Oil & Fuel Battery Tender Success Story?

[Greenland South]

My tractor is now 7 years old with about 675 hrs. I've kept a tender on it since I got the tractor a few years ago. So far so good.
I also have 6 12 volt deep cycles that I use to power the 24 volt Minkota on my freighter canoe. They are 10 years old this year. I would say a tender is worth it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Knock on wood the OEM battery on the BX is still going strong... 12 years now.

I do have a tender on my car in storage in Washington... last time it would not really crank... battery is 12 years old and 3 years ago it started right up... it has been sitting in the barn for 3 years untouched.

Own several tenders and they are good... just there comes a time when battery replacement is needed.

 

[dickfoster]

I never ran a tender but I just changed my tractor battery at 6 years and a couple months. It ran great all along through the years and then it just stopped. Wonder why? Would a tender have extended that? Probably not, but I don't know.

That's about the standard lifespan for a wet cell automotive type battery that is not overly abused. Tenders help during prolonged periods of non use and or infrequent use. Especially newer vehicles with computer controlled injection as they often have small parasitic current drains. Running one for short periods infrequently will kill a battery (no matter what kind it is) pretty quickly as the plates will soon become coated with sulphur compounds which is called sulphation. Sulphation is the leading cause of battery demise. Some sulphated batteries can be recovered to some extent if they aren't too bad with a special charger that applies pulses which break down the sulphur compounds that insulate the plates and so restore the battery so it can again maintain a charge.
If you get it started, you need to run it long enough to completely recharge the battery otherwise the infrequent partial charges will gradually sulphate the battery and kill it before it's normal life expectancy.
The small amount of current put out by a tender charger or maintenance charger is only meant to maintain a charge or top it off, not recharge a dead battery. They are good to keep the battery healthy during prolonged periods of storage like over the winter or for weeks of disuse. Especially true if it is in a newer machine with an ECU that imposes a parasitic battery drain. It's like the death of a thousand cuts or the Chinese water torture for batteries.

 

[mguitas]

IMHO AGMs are the hot lick. I won't buy anything but an AGM for automotive type applications. You get what you pay for.

Even the agm jump starters are good, because there good in cold weather.

 

[dickfoster]

Even the agm jump starters are good, because there good in cold weather.

Good well made AGMs have a lot going for them in vehicles that see a lot of temperature extremes, shock, vibration etc. I look at it this way, if they are good enough for an M1 tank they are probably good enough for my stuff. Besides you get more charge storage in the same or even less space. They're heavy for their size though, simply because there is more pure lead in them.

 

[bdog]

We have over a dozen things with engines. They all have tenders. I haven't replaced a battery since I started using them. I am sure they will eventually go bad but they seem to be lasting much longer.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

You want to store your battery fully charged in the freezer. For those up north, you do not want to bring battery inside for the winter. At room temp of 70 degrees the electrons in the battery can still move around and discharge. At the colder temps outside they don't like to do that. That is one of the reasons you need a higher CCA battery in the winter. When it is cold the electrons do not like to discharge fast when cranking. Also, that is where turning you head lites on for a few minutes before cranking came from, it warms the battery and allows for the faster discharge during starting. And why grandma stores the batteries in the freezer. If I am not going to use a piece of equipment over the winter, make sure battery is fully charged and disconnect the ground. If the vehicle has a small load over time battery is going to go dead and sulfate. The ECU, clocks are why we need a battery tender. Those that live in warmer climates yes, they would need a battery tender, because it will discharge at the warmer temps. So, what you do with your battery depends on where you live.

 

[bspeedy]

I've gotten up to 11 years out of motorcycle batteries when using a tender religiously. 8 years is more like it. Step 1 - buy a quality battery. Step 2 - keep it on a tender whenever possible.

 

[ultrarunner]

You want to store your battery fully charged in the freezer. For those up north, you do not want to bring battery inside for the winter. At room temp of 70 degrees the electrons in the battery can still move around and discharge. At the colder temps outside they don't like to do that. That is one of the reasons you need a higher CCA battery in the winter. When it is cold the electrons do not like to discharge fast when cranking. Also, that is where turning you head lites on for a few minutes before cranking came from, it warms the battery and allows for the faster discharge during starting. And why grandma stores the batteries in the freezer. If I am not going to use a piece of equipment over the winter, make sure battery is fully charged and disconnect the ground. If the vehicle has a small load over time battery is going to go dead and sulfate. The ECU, clocks are why we need a battery tender. Those that live in warmer climates yes, they would need a battery tender, because it will discharge at the warmer temps. So, what you do with your battery depends on where you live.

Could be why my little BX battery is still the original after more than a decade... I store the tractor in a daylight concrete basement of sorts... only the side with the door is on grade... it is always cool no matter the time of year.

 

[Fallon]

Can anybody recommend a good solar tender? Most of the cheap ones don't have a controller on em, which end up boiling the battery, even with a small wattage pannel.

I have a bigger charger 2 Battery Tenders, but they require an outlet. Need something to maintain stuff not near an outlet.