Heads up on Battery Tender

[NJF6Cowboy]

I generally ride most of the winter here in Northern NJ. As long as roads are dry and not to gritty.

For those having battery issues with a battery tender, check your water/acid level.

This past December purchased Battery Tender Plus as work, snow, etc. stopped me from riding. Green full charge indicator light on for months. This past weekend went to start, turned over real slow, then nothing. Jumped the battery , she started went for short errand ride. Put back on tender, green light came on after short time. Bike sat for maybe 2 hours, tried to start, again no good dead @#%& battery. Pulled cap strip ( although not supposed too ) all cells nearly empty. Filled cells with distilled water. Attached Battery Tender, charged, started went for short ride, everything seems normal.

I am going to purchase a new battery, just in case. I hate riding around with jumper cables in the trunk!

[sandy]

Nix the Tender. Some folks here have reported what you found. (Problems with the BT chargers). I use a CTEK 3300. It'll work on the truck too. The CTEK 800 is good for motorcycles and other small batteries. WWW.CTEK.com Amazon seems to have the best prices.

[98valk]

ditto w/sandy, there were certain models of the BT a few yrs ago that were causing problems as u stated. do a google model search and I tend to remember BT was giving a replacement out.
I use a schafer 1.5 amp from walmart its the same as the highly rated yuasa charger except for some bells and whistles.

[Blackduck]

Don't know about the batteries these days, last 2 I bought and filled myself with the kit that comes with them. The fluid did not come above the top of the "plates". (1Valk and 1 old Goldwing)
One of the ones I was replacing had died instantly and fluid was not visible.
Add in that the "plates" were only about 2/3 rds the height of the battery case you can see why they have little reserve. Not cheap to buy but appear pretty cheap and nasty.
Cheers Steve

[Hoser]

I use  regular charger for the spring opener set on 2 amps for a couple hours, (never leave a tender on it) ride it all year, stow it, do it again when I bring it out.  I'm on my second OEM battery in nine years.    hoser

[Ricky-D]

You should use a volt/ohm meter in conjunction with a tender.

A tender operates on the principle of float charge maintenance.

This means the voltage value on the battery should never exceed 12.7 volts maximum.

Any higher would mean a charge is being introduced to the battery and causing it to have to accommodate to being constantly charged. Meaning: Loss of fluid and deterioration of the plates.

Best practice would be to take the battery inside during the long down time and monitor it.

***

[Hef]

I guess i have been lucky. I have used the same Battery Tender for about 11 years on my past Goldwings and never had a problem. Haven't needed it for the Valk.

[Robert]

Battery tender will bake a battery because it will not shut down charging. Boat chargers and some others have the ability to shut the charging off and go into a monitoring mode then when power gets low turn back on to charge. This is the only type of charger that you should leave connected. Some use the term float charge but that can be deceiving because some do turn off rather than float which is where the problem is. Float is not good in most cases.

[Bob E.]

Battery tender will bake a battery because it will not shut down charging. Boat chargers and some others have the ability to shut the charging off and go into a monitoring mode then when power gets low turn back on to charge. This is the only type of charger that you should leave connected. Some use the term float charge but that can be deceiving because some do turn off rather than float which is where the problem is. Float is not good in most cases.

It has always been my understanding that the Battery Tender's do in fact stop charging once the battery reaches a certain level.  It then monitors the battery and when it drops below a certain level, it starts charging again.  Am I wrong?  That's what I always thought was the purpose of the Battery Tenders??  By the way, I've been using a Battery Tender Jr. on my Valk since about 2002 when I last replaced my battery.  Prior to using it, I've never had a motorcycle battery last more than a couple years.  So I'm a believer.

[Spirited-6]

Like I have said before; just like BELLY BUTTONS, everyone has one.  I have used a Walmart Tender, $18.00, for about 8 years with good results. I do leave it on the Valk. in winter months . Normanly about 2 to 2 1/2 months. The Jade Lady started up the other day when I passed the key by the "key hole" 

[Valkpilot]

It has always been my understanding that the Battery Tender's do in fact stop charging once the battery reaches a certain level.  It then monitors the battery and when it drops below a certain level, it starts charging again.  Am I wrong? 

You are correct.

[NJF6Cowboy]

My battery is toast. I ordered a new yuasa from tri-state battery. Real good prices and free shipping by UPS.

[Jess from VA]

I ran three BatteryTender  Jr's and one Plus, on four bikes, 24 X 7 when not riding, year round, for years, and never lost a battery or a Battery Tender.  One '99 IS still has the original battery.... I have a replacement, and will put it in before I take any long trip, but that bike is just purring along perfectly.

[joefromperry]

I have had no problems at all with multiple Battery Tenders that I use on multiple batteries. Living in northeast OH, I pretty much winterize the bikes for hibernation from late November until March, along with two Mazda Miatas we don't use over the winter. I bring all batteries in to the basement and attach them to Battery Tenders; I have a four-bank one, a Battery Tender Plus, and a Battery Tender Junior. After making sure the cells are full in the only "regular" battery that's serviceable, I just leave them connected for the duration. I've never had a problem with any of the batteries, some of which are over five years old. I just put them in the bikes yesterday, and they fired up fine. That's just my experience for what it's worth.

