbullet]

Well, to keep from cooking your battery, I would get a Deltran Jr. Battery tender e-bay under $25 delivered. Works great, just connect to the engine connections.

Craig

[Jacko]

I've had a battery tender in 4915 for years. It's mounted permanantly next to the battery behind the passenger seat and is hooked up directly to the battery cables. It has a 20 foot cord on it and I'm able to plug it in at various places I'm liable to park. I have several tenders for other cars and tractors but those are mounted on the wall. I think they are necessary for vehicles that aren't used regularly. I bought mine at NAPA ... I don't remember how much they were, less than $50 I'm sure.

[kings1527]

I've had Battery Tender Plus for years with my jet skis and it's been perfect. I'll probably be selling my skis soon but the BTP isn't going anywhere!

[mluder]

I've never used the Harbor Freight ones - I bought my charger at Sears.

Take a look at the leads on the Harbor Freight ones and then look at almost any other name brand product. See any difference?
The harbor freight ones look like 22 gauge speaker wire. Not something I would trust unattended in my garage for days on end.

Cheers
Steve

[Nicholas R]

I've never used the Harbor Freight ones - I bought my charger at Sears.

Take a look at the leads on the Harbor Freight ones and then look at almost any other name brand product. See any difference?
The harbor freight ones look like 22 gauge speaker wire. Not something I would trust unattended in my garage for days on end.

Cheers
Steve

I've used a Harbor Freight one for quite a while without issue. Even if it is 22 gauge wire (which I believe it's more likely 18 or 20), 22 gauge is easily good for as much as 5amps and the float charger only operates at .3amps.

[David T]

Whatever you use, my advice is to never leave it hooked up continuously. 1 day a month is plenty if the car is not being used. If the car is being stored the battery should be removed. Battery Tender makes 2 models. A bigger, more amperage one for car batteries and a smaller, lower amperage for smaller motorcycle batteries. Even the bigger one is not intended to recharge a dead battery, you should only use it as a maintainer to keep a battery fully charged. A fully charged battery will last a LOT longer than a battery that is not always fully charged. The Battery tenders come with a short wire and a plug so you can hook it up to the battery and when you need to charge it you just plug the charger into the wire. This is the safest way to do it so you never have to worry about hooking it up wrong with the clips.
David Teitelbaum

[Silverbullet]

Whatever you use, my advice is to never leave it hooked up continuously. 1 day a month is plenty if the car is not being used. If the car is being stored the battery should be removed. Battery Tender makes 2 models. A bigger, more amperage one for car batteries and a smaller, lower amperage for smaller motorcycle batteries. Even the bigger one is not intended to recharge a dead battery, you should only use it as a maintainer to keep a battery fully charged. A fully charged battery will last a LOT longer than a battery that is not always fully charged. The Battery tenders come with a short wire and a plug so you can hook it up to the battery and when you need to charge it you just plug the charger into the wire. This is the safest way to do it so you never have to worry about hooking it up wrong with the clips.
David Teitelbaum

Well SOME tenders you CAN leave connected for months... This is from Deltran:

"There has been some confusion in the battery charger world that some of our chargers are simply maintainers ---- NOT TRUE! Each and every Deltran Battery Tender® Battery Charger regardless of its size is programmed with a microprocessor that will correctly charge a battery then automatically switch to a maintenance/float mode."

David is right if you use a cheap one....or just a charger, It can cook the battery over time

[David T]

I don't know about you but I don't trust ANY of them. Even a "good" one can go bad and cook things. Worse, they can leak AC and melt the car from the inside out. The safest advice is to disconnect it. I know what Deltran says but what would happen if that fancy microprocessor gets hit with a surge or a spike from the power company!
David Teitelbaum

[Silverbullet]

I guess you could putthe tender on a surge protector... But.. truth is.. you are right... "IF" you put a non used car on a charger for a day, once a month... I am sure it would be fine.... I get busy, so the long term storage, the tender has done fine for me... The "Float" is WAY better than a trickle charger, as it looks at the charge, and shuts off.

[AirmanPika]

I've been using this guy on my land rover to good effect for the last few months. Been worth the $20 spent.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_328608-89606-BC209_4294700940__?productId=3275887

[Bitsyncmaster]

I'm pretty sure a name brand "battery tender" is made to be left on all the time. I was considering building my own but I have a "lab" type power supply that I just use to test the battery every so often. Normally I just set it to 14.0 volts and see if the current drops to 0.00 amps after it's left on overnight (which it does). If you have the stock door lock unit and two clocks you should see the current drop to about 20 ma.

My guess is the "float" charge either sets a constant voltage (13.5 to 14.0 volts) or uses a constant current (less than 50 ma.). Or it may just switch a higher current charge on and off at specific times.

[DMCMW Dave]

I'm pretty sure a name brand "battery tender" is made to be left on all the time. .

And when the charger, or the battery, fails it will overcharge the battery and ruin the carpet. Also having a charger on with the car not moving is what contributes to all the corrosion in the fuse area. There is a draft vent tube behind the battery but it doesn't do much if the car is lock in the garage with a cover over it. If you are reallhy want to leave a charger on the battery all the time, even an automatic one, take the battery out of the car.

Ofen when (not "if") a battery "goes bad" one cell shorts internally. If the charger isn't very intelligent, it now sees that as a 11.8 volt battery and tries to charge it back to 14.2V. The shorted cell doesn't do anything, but the remaining 5 good cells will boil over due to seeing almost 3 volts on each cell, which is how you get acid on the carpet. Which is why that piece is hard to find - that battery damage is visible on a huge percentage of the cars.

[Bitsyncmaster]

And when the charger, or the battery, fails it will overcharge the battery and ruin the carpet. Also having a charger on with the car not moving is what contributes to all the corrosion in the fuse area. There is a draft vent tube behind the battery but it doesn't do much if the car is lock in the garage with a cover over it. If you are reallhy want to leave a charger on the battery all the time, even an automatic one, take the battery out of the car.

Ofen when (not "if") a battery "goes bad" one cell shorts internally. If the charger isn't very intelligent, it now sees that as a 11.8 volt battery and tries to charge it back to 14.2V. The shorted cell doesn't do anything, but the remaining 5 good cells will boil over due to seeing almost 3 volts on each cell, which is how you get acid on the carpet. Which is why that piece is hard to find - that battery damage is visible on a huge percentage of the cars.

Thats a good reason to have a constant current type "float" unit. Set it at 50 ma. and even a shorted cell would not cause the other cells to boil. Making that type of unit would be very simple.

[steve6864]

Why the difference in opinion as to where to hook up? The battery or the engine compartment.Seems like engine compartment is safer,but,maybe the battery is a better, more direct connection?Thanks.