Equipment Batteries Just Don't Last

[Industrial Toys]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

Non regulated and you are at the mercy of your utility voltage. It's why conventional chargers (Transformer/Rectifier) are such a crap shoot if you are keeping them on for prolonged periods.

 

[dnw64]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

This is a simple thing I rigged up many years ago, if you have lots of batteries you want to trickle charge.
It's just a common 120v primary/12.6 v secondary transformer. This I ran down center of garage to boxes in ceiling. The outlets I cut the jumper and put a lamp (#1156 I think?) in series, one outlet marked low. Then a.c. cords with a diode in +red positive jumper.
Advantage is you can charge as many batteries all at once. Diode isolates them and provides charging (17v peak) voltage.
Plugging into low is a trickle charger current limited by lamp.
Disadvantage is unlike a maintainer you have to know how long to keep it on. A low current bulb like a #194 is only about 1/4 amp (250mA).
Just food for thought.

Cool, but.... wow! More than I am comfortable with. I'll buy float chargers first...

 

[mapper]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

The OEM battery on my Massey is a calcium lead acid battery, I did a little bit of research on it. They are supposed to hold their charge better when being used infrequently. The charging voltage required is a bit higher than for a regular lead acid battery. So far it seems to be holding up well, this will be the third winter since buying it.
Has anyone else had any experience with this kind of battery? I am rather hesitant to use a battery maintainer on it due to the higher voltage required for charging.
I also am a bit nervous about how much this could cost to replace it, Massey Ferguson is pretty proud of its parts.

 

[Reg]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

The original battery in my 42 HP Century (a Branson equivalent built by Kukje) went for 12 years of abject neglect in Massachusetts.
HOT wet summers and COLD windy winters.
Outside, no shelter, no chargers or light bulbs under the hood, not even parked close up to a building.
It is a group 27, has a lot of what I assume to be Korean printing on it.

I don't normally buy expensive or long warranty batteries, but this time got sucked into a Walmart Maxx.
A while ago I figured that Sears Die Hard batts and long warranty periods were traps to keep you coming back - all for a miserable couple of bucks by the time it is pro-rated.
You pay DEARLY up front for that couple of bucks that (on a car or truck) you may never get back anyway.

 

[fried1765]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

The original battery in my 42 HP Century (a Branson equivalent built by Kukje) went for 12 years of abject neglect in Massachusetts.
HOT wet summers and COLD windy winters.
Outside, no shelter, no chargers or light bulbs under the hood, not even parked close up to a building.
It is a group 27, has a lot of what I assume to be Korean printing on it.

I don't normally buy expensive or long warranty batteries, but this time got sucked into a Walmart Maxx.
A while ago I figured that Sears Die Hard batts and long warranty periods were traps to keep you coming back - all for a miserable couple of bucks by the time it is pro-rated.
You pay DEARLY up front for that couple of bucks that (on a car or truck) you may never get back anyway.

Ditto for Interstate!

 

[Industrial Toys]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

You simply don't know what goes on behind the scenes. What the Walmart buyer and Eveready Sales person decide over lunch. I had good luck with Walmart batteries and then bad. Was I just buying a different group of batteries?

Think about it. Your average Joe, car won't start, Walmart has the cheapest batteries, and now the car starts again. That's it! Joe is happy.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

I have always used a battery maintainer on my tractors with very good results. I had a small 1.5 amp Schumacher that worked great so I went and purchased a couple of the newer ones from Tractor Supply on sale for $20 each. Big mistake. They worked great for a couple years but they are now kaput. I still have my old 1.5 amp Schumacher and will change out the clips and connectors as they have gone bad. I can tell you that the newer ones are about 1/3 the weight of that older unit that is over 10 years old. I've got several of the 2/10/50 units and a couple of the 2/50/150 units but they are not maintainers.

I believe in the maintainers. My poor old dad would pull his truck up to our older tractors and jump start the darn things in the latter part of his life. He just kept the tractors around for old times sake but it bugged me no end on jump starting every time he needed to crank something up. I actually think that in his 80's he enjoyed the process of jump starting everything that was in the shed. When we started selling off everything I think we were at 7 tractors, a couple of dump trucks, a backhoe and a dozer and crawler. My dad loved equipment. I guess that's where I get it from.

 

[Jstpssng]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

Speaking of things on new vehicles which drain batteries; my company Silverado has a setting which allows you to choose how long the headlights will stay on after you take the key out. It was great; I set it on the maximum two minutes which allowed me time to get to the house, unlock the door and turn the light on. It was just two years old when the battery died leaving me stranded. Luckily I was in front of a hardware store so I went in and bought a new one. Now I make sure that there's a flashlight in the truck, and in winter my deep cycle spare battery is bolted into the second battery box. I don't pay the bills but still try to be responsible about them.

 

[JerryK]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

I have mostly Schumacher's in my barn. The older ones [ the heavier ones with an larger transformer in them ] would usually not tolerate being dropped/fall on the concrete. There was an induction coil in them that would break in the fall. The newer lighter ones are more tolerant of abuse. Walmart used to sell them for about $18, but last time I bought them I had to go online. The store had started to stock the more expensive ones. Keep your battery terminals clean and coated with battery terminal wax. Use a maintainer. And you should get a lot more life out of your batteries. I had a 2001.5 Dodge Cummins six speed that I bought in the fall of 2001. I drove it year round thru the winter of 2005, then parked it for each winter after that. It had two huge batteries that were still in good shape in Spring of 2016. Cleaned the posts a few times and covered them with fresh coating of terminal wax, but they lived a long life. Partially because they were well built, and partially from the Schumacher's.....

 

[John_Mc]

Re: Equipment Batteries Just Don稚 Last

I have not had particularly good luck with the "Battery Tender" brand, though I do have a bunch of them.

I have had two of them fail in the 10 year warranty period, and the warranty is useless.
The consumer must pay for shipping both ways to get a repair/replacement.
By the time you do that, you can find a new "Battery Tender" on sale somewhere for almost no cost difference.
I consider their warranty to be a farce!
As a result, I do not buy the "Battery Tender" brand anymore.
NOCO Genius, or Battery MINDER are my choices of the day.

Battery Tender also lacks the desulfation circuit that both the NOCO and BatteryMinder units have.