Went to take the hot rod out last night. Dead battery. Been sitting all winter. So, I just spent $213 for a new AGM battery. Too many cars and they just don't all get driven enough to keep the batteries in good shape. I've never used a battery tender before, but now I'm going to get one. I go to look for one and there are so many out there I'm thoroughly confused. What are you guys using and what do you recommend? I need it to be able to charge both AGM and lead acid batteries. Suggestions please.
while most claim to need a special charger for an agm i have only used a small charger at 2amps to charge my off topic drag car for years get about 6-7 years on a red top besides when the car is charging it, it is with a 1969 alternator at 12-14 volts
Yeah, I have 3 hot rods. 2 of them built from scratch by yours truly. I don't feel a bit bad about it.
Granite 6 & 12 volt maintainer charger 12 watt also Deltran BatteryTender I am very happy with both,I use the granite on my AGM batterys
I'm not sure about the AGM batteries, but I swear by the Deltran battery tenders also. I'm sure they offer something compatible with AGM batteries also.
I brought the same Deltran battery tender plus one pictured above. I haven't used it yet though. I got gun shy when shortly after buying it I saw all the fancy supercars burnt up at copart. turned out all the cars were from one collection and the building they were in got hit by lightning and traveled thru the electrical and any car that had a tender on it got fried. Some were minor while others were pretty toasty looking. So I got gun shy here seeing I am in lightning central. that is why the weather tower is my neighbor, they wanted to be close to where the weather actually changes fast.
Back in March helped out a neighbor with a dead battery in their hasn't-been-moved-in-over-a-year-OT-shitbox. Tried my old DieHard 'Fully Automatic' 100A charger but it was not having any of it, battery was on the sad side of 9V, normally the Die Hard works but it was just kicking itself into standby mode. Suggested he pick up his own charger, just by happenstance we tripped over a Schumacher 100A charger/maintainer(SC1308) at Lowes on clearance($70). Within five hours the battery had been desulfated and fully recharged and it was holding 12.8Volts on a 11/16 battery build date. And I would say it has probably been dead for half its life. I didn't realize til after the fact is a 6V/12V charger, has 2A/6A/30A/100A/Boost(not sure if 100A/boost are the same), along with an alternator test function and the aforementioned de-sulfate function. I thought it was a steal. He has been keeping the car on the trickle charge to maintain the battery. I was impressed enough that I found the 85A variant of Scumacher charger(SC1307) on sale locally and ordered it up. Haven't tested it out yet, got a couple temperamental Optimas that need some persuasion in the recharging department and a questionable alternator. Will be interesting to see what it does. Same specs as the 100A just it's an 85A unit.
Even nearby lightning strikes can cause huge induced voltage spikes in household wiring and really fry sensitive electronics. When Thunderboomers lurk nearby I definitely make a point to disconnect and unplug anything like a battery tender. In fact I pretty much disconnect anything that is electrical including shutting power to the outside A/C Unit and air handler. When the inevitable electrical power outage occurs I immediately pull the main breaker. I can wait, till power is restored and steady, the incoming voltage surge(s) and sags when electrical service is restored by the utility isn't anything nice.
I worked for a large truck manufacturer in the training department. We had 5 training centers and each had 5 trucks. The trucks only left the buildings to be replaced by new models. We had a variety of battery chargers, but always fought battery problems. Students left interior lights on, keys on, etc. The other problem is that the small battery charges either failed or cooked the batteries. I researched maintainer type battery chargers and found the Battery Tender brand to be the best of the lot. Equipped each training center and 90% of our battery problems went away. When I talked with the people at Battery Tender they were a bit hesitant to recommend their product for a 4 battery setup, but I found they worked fine. You just have to realize that these are maintainers, not chargers since the ones I bought were only 1/4 amp.
My ‘46 GMC stays connected to its 8-volt battery tender unless it’s on the road. For a time, the 8-volt version was not available. I used to badger “Sol”, who was a fixture at car events like Carlisle- and apparently Deltron’s top dealer. He told me he would get them to make another run, and sure enough- they did. I picked it up at Hershey about 12 years ago and it works great. On the average, the 8-volt batteries last 8-9 years, Keep in mind a battery tender will not charge a battery that is completely dead. You need to hook it up to a regular battery charger briefly- and then the tender will kick in.
