Is it just me or am I beginning to notice that my batteries don't last as long, now that I have them hooked up to "Battery Tenders" all the time?
If you never stop 'charging' a battery, you never stop boiling/bubbling it. As the bubbles come to the top the gas escapes. This is a very similiar condition to the 6 volt systems and the generators that kept your cars battery charged in the old days. -In our old cars, a generator doesn't really have a way to 'turn off' as long as the engine is idling/running. And when you start your car it only takes a few short minutes for a good generator to top the battery up. -If the generator persists in charging the battery (as they do), then you continually bubble/boil the battery and eventually that leaves a battery low on electrolyte. ....If you have every thumbed thru the pages of an old car magazine you will see ads for the batteries of the day, Willard batteries was one such battery during the generators heyday. They advertized a "Safety Fill" top as the common maintenance/practice of filling/topping up your battery created a caustic hazard as well as the inevitable over filing and spillage of electrolyte caused your car to rust. In fact, Generators over charged batteries so much so that it was considered the norm to refill your battery every few months in order to prolong its life. I suspect your "minder' is over charging your battery just as the 6 volt generators did in their day.
What brand is the tender ? Some of the better ones have "smart" technology where they go into a float mode when the battery is up to full charge, and the current reduces to just a small amount to offset the loss a battery normally experiences from just sitting. Don
I disagree. Why would a charger be any worse than a generator or an alternator that uses a regulator to control the charging rate? I use Sears battery tenders and chargers to maintain my batteries at full charge. The battery has no idea where the juice is coming from. I wait until they go on sale (which is often) and buy them for around 20 bucks a piece. I hooked one up to my car that had been sitting for years and was expecting it to take a few days to recharge the battery. I was shocked to find it only took a few hours for the battery to come up. I looked closely at it and it did say charger and maintainer. Watch the sales flyers for them. I did have one go bad and no longer charge so I just bought a new one.
Just wondering if you take a battery Tender with you when you are gone for few weeks at a time. My Son likes them, but I don't. I was in The Service Station business back in 70's for 10 years, when there was FULL SERVICE. I always added the acid myself, to be assured it was a new one. now when they came out with Maintenance Free Battery's. It seemed that they were O K at first. It looks like to me, that Batteries do not hold up as long as they use to. In winter, if you go out & start you Street Rod up about every 10 days, it will maintain itself. Not to mention, it is good for engine to turn it over every once in awhile. I got one for my '39 Chevy, at K-Mart, with a Penske lable on it. It lasted me 8 yuears, and constantly going to Shows, & Cruise Ins.
I use Harbor Freights Battery maintainer. They ar $ 4.99 on sale, and I get a few years out of um. It doesnt keep a constant charge, I get between 7 and 10 years out of a battery. I also dont buy cheapo batteries. No Twilight zone or Advance garbage. I get the heaviest battery, NAPA Gold, Interstate, or Crown. They are about $20 more upfront, but worth it on the other side.
You don't need a battery tender if you drive the vehicle on a regular basis. A car driven weekly shouldn't have a problem. Cars that sit for a month or more without being driven may need a battery tender. The cars that have a clock and or an alarm system that puts a drain on the battery may indeed need a battery tender to keep the charge up to a decent level though.
Some chargers aren't sophisticated enough to "float" on a charged battery without overcharging it. But you are right, if the charger can do that it's not hurting the battery. Even when the car isn't running, modern cars are constantly using the battery. On older cars the only thing doing that was maybe a clock. Low maintenance batteries are not as tough as comparable "regular" maintenance ones. That's why low maintenance batteries are not the best option for industrial applications. There is constant pressure to make the battery smaller, lighter, and cheaper. The thinner the plates are the cheaper and more efficient the battery is for a given size and weight. But, the thinner the plates, the more fragile the battery. That's why an industrial battery is bigger and heavier than a comparable "regular" battery.
Battery tenders are common on boats because they don't get used as much as cars, typically. We have had no issues with using them that way. A lot of things kill batteries. Heat is a big one. Here in Florida if you get more than 2-3 years out of a battery you have been living right. In our boats we just always changed them out at the 3 year mark to be safe because you don't want a dead battery when you are way offshore. Overcharging also isn't good for a battery and if your alternator is dumping too many volts into the system it can shorten the life. Keeping the top clean and dry is another factor, as well as using distilled water to top them off. Even maintenance free batteries can need topped off occasionally due to evaporation. Don
I have a couple of Battery Tender Plus models and maybe they are getting old but they don't seem to switch to float mode always. I have to unplug them from AC and plug them in again to get the green light to glow steady. Anyone else have that happen? I got a Save A Battery tender and I like the fact that it has better status lights and LCD. Mostly I use them to keep my trailer breakaway battery and winch battery charged.
I have 4 (6 volt) battery tenders, along with some 12 volt Harbie Freight float chargers. The Harbie units work ok, but I like the BTs because you know via the green light when the battery is charged and on float charge. All of them work fine. HF does not sell 6 volt units, so if you want to charge up your 6 volt battrees, put two of them in series and use the 12 volt unit. It should work just fine that way.
