Author Topic: Battery tender (Read 1007 times)

Crusarius · « **on:** January 03, 2018, 04:11:58 PM »

Are they worth it? Which ones are good which are bad?

I have kind of a unique setup for the plow on my UTV. I use the winch to raise and lower the plow. With just the stock battery I would be able to raise and lower plow about 8 times before there was not enough power to run the EFI system. So I used a nice deep cycle battery from the camper I used to have. I put it under the drivers seat and ran the winch power direct from the battery. The winch circuit is completely self contained. The reason I did this is because I don't think the charging system would be up to the task of keeping both batteries charges.

Up until this year I could go quite a while between charges but this year is just killin it. I am wondering if I should just get a cheap battery tender / maintainer to put on that battery?

I did just find a nice $50 10 amp charger on amazon that I am really thinking about. It is a little more work to hook up vs a tender but its never bad to have another charger around.

The one I found on amazon is a potek. it has desulfation 2a 6a and 10a all automatic then switches to maintenance mode or you can manually set the amperage.

Anybody know anything about the brand? Reviews looked ok for the most part.

Raider Bill · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2018, 04:44:45 PM »

I have a half a dozen Battery Tender Jr's. I keep them attached to the 2 bikes I ride most of the time. I also have one attached to my lawn mower here in Florida and others on my tractor and ATV in Tennessee.
Get a couple extra pigtails so you can move it around.
Well worth the $$
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S

21incher · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2018, 04:45:13 PM »

I have 7 of the battery tenders. Just had one die after running for 17 years. It was the old style in the metal housing. I have 2 others of them that age still running great. They are 1 amp and not made to charge a battery, only maintain it. I recently bought 2 of the small plug in 750 ma bricks that are great also.I use on my generator and Harley. A couple weeks ago I picked up 2 of the 3 amp charger, maintainer and they have the ability to charge and maintain a battery. Costco had a good sale $29.00. I have never had an issue with a battery mainted by the Battery Tender brand after years of using them and would not use any other brand after reading issues about lower cost brands sulfating batteries.

Kbeitz · « **Reply #3 on:** January 03, 2018, 06:36:26 PM »

I use a few of them and I like them. But last year my generator would not start and
I opened it up to see why... The battery was in a million pieces ... The tender had
to do it...

Onthesauk · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2018, 07:36:32 PM »

Have a genius G750 on my boat. Maybe $60-$70 a couple of years ago. Never a problem with it.

Chuck White · « **Reply #5 on:** January 03, 2018, 08:00:11 PM »

I have 2 of them, one I've had for many years, the other I got 2 years ago!

I keep one connected to the battery on my sawmill (I go out and crank that up about every 8-10 days and let it run for about 1/2 hour) and the other I keep connected to my JD 1023E, never had an issue with either one!

I got them at Walmart and IIRC, they were around $39.00 each!

Crusarius · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2018, 07:33:06 AM »

my biggest concern was the fact that I need to charge the winch battery since it is a standalone winch setup and not connected to the charging system at all. I was not sure a battery tender would be up to the task of constant charge. So, this morning. I decided to order the Potek battery charger. I thought it made more sense. This will give me a 25amp dumb charger that I am sure is the reason the battery is dead. and a good charger desulfator maintainer.

Thanks for all the comments. I am still thinking it may not be a bad idea to get a tender for the zero turn and the engine battery in the UTV. of course that means I need to park the zero near power.

Chuck White · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2018, 10:25:05 PM »

I'm pretty-well convinced that if you use a battery tender, your battery will last a lot longer!

The battery tenders that I have are either 2 or 2½ Amps!

DDW_OR · « **Reply #8 on:** January 05, 2018, 02:10:35 AM »

Quote from: 21incher on January 03, 2018, 04:45:13 PM

I have 7 of the battery tenders. Just had one die after running for 17 years. It was the old style in the metal housing. I have 2 others of them that age still running great. They are 1 amp and not made to charge a battery, only maintain it. I recently bought 2 of the small plug in 750 ma bricks that are great also.I use on my generator and Harley. A couple weeks ago I picked up 2 of the 3 amp charger, maintainer and they have the ability to charge and maintain a battery. Costco had a good sale $29.00. I have never had an issue with a battery mainted by the Battery Tender brand after years of using them and would not use any other brand after reading issues about lower cost brands sulfating batteries.

I got several of the Battery Tender Plus. used my Cabelas points = free

21incher · « **Reply #9 on:** January 05, 2018, 06:49:30 AM »

Quote from: Chuck White on January 04, 2018, 10:25:05 PM

I'm pretty-well convinced that if you use a battery tender, your battery will last a lot longer!

The battery tenders that I have are either 2 or 2½ Amps!

