Battery Tenders

[whistlepig]

Believe me. You can spend $100.00 + for a solid state battery tender with a microprocessor that will absolutely fry a couple of hundred dollars worth of batteries. Buy the Battery Tender Plus.

 

[deserteagle71]

Not only are batteries kept at full charge,battery life is dramaticly extended.

My motorcycle, ATV, Miller Bobcat welder, tractor - all are on Batteryminder maintainer/desulfators I got from Northern Tool. My experience has been identical. Used to be I had to replace batteries every 3-4 years, especially on the welder and the bike which are used only occasionally. Batteries last forever now that I use the maintainers. The welder sits in a pole barn with no power so that unit is solar with a panel up on the roof and it works as well as the plug-in units.

 

[Imold]

Like some here I use 9 tenders and then I have 4 regular battery chargers (7 junior tenders and 2 Harley brand tenders)year round and then I have 5 batteries sitting in my basement for my boats and camper that I just rotate a auto charger on in the winter then I just plug my golf cart in once a month to keep those four charged, been doing this for over 20 years and I can’t imagine the cost of batteries I have saved.
I also have tried two solar type maintainers and both have failed, not sure if they where just to cheap or what but those went into the garbage.
Right now I am in the process of getting all my batteries for tractors,atvs,UTV s,boats,bikes set up for the winter.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

I highly recommend the Battery Tender brand. Have used them for years and never an issue. Currently have one on the motorcycle and one on the forklift. Don't really need one anywhere else at this point.

 

[5030]

I use Yuhasa brand tenders, probably because I sell them...lol

On my tractors in the barn I don't use anything. Just make sure the batteries are topped off before I put them away for the winter and then I break the negative side with a knife switch and they are just fine all winter. One, cold don't destroy a flooded cell battery, heat does and two, flooded cell batteries have very little parasitic loss when idle and not in a circuit, usually around 3% of total charge per month.

I like the knife switch when I farm as well because I do leave tractors sit in places other than at the farm during the summer and the knife switch under the hood makes a nice theft deterrent. You can hot wire them but with no power, they won't start anyway.

I run Yuhasa tenders on my bikes sitting in the shop.

 

[Imold]

Just received two of these battery tenders to try out that I forgot I had ordered with some wheels, was more interested in the wheels then the tenders.

 

[Imold]

This should maybe be moved to owning and operating maybe ?

 

[Reb954]

I'm not sure if these qualify as "battery tenders" as Sunforce calls them "battery maintainers" but I just ordered two more Sunforce/Coleman 2 watt 12 volt solar battery maintainers, p/n 58012. I had bought one at TSC a couple years ago and it has worked well, even in the low light conditions in the barn.

I have 6 batteries out of equipment that gets little to no use during the winter so I store them in the barn and rotate the battery maintainers so each of the batteries gets a charge. I may leave the maintainer on a battery for a couple days to a couple weeks, just depends on when I happen to get to the barn to change them and when I happen to think about changing them. One of the best things about them is no extension cords to mess with.

The only down side I can think of is these aren't water proof, which to me doesn't matter, but I know for some it will make a difference.

 

[fried1765]

Just received two of these battery tenders to try out that I forgot I had ordered with some wheels, was more interested in the wheels then the tenders.
View attachment 625524

"Battery Tender" is a registered trademark (patent?) of Deltran Corp. in DeLand, Fl.
Those pictured are not Battery Tenders!
Maybe Harbor Freight?

 

[Richard]

So if your tractor is out of reach of your extension cord I'm assuming your interested in solar powered?

Well....to show you how little I know.... I didn't realize (given your comment) that there might be a choice!!!

So, yes...solar powered.