Battery Tender

[Twista]

Will this cheap thing (1.5-Amp )work with keeping my car battery in good condtion during winter? Car will be sitting the entire winter.

Says for small batteries but some reviews say they used it on cars and worked just fine.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher...5-Amp/15140193

 

[Mide]

I have this little guy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ZFM4MJHPT5MY6R

And it worked great to keep my 12v car battery a-ok during winter

 

[BUTCH1]

I just posted a battery question very similar to what your talking about, it resulted in a lot of discussion (and a few arguments) about using trickle-chargers on batteries, here it is..http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2403643&highlight=battery

 

[tortillasoup]

Will this cheap thing (1.5-Amp )work with keeping my car battery in good condtion during winter? Car will be sitting the entire winter.

Says for small batteries but some reviews say they used it on cars and worked just fine.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher...5-Amp/15140193

get this, the batteryminder 1500: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/351178506949?lpid=82

Only $42, it's temperature compensated, desulfating and has a 5 year warranty. I don't recommend any other brand/model of battery tender.

 

[LTC8K6]

The Battery Tender will do the job.

 

[Gillbot]

I have a harbor freight one, has treated me well for years and cost $4

 

[Spicedaddy]

I use a Battery Tender Junior for my boat battery over the winter, works like a charm.

 

[tortillasoup]

The Battery Tender will do the job.

He lives in Illinois, if the car is going to be outside, it needs to be temperature compensated! At least with the Battery Tender 1500, the battery will actually improve in capacity and longevity. The same cannot be said of the other tenders, especially the really cheap stuff that will boil off the battery.

 

[Twista]

Car sits in a uninsulated garage. I say it drops to -13.. -25 with wind chills outside at extreme times during the bad months of winter.

The ebay link expired.

 

[tortillasoup]

Ebay link is definitely still active, maybe you need to re-login or something.

 

[boomerang]

I have a Battery Tender Junior hooked up to the battery on my portable generator and the battery lasted ten years. Bought April of 2004, died April of 2014. Very happy with the results. The generator is garage kept in Michigan and was started and used maybe twice a year if that during that ten year span.

I'm going to purchase a model with more output for car storage before the first of the year.

 

[LTC8K6]

He lives in Illinois, if the car is going to be outside, it needs to be temperature compensated! At least with the Battery Tender 1500, the battery will actually improve in capacity and longevity. The same cannot be said of the other tenders, especially the really cheap stuff that will boil off the battery.

The Battery Tender will still be fine.

 

[tortillasoup]

The Battery Tender will still be fine.

Why is that? You realize that with an insufficient charging voltage, the battery will not be fully charged, leading to sulfation. You need a higher float charging voltage in colder temperatures and a lower float charging voltage in higher temperatures. You need a float charging voltage of 13.38v in 77f weather, 13.2v in 104f temperatures and 14.7v in -4f weather.

You're just an amateur who doesn't know what they're talking about.

 

[boomerang]

You're just an amateur who doesn't know what they're talking about.

(removed)

http://batterytender.com/battery-tender-plus-12v-at-1-25a.html

Temperature compensated to ensure optimum charge voltage according to ambient temperature.

I'm wondering now if the ebay link you're pushing puts money in your pocket.

 

[Jimzz]

I have a little 1.5amp and it works fine to not only maintain but also charge a weak battery if you leave it hooked up for a full day/over night.

Its a automatic one so it will not over charge. make sure to not get a manual as everyone says they will remember but they don't.

 

[tortillasoup]

(deleted)

http://batterytender.com/battery-tender-plus-12v-at-1-25a.html



I'm wondering now if the ebay link you're pushing puts money in your pocket.

That's good that it's temperature compensated.... too bad it's only 1.25a, doesn't desulfate the batteries and costs $70....

For $43 (on ebay), there is absolutely no good reason not to get the battery minder 1500 if looking for a mild charger/decent battery tender. You people make the suggested for the Battery Tender purely because you recognize the name and not based upon merit. I've had the Batteryminder 12248 for about 4 years now and have used it continuously on dozens of batteries and the 1500 for about a year now, working perfectly. Did they recover all the batteries? No, definitely not but then again I was curious to see if I could recover a battery with a dead cell (less than 10V) and had no success which was expected. However, when the battery didn't have a dead cell, I've had good success in improving the battery's resting voltage and reserve capacity.

I don't have any association with that ebay link. The only reason I can think of why they're selling at this price is because back in Sept or late August, Northern Tool had a sale where after shipping costs, the purchase of a single unit would come out to around $43. So it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination that someone would hoard a bunch of these and sell them. I'm glad someone did this because I was so pissed at missing that sale on the units as I was in the midst of buying a unit for my neighbor who needed one of these chargers for his jet skis.

 

[boomerang]

That's good that it's temperature compensated.... too bad it's only 1.25a, doesn't desulfate the batteries and costs $70....

