Battery charger/maintainer...which do you use, and why?

[12Horse Paladin 1,038]

Quite frankly, how cheap can/should you go? I see refurbed ones for 20 bucks...is there one that outshines them all, or is safer? 

Asking because i am thinking of storing mine in the house/basement...

[lynnmor 7,568]

I have seen junk and now will only use the Battery Tender brand.  It ain't cheap.

[953 nut 57,969]

I have one of the HF battery tenders and now operate it on a timer one hour a day. First year I used it the water was boiled out of an otherwise good battery.

[JoeM 7,935]

Deltran, my neighbor used one of the others and had the same experience as 953 nut.

[rjg854 11,882]

I've had good luck with the Battery Tender Brand,  I've have 3 of them.  Kinda like 953nut,  I rotate them from one tractor to another but only for day about once a week on the tractors I'm not using. 

[lynnmor 7,568]

7 hours ago, rjg854 said:

I've had good luck with the Battery Tender Brand,  I've have 3 of them.  Kinda like 953nut,  I rotate them from one tractor to another but only for day about once a week on the tractors I'm not using. 

 

Be aware that the green full charge light comes on short of 100% charge.  If you leave it on for several days, you can approach 100%.

[Digger 66 3,488]

8 hours ago, lynnmor said:

Battery Tender. 

 

8 hours ago, rjg854 said:

Battery Tender. 

 

X-2 ^^

...ya get what 'ya pay for .

[squonk 42,572]

12 hours ago, 953 nut said:

I have one of the HF battery tenders and now operate it on a timer one hour a day. First year I used it the water was boiled out of an otherwise good battery.

Had the exact same thing happen to me. I tossed it. Now it's only Battery Tender or Shumacher. 

[peter lena 9,092]

agree with others above on the battery tender, i think the most important thing you can do is make it easy to use. i have hard wired the plug in charge wire to my battery  connections, then most important , i run that power line plug in on the outside  of my CHOKE CABLE  with SPIRAL WRAP for a neat and easily accessible plug in  / mount . that makes it a no brainier for cold weather battery use ,  i regularly rotate  use on three horses , pete

[lynnmor 7,568]

28 minutes ago, peