Battery Tender/Trickle Charger

   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #71  
GM uses a side post battery because it helps keep them from draining.
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #72  
GM uses a side post battery because it helps keep them from draining.

Up until the new body style, my 08 silverado has a top mount battery, so does my wifes 10 Cobalt. At least they put a bigger lug on the pos side for jumping off of. LUTT
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #73  
Hello;

I have a bunch of Schumacher brand purchased at Wal Mart. All are great. No more dead batteries.

nicholas
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #74  
Agreed, I do not regularly disconnect the batteries on the gas EFI road vehicles.

But, I don't particularly fear doing it.

Unless your vehicle was made in Elbonia, any critical black box (engine mgmt, transmission) will have Recover and Re-Learn code embedded in it.

New stuff (not what I own) - yeah, the kids might get bent out of shape if it takes more than 0.014 nS to sync the latest App with the vehicle entertainment system, but most of us here have bigger issues to be concerned about. :cool:

Rgds, D.
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #75  
Do not buy an 'el cheepo' as lots of them are simply a transformer and a single diode, sure it will make DC voltage but never stops and will boil out the acid.
You need one that has circuitry to sense voltage and stop charging when battery is at 12 volts and not simply continue pumping in 14-18 volts.
Price will be a guide, also they will have 2 or 3 diodes to indicate 'charged' 'charging'.
Generally the term 'intelligent' is one clue. List $ will probably be in the $35-$50. range for a proper one.
Cheepo's will be in the $10 range. (plus a new battery)
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #76  
Do not buy an 'el cheepo' as lots of them are simply a transformer and a single diode, sure it will make DC voltage but never stops and will boil out the acid.
You need one that has circuitry to sense voltage and stop charging when battery is at 12 volts and not simply continue pumping in 14-18 volts.
Price will be a guide, also they will have 2 or 3 diodes to indicate 'charged' 'charging'.
Generally the term 'intelligent' is one clue. List $ will probably be in the $35-$50. range for a proper one.
Cheepo's will be in the $10 range. (plus a new battery)
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #77  
I had always seen the Deltran Battery Tenders advertised on car shows on TV, but resisted buying one because of the high price. I could buy a 15 amp charger with 100 amp boost function for less. Besides, my summer car, a 1985 Camaro, had a grandfathered lifetime warranty battery from Canadian Tire that they would replace for free anytime it died (they haven't sold those for years anymore). It seems to me they don't make batteries the way they used to because in recent years in recent years the warranty replacement batteries failed earlier and earlier. The second time I wasted a day getting the battery replaced in the spring. I decided to get a Battery Tender Plus. I've never regretted the decision because the Camaro would start right up in the spring.

I also have an electric start riding mower, so I'd remove the battery during the winter and put it on the Battery Tender on and off so I wouldn't have to charge it in the spring. I figure that is less stressful on it than letting it die and using a regular charger. This winter I was in the hospital for hip surgery, so my daily driver was sitting. That's when I bought a Battery Tender Junior on sale. As far as I can see, the BTJr is .75a vs 1.25a and doesn't have temperature compensation.

From what I recall, the Deltran Battery Tender was the original and it's been around a long time with good reviews. Once when I took my dead battery back to Canadian Tire I asked whether a Battery Tender would be what I need to keep it from dying over the winter and was no. That was before the sold the BT and those counter guys don't know everything. Now there are several battery minders on the market. I sure wish there were a website comparing them all. Meanwhile, I'd stick with the original. You might save some money on something that purports to do the same thing, but when you consider the time and money wasted on a dead battery, it's foolhardy to cheap out.
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #78  
I had a BatteryMinder since 2007 and although I liked the features it offered at the time. It apparently was smarter than the operator. I think it was possessed. :smiley_aafz:I never knew if it was going to charge and maintain or reject the battery. BTW that same battery is still cranks like new a year later and I switched to the Battery Tender Plus with twice the warranty and half the price. It works just fine. I will say the customer service was good at Battery Minder place and I'd have it back in a couple of weeks but after the second time, I wanted to try something different.
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #79  
I had a BatteryMinder since 2007 and although I liked the features it offered at the time. It apparently was smarter than the operator. I think it was possessed. :smiley_aafz:I never knew if it was going to charge and maintain or reject the battery. BTW that same battery is still cranks like new a year later and I switched to the Battery Tender Plus with twice the warranty and half the price. It works just fine. I will say the customer service was good at Battery Minder place and I'd have it back in a couple of weeks but after the second time, I wanted to try something different.

When I got my BatteryMinder I thought I could just push a button and make it go into maintenance mode so it would desulfate batteries. That's not how it works. It automatically tries to charge the battery. Once charged if you leave it on the battery it will switch over to desulfating the battery. If the battery doesn't take a charge then it will also switch to desulfating the battery. I too was disappointed with it until I figured out how it worked. I think it was in the owners manual but it took some "seat time" to understand it.

Now that I have it figured out how it works I love it. Once a year every battery gets a treatment. Simply choose the battery type, the rate you want to charge it at, and walk away. I usually let it work it's magic for a week or more on batteries not in use. I looked at the Battery Tenders but all they looked like were just battery chargers that would keep a battery fresh. I wanted something more. Since I never leave batteries in anything that sits for winter, pull them and store them inside it's easy to use the Minder. The Tender seams like a better option if you didn't pull the battery. I think I've hand the battery Minder for almost 10 years now. Other than the first 2 years where I didn't understand it the Minder has worked great.
 
   / Battery Tender/Trickle Charger #80  
I still think mine was possessed, but I think you're right about how it worked. It obviously developed a problem later in life, like me, and forgot what it was supposed to do. And it did a good job in the past. My tractor would sit for maybe a month or two in the winter but always cranked right up when needed.
I just opted for a simpler approach and less cost this time.
 
 
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