I use a deltran tender for my harley and on my hotrod. It changes to a float when its charged. The tender isn't killing your batteries. I have never heard of fires being associated with a tender. I've been using one on my harley for years. I only put the truck on a tender in the winter once every couple weeks. Takes a day before its back in float mode and i unplug it. Sent from my iPhone using TJJ app
Lots of myth's here fellas, LOL. I hard wire Deltran Batter Tender cables to my chopper, and John Deere. I have used them and swear by them for many years. Yes there are now other good units out there as well. The heat in Florida kills our battery's regardless of how you maintane or care for them. Race car guy's with 16 volts should use the one from Auto-Meter as a maintenance and trickle type charger, good unit as well.
Be sure you have a quality battery tender (not necessarilly the brand, the type) and not a charger. A charger will continue to over-charge and not go into float mode only topping it off as req'd. I have them on several vehicles (Harley/'59 Ford/others) the batteries are always fully charged in the spring when I get them out after winter. We have real winters here and I love my cars so I don't drive them in the 2-3''+ of snow or the -25 or below temps. Be sure you have them plugged into a GFI outlet for best protection. ANYTHING that runs on 110V has the potential for shorting and fire for many reasons. None that I am aware of have more problems than others. I certainly would not trust a low quality one to protect my $150 battery! Some will try to save $15 on a questionable tender but hook it up to a top shelf battery they didn't mind spending $20+ more for, HUH?
I think we were talking about tenders and not battery chargers. A tender will keep a battery up and not over charge and boil out the battery acid like the old chargers did back in the day. I always look at the lights on the tender when I walk into the garage. Is is always green. I hooked one up to a car that had been sitting for years just to see if it would at least try to turn over. I expected that if I got lucky maybe in a day or two it would at least tun over I gave it about an hour just looking to see if it would even take a charge. I was shocked that it actually turned over and started. I looked on the tender and it says battery charger AND tender. I have an old battery charger but have not had it out in years. The tenders are plastic and one did die on me after a few years. I look for and buy the Sears brand tenders AND chargers when they go on sale for around 20 bucks usually around this time of year. You have to read the box.
Been using the Deltran brand for years. Quality unit, no issues. Not sure I'd trust the cheapo units in this case, saftey wise. There's a tire store here that sells what I figure are China knock-offs for real cheap, pass. The Deltran BT was only $25 or so 9 yrs ago, and worth every cent, IMO.
That's kinda what I was thinking. Several years ago I was all set to buy several Battery Tenders for my bikes and cars. But then there was all this talk about them causing fires so I have not yet bought one. The more I think about it, all the talk about them causing fire came around the time the Chinese knock-offs hit the market. So simple math tells me that it's the knock-offs and not the real deal. This goes back to , "ya' get what ya' pay for".
In the post you were responding to above I was addressing this comment that you made :Why would a charger be any worse than a generator or an alternator that uses a regulator to control the charging rate? That isn't about battery tenders, it's about chargers. Like you said, some units are chargers AND tenders. As I said, "regular" chargers aren't smart enough to act as a tender, but "smart" chargers are. Emergency power generators commonly have a unit that serves as a battery charger, float charger/tender, and 12v power supply for whatever controls are drawing power.
I have an expensive, electronically controlled, multi-mode battery charger/tender made by Associated. On one occasion something apparently confused it. After trying different things, the fix turned out to be unhook and unplug it long enough for it to forget what it had been trying to do. Oter than that one episode, no problems. Based on my one experience I wonder if the problems with your Battery Tenders is the units, or some kind of RFI or noise on the power line?
I leave a car in Florida unused from April to November. Luckily, I have a good storage area where I can put the battery and charger when I am gone. After having trouble with battery tenders losing their "float mode" after several years of use, here's what I came up with. Three winters ago, I bought a simple mechanical timer that plugs into the wall. It can be set to supply power from 0 to 24 hours a day in 15 minute increments. After several months of experimentation, I determined that turning on my charger for 2 15 minute periods a day would keep them up fine without over charging them. I did this by hooking my "jumper box" up to the charger and experimenting with the timer. With 2 15 minute periods, the yellow "charging" light goes out after about 10 minutes, and the green "charged" light comes on for each charging period. I have been doing this for the last 3 years, and every time have come back to a fully charged battery and jumper box. The timer I bought was $4.95 at K-Mart in the housewares section.
....... it's not just Florida heat. For reasons I can't explain, motorcycle batteries don't store well in any climate.
Hagerty had an article in their newsletter-magazine last summer about a 34 Plymouth that was heavily damaged when the under floor battery exploded while using a battery tender. If i remember correctly they had several pictures of the damage..I don't have any electronics in my hot rod,and I drive it enough to keep it charged up. I am sure the tenders have a good safety record,but they are just like anything electrical,there is a chance for malfunction with catastrophic results.
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