I use a CTEK. I had an Optima battery in my race car and it lasted maybe 4 yrs. I never charged it when I wasn't racing so for about 8 months. And my 12 volt wet batteries in my summer cars would be dead every spring. I heard about when batteries go dead the go through a "sulphurnation" sp. were the acid in contact with the plates gels up. Something to that effect. Anyway I bought my first CTEK from the guy I buy my Interstate batteries from, it was $75 in 2012 and I have not had to replace a battery since. Even my lawn tractor battery which are notoriously crappy has so far lasted 5 yrs. I got tired of switching it every couple of weeks from car to car so I bought another a month ago. It was still $75 BUT it is not the same exact model, it doesn't have all the same bells and whistles but it still works fine. Long story but that's my experience and I am a advocate of trickle chargers, battery maintainers or whatever you want to call them. I also tried to make some using old chargers from battery powered tools, they worked for a short time then stopped charging.
Battery tender is the name brand for a reason. I have the plug in kind for my hot rods stored in the garage, and a solar powered maintainer for my OT daily that sits outside a lot. none of them have had dead batteries with a BT maintainer on it. My neighbor saw my solar panel and got a cheap knockoff, I've seen him have to jump his car still
Every battery sulfates, a battery is a chemical process. Chemical processes speed up as the temperature increases. The electrolyte reverts to plain water as it is discharged, and a battery will lose voltage over time just sitting, even unused. The specific gravity of the electrolyte can be measured to determine charge level of each cell. The sulfation itself is like a mud or whatever, that sticks to the plates. Charging the battery reverses this process, the mud goes bye-bye and back into the electrolyte. But, if the soft conversion sulfation sticking to the plates is allowed to remain there, over time (days, not weeks) it becomes permanent, hard crystals. Trying to recharge a permanently sulfated battery has been described as like trying to wash your hands wearing rubber gloves. The fancy pants charger manufacturers make claims of special charging routines that supposedly reverses permanent sulfation, but the best strategy by far is just don't let them become discharged in the first place. Supposedly permanent sulfation starts to become a problem at around an 80% charge. Ford described using a weak battery as sort of like driving around on underinflated tires in the old manuals. Keep them clean and charged up, terminals tight, and they will perform 10 times better, and last a lot longer.
I’m another one in the Battery Tender brand camp. They work great. I keep the Battery Tender Juniors on the Harley’s and our Tractors. Always ready to go. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I too also use batter tender products on my dormant cars and motorcycles. Like mentioned above, they are a tender and not a charger and my stuff is always ready to go. Cliff Ramsdell
Deltran, Battery Tender Junior $29.95-$39.95 depending where you buy. I purchased the first one around 15 + years ago, have since bought several for cars, cycles, tractor, etc. The battery in wife's OT hobby car is 12 years old, have others 8/10 years old now. IMO, do not buy a cheap ass knock off product as I know someone that lost his hot rod/garage, insurance/fire inspector determined battery tender/charger was the source/problem.
I had a battery on a trickle charger explode a year or two back. Battery acid everywhere. No fire. Never found out why. I suspect a bad battery but it was a bit late to test. I tossed the charger anyway, (think it was Duracell brand), got an AGM. Now I only leave a trickle charger connected until the battery is fully charged then I take it off. Do it every so often. I realize it isn’t optimal not to keep it maintaining permanently, but now I’m paranoid. I’m just glad that it didn’t happen with a condom earlier in my life when I was younger. Imagine if you were all into it and your condom exploded? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Just wondering out loud - did the battery ever freeze up in an unheated garage, something like that? That's another reason to keep them charged up, then they are good to -50 deg below zero, but a dead or even a weak battery will likely be ruined in subzero weather.
Nope. Heated garage. Battery in a driven car. Sat for awhile, but battery had been functioning. Weird. I assumed either the battery was bad and not able to fully charge, so the trickle charger just kept going until it the acid overheated and the battery finally exploded. Either that or the charger malfunctioned. No way to really tell, I just chucked the charger as a precaution. I’m sure this happens a lot. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If you are going to use a BT with an AGM battery, be sure and get the Plus version. From the manufacturer: The standard Battery Tender has an absorption charge mode but the the Plus has a different absorption mode maximum charge voltage and a timer to hold the absorption voltage longer. The Plus was made to accommodate the charging requirements of Absorbed Glass Mat style lead acid batteries.
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