I agree with you Chuck. These are the units I got at Costco. They are 1/2 the price at Costco http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/Battery-Tender.html
They charge slow and can be used on both 6 & 12 volt batteries. They also have timers built in to limit the 3 amp charge time so they won't damage an older battery.

terrifictimbersllc · « **Reply #10 on:** January 05, 2018, 09:52:17 AM »

I use 4 of these to keep 4 boat batteries maintained in the basement over the winter. Got them at Cabelas.
http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/2-Bank-International-Charger-12V-1-25A-Each-Bank-USA-Western-Hemisphere.html

In boating season I keep a Minn-Kota PC440 charger on the batteries (3 trolling one starting).

I use one like this, the previous model, on the Woodmizer battery when not sawing.
http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/Battery-TenderR-Plus.html

I have several more like these for tractor, Peterson mill battery, etc. think I paid only about $23 for each.
http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/Battery-Tender-Junior-12V-0-75A.html

I got all of the Battery Tenders at Cabelas, and am happy with their performance.

Chuck White · « **Reply #11 on:** January 05, 2018, 10:43:10 AM »

If your batteries are in close proximity of each other, just use one maintainer for several of them!

Crusarius · « **Reply #12 on:** January 05, 2018, 11:17:50 AM »

they are just far enough apart that may be a pain. Good thought though.

shinnlinger · « **Reply #13 on:** January 06, 2018, 10:32:24 AM »

unless your battery is complete dead after a plow session, I think a tender is just the ticket. I found several used tenders in a box my dad got from a friend and put one on almost everything and feel they make a difference when I remember to plug them in.....

I think wiring to your charging system would help, but probably not worth the hassle as a tender is pretty easy.

Crusarius · « **Reply #14 on:** January 06, 2018, 10:41:27 AM »

My biggest concern is over taxing the charging system and killing it.

tawilson · « **Reply #15 on:** January 06, 2018, 11:52:27 AM »

Are you sure your UTV battery is up to snuff? I have a winch on mine and have used it to pull myself out, hang deer, pull docks in and string power lines with no problem. Years ago I had a 4 wheeler with a plow and used it for a couple winters for 3 driveways with the stock battery. It just seems to me a winch that can only lift a plow 8 times isn't working right.

DDW_OR · « **Reply #16 on:** January 06, 2018, 01:45:56 PM »

Quote from: tawilson on January 06, 2018, 11:52:27 AM

Are you sure your UTV battery is up to snuff? I have a winch on mine and have used it to pull myself out, hang deer, pull docks in and string power lines with no problem. Years ago I had a 4 wheeler with a plow and used it for a couple winters for 3 driveways with the stock battery. It just seems to me a winch that can only lift a plow 8 times isn't working right.

agreed, either the battery is bad or the alternator is not putting out enough.

the stock "starter" battery can be damaged if it is drained too much at high amps.
in other words, getting that last bit of power out before it is dead.

Deep cycle batteries are more resistant to that type of use. but even they can be damaged by repetitive excessive drainage.

Crusarius · « **Reply #17 on:** January 06, 2018, 01:55:04 PM »

I have since put a new battery in it. but already had the secondary battery setup and I liked the way it worked so I left it. My UTV I think needs at least 8 volts to run the injection system. I am not sure the old winch was not a problem which is why I changed that one out.

when I got my UTV the only thing holding it together was the mud. This poor thing has seen hell and barely survived to tell the tail. 4 teenage boys that have zero respect for anything completely destroyed this poor thing. I only bought it for the drivetrain wanting to build my own. but when I saw how cheap parts were for it I put it back together and realized how fun and useful it is.

John Mc · « **Reply #18 on:** January 07, 2018, 11:54:36 AM »

I have 5 of the ][url][/url]]BatteryMinder[/url] products and have been very happy with them. I started out with this brand to keep the 24 volt battery in my aircraft charged. Those batteries can run close to $500, and life tends to be short since a lot of aircraft don't get used regularly. It got top reviews in a couple of aviation magazines. I liked the results well enough, that over the years I have added 4 more of their chargers in various models for my 12 volt batteries.

One thing I like about the BatteryMinders is that all of their models are temperature compensated (the ideal charging and float voltages for lead acid batteries vary with temperature) and they include a desulfation circuit (Battery Tender products do not include desulfation, and at least the ones I've seen do not mention temperature compensation). You can leave any of their charges connected long-term without any danger to the battery.

The least expensive current model is the Battery Minder 1500 or the 1510 (A certain mass-market mail-order firm whose name will not be mentioned is selling their discontinued model 12117 at a very low price. This was a decent charger in it's day - I have one that is 15 years old and still going strong - but it lacks temperature compensation.)

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Author Topic: Battery tender (Read 1007 times)

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