[cdwhit]

FWIW - When my bike was parked (for an unexpectedly long time) I stuck a battery tender on.  A month or 2 down the road, I tried to start it, and the battery was dead as a door knob.  Don't know it it was the Tender or the Wal-Mart Battery.  On my last bike, a BMW, it ate batteries.  A new, fully charged  battery would barely start the bike after being parked a week! I picked up a cheap ($5?) wall wart battery charger (250ma?  500ma?) and plugged it into a timer set to charge for 30 minutes twice a day.  The battery lasted for YEARS!

More recently we had a houseboat which had a OLD automatic charger.  I was warned by the previous owners that the charger needed replaced because if you leaved it plugged in it cooked the batteries, but to stall I did the timer trick again (1 hour once a day at night) and the batteries were still there when we had to sell the boat 4 years later. When I bought the boat the previous owner had put a couple junk yard batteries it to replace his most recent dead ones.

This year, the battery tender will be on a timer.  A new battery every year is just silly!

[D.Tater]

This year, the battery tender will be on a timer.

I have heard this is a good thing to do.
Even with a fully automatic charge really no need for it to be powered all the time.
You can get a timer for under 10 bucks.

[Robert]

and contrary to what was stated here,by Valkpilot, these chargers do not shut off
http://batterytender.com/resources/float-charging.htm
please make sure of the facts, as I have said before only chargers that shut off and turn back on are ones that should be left on batteries. Some will not have problems with these type of chargers but I have seen to many that do to feel comfortable with them except on a timer or put on once every three weeks and then taken off after a day or two. Heck you put a battery charger on a vehicle to get it to start only to have problems starting what a pain. I like battery tender, if you do take it off and on its cheap it works and it does keep your battery up to snuff but know how to use it to get the most out of it. I have never done enough research to find out why these cook some batteries. The only idea that I can come up with is with a float charge and no draw and no use for a extended time the even low charging heats the battery and boils out the fluid. If you have a sulfated cell then this makes matters worse. You really never let the battery rest with a tender because there's always voltage going into the plates. If you use or drain your battery every once in a while then it will more than likely work great. Because the battery is drawn down a bit and then recharges. If you think about most ups they do once in awhile have a draw on them and some batteries are very resistant to overcharging


Each and every Deltran Battery Tender Battery Charger® regardless of its size is programmed with a microprocessor that will correctly charge a battery then automatically switch to a maintenance/float mode.
Float / Maintenance Charging: Is it really necessary?

Historical Background: Charging batteries in a float / maintenance mode has been standard practice for decades when batteries have been used for standby power applications, such as telecommunications, UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), and emergency lighting. Also, the U.S. military has invested literally billions of dollars in developing standby battery charger systems for uses in countless weapon systems: ships, aircraft, ground vehicles, etc. The simple definition of float / maintenance charging is that voltage is continuously applied to the battery terminals. The amplitude of that voltage varies between 0.2 volts and 0.6 volts above the rest state voltage of the battery when it is fully charged. The purpose of continuous float / maintenance mode charging is to maintain the battery in a fully charged condition so that when it is called into service, it will be able to deliver its full charge capacity. Until recently, the most commonly used battery chemistry in sophisticated military weapons systems has been NiCd, rather than lead acid. Nevertheless, the concept of continuous float / maintenance charging has been around for a long time.

[Maverick]

I have had my Valk Battery for 4 years on a Battery Tender Plus and two jetski batteries for 2 years on the same tender with out any problems.
My batteries are all sealed type batteries.  I did have jetski unsealed batteries that I used the same battery tender on and the batteries did fail from over charging. Improved sealed batteries seem to be the right combination for long battery life.  

[mmvalk]

had a BT - went south and also fried my battery - replace the BT with a ctek 3300 and bought a new battery.  haven't looked back.

[Valkpilot]

and contrary to what was stated here,by Valkpilot, these chargers do not shut off
http://batterytender.com/resources/float-charging.htm
please make sure of the facts,

Perhaps you should fact check as well.  If you read the post I quoted and responded to, my response is entirely accurate in the context of that post, and further supported by this excerpt from your same source of info:

At the end of the regular charger cycle, every Battery Tender battery charger automatically switches its output voltage to a safe, storage or float level that eliminates the need to constantly check on the conditions of the battery.
http://batterytender.com/resources/why-batterytender.htm

He never asked, and I never said that the charger "turned off."  The revelant question was, "Does it stop actively charging," and the correct answer to that is, "yes."