For $43 (on ebay), there is absolutely no good reason not to get the battery minder 1500 if looking for a mild charger/decent battery tender. You people make the suggested for the Battery Tender purely because you recognize the name and not based upon merit. I've had the Batteryminder 12248 for about 4 years now and have used it continuously on dozens of batteries and the 1500 for about a year now, working perfectly. Did they recover all the batteries? No, definitely not but then again I was curious to see if I could recover a battery with a dead cell (less than 10V) and had no success which was expected. However, when the battery didn't have a dead cell, I've had good success in improving the battery's resting voltage and reserve capacity.

I don't have any association with that ebay link. The only reason I can think of why they're selling at this price is because back in Sept or late August, Northern Tool had a sale where after shipping costs, the purchase of a single unit would come out to around $43. So it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination that someone would hoard a bunch of these and sell them. I'm glad someone did this because I was so pissed at missing that sale on the units as I was in the midst of buying a unit for my neighbor who needed one of these chargers for his jet skis.

My real world experience is in post #11. Let me know when you start cutting batteries apart to determine the reason they won't take or hold a charge anymore.

Yesterday I bought the one I linked to in post #14 at Costco for $39.95.

 

[tortillasoup]

My real world experience is in post #11. Let me know when you start cutting batteries apart to determine the reason they won't take or hold a charge anymore.

Yesterday I bought the one I linked to in post #14 at Costco for $39.95.

That's nice, but that doesn't include tax. Out the door, the Battery Minder 1500 would be the same price if not cheaper than your Battery Tender. Also your "real world experience" isn't worth crap as there is very well documented charging curves for lead acid batteries. I don't need to cut batteries apart to know anything about their failures, if I know their service history and I can test the battery, I can infer enough information based upon known FACTS. It's a FACT that a lead acid battery needs lower charging voltage in higher temperatures and higher charging voltage in lower temperatures.

 

[LTC8K6]

Why is that? You realize that with an insufficient charging voltage, the battery will not be fully charged, leading to sulfation. You need a higher float charging voltage in colder temperatures and a lower float charging voltage in higher temperatures. You need a float charging voltage of 13.38v in 77f weather, 13.2v in 104f temperatures and 14.7v in -4f weather.

You're just an amateur who doesn't know what they're talking about.

I realize you like to push "temperature compensation"... :biggrin:

It doesn't bother me though. Keep pushing.

It's entirely unnecessary, imo. I have never used a temperature compensated charger, and I have never had any short lived batteries.

Jeep got rid of the battery temperature compensation circuit that used to be in the Grand Cherokee. It wasn't necessary.

 

[LTC8K6]

Besides, the one in the OP apparently is temperature compensated.

 

[boomerang]

That's nice, but that doesn't include tax. Out the door, the Battery Minder 1500 would be the same price if not cheaper than your Battery Tender. Also your "real world experience" isn't worth crap as there is very well documented charging curves for lead acid batteries. I don't need to cut batteries apart to know anything about their failures, if I know their service history and I can test the battery, I can infer enough information based upon known FACTS. It's a FACT that a lead acid battery needs lower charging voltage in higher temperatures and higher charging voltage in lower temperatures.

What is your opinion on inflating tires to sidewall pressure?

 

[vshah]

What is your opinion on inflating tires to sidewall pressure?

Good idea, as long as its temperature compensated

 

[tortillasoup]

Besides, the one in the OP apparently is temperature compensated.

Those schumacher chargers are unreliable and pure shit. I had one of them and it couldn't for the life of it temperature compensate if it tried. It also overcharged the shit out of the batteries I charged it on. Not all "smart chargers" are in fact "smart".

 

[LTC8K6]

Those schumacher chargers are unreliable and pure shit. I had one of them and it couldn't for the life of it temperature compensate if it tried. It also overcharged the shit out of the batteries I charged it on. Not all "smart chargers" are in fact "smart".

Sorry, but I don't believe that, and I have had some bad battery chargers, including one from Schumacher.

Blanket statements like that only reduce your credibility, imo.

But anyway, how did you determine that your Schumacher charger was not compensating for temperature?

 

[tortillasoup]

Sorry, but I don't believe that, and I have had some bad battery chargers, including one from Schumacher.

Blanket statements like that only reduce your credibility, imo.

But anyway, how did you determine that your Schumacher charger was not compensating for temperature?

How did I know the schumacher wasn't compensating for temperature? Well because it managed to overcharge the batteries every time. For long term purposes, I would definitely never use their chargers. Shit I actually damaged a good battery with one of their chargers as now the battery has reduced CCA after using that charger a handful of times. I actually monitored the charging voltage of the schumacher charger with a volt meter and while yes it was a stepped charging voltage, it didn't matter if it was 20F outside or 100f outside, its peak charging voltage and float charging voltage were unchanged.

Also, one thing I hate about the Battery Tender and the Schumacher is that even if they did work properly, they have no way to plug a temperature probe into them in order to get at the battery temperatures, therefore much more accurate temperature compensation vs. collecting temperatures from within the charging unit.