[Robert]

I guess this is another example of a advertising that's not clear and really the point I was making. The charger never shuts off nor stops charging. A float, is charging! at a very small rate but it is charging none the less.
(The simple definition of float / maintenance charging is that voltage is continuously applied to the battery terminals. The amplitude of that voltage varies between 0.2 volts and 0.6 volts above the rest state voltage of the battery when it is fully charged.)
this was taken from the article on their website, the charge rate goes down but this is still charging. The reason for this is cost, to make the charger shut off and then monitor would cost bucks so its a no go. There is one other thing if the battery voltage starts to drop as a cell drying up it will force the charger to go to full charge and further bake the battery. If the battery is defective it can also cause the charger to go full charge and there's also another issue that no one addressed, make sure that the immediate area of the battery is well ventilated. Battery gases are explosive and corrosive. They talk about temp monitoring on their website and this charger does not have any such thing which would be a another layer of protection. I just want to say again these are good chargers just like anything use with a bit of care and there will be no problem. So again I am sorry to say the correct answer is NO.

[12voltclothing]

I use a tender all the time with a sealed battery. Never a problem.

I generally ride most of the winter here in Northern NJ. As long as roads are dry and not to gritty.

For those having battery issues with a battery tender, check your water/acid level.

This past December purchased Battery Tender Plus as work, snow, etc. stopped me from riding. Green full charge indicator light on for months. This past weekend went to start, turned over real slow, then nothing. Jumped the battery , she started went for short errand ride. Put back on tender, green light came on after short time. Bike sat for maybe 2 hours, tried to start, again no good dead @#%& battery. Pulled cap strip ( although not supposed too ) all cells nearly empty. Filled cells with distilled water. Attached Battery Tender, charged, started went for short ride, everything seems normal.

I am going to purchase a new battery, just in case. I hate riding around with jumper cables in the trunk!

[Valkpilot]

I guess this is another example of a advertising that's not clear and really the point I was making. The charger never shuts off nor stops charging. A float, is charging! at a very small rate but it is charging none the less.
(The simple definition of float / maintenance charging is that voltage is continuously applied to the battery terminals. The amplitude of that voltage varies between 0.2 volts and 0.6 volts above the rest state voltage of the battery when it is fully charged.)
this was taken from the article on their website, the charge rate goes down but this is still charging. The reason for this is cost, to make the charger shut off and then monitor would cost bucks so its a no go. There is one other thing if the battery voltage starts to drop as a cell drying up it will force the charger to go to full charge and further bake the battery. If the battery is defective it can also cause the charger to go full charge and there's also another issue that no one addressed, make sure that the immediate area of the battery is well ventilated. Battery gases are explosive and corrosive. They talk about temp monitoring on their website and this charger does not have any such thing which would be a another layer of protection. I just want to say again these are good chargers just like anything use with a bit of care and there will be no problem. So again I am sorry to say the correct answer is NO.

Gernerically termed "battery tenders" can include steady, but low, amp-rate trickle chargers.  They will certainly cook a battery if left connected too long. 

But a branded Battery Tender is a so-called "smart" float charger.  Once the battery reaches its full-charge state, voltage is maintained within 0.2 to 0.6 volts of the batteries fully charged state.  You're right that it does this by continuing to apply charge, however, the charge is applied at a very low amperage.  In the case of the Battery Tender brands, the float maintenance stage is only charging at a 0.05 to 0.10 amp rate.  This is an extremely low rate of charge and it would take hundreds of hours to overcharge our batteries at this rate.  It is low enough that the normal resting-state battery discharge will keep it from ever overcharging the battery

Smart float chargers such as the Battery Tender line, the CTEK models and others like them are in widespread sucessful use and don't require timers or other methods of periodic shut off, provided both the battery and the charger are in good working order.

[Robert]

I do agree on the point that they are in widespread use and allot dont have problems but like those reporting here on the board they do cause problems. I have also personally seen some results from these chargers and dont recommend them to customers anymore unless the use is sparingly. I absolutely hate to take precautions and have them cause me problems. I have also wired up many boats and never and I do mean never had a problem with one of the monitoring type chargers or the batteries they were hooked to. Just for some more info if you have a .5 amp draw, (this is less than most light bulbs), it will make the battery die on a car within a 2 week period of non use. So even at a small .2 amp charge its not a far stretch to see how that could mean trouble over a few months on a motorcycle battery.

[Hef]

Quite an interesting debate between Robert and Valkpilot. I have to agree with Valkpilot on this one with my decision being based on about 11 years of experience using the BT on 3 different wings and never a problem. 

[valkmc]

I used a battery tender when I lived in upstate NY, never had a problem. I then moved to Florida and ride the bike all the time. My tender is somewhere in the shop but never gets used anymore.

[Ronnie Reeves]

Mood points. Bottom line I like The Batt. Tender Jr. and have been using them for yrs .
Its normal for the Batt. to last 7 to ten yrs . in my 10 bikes .

[R J]

Hey NJF6Cowboy

What are you saying, that the Tender fries the water out?

[NJF6Cowboy]

RJ
 Seems that way to me. My battery was almost completely dry. This winter I will use the Tender but put it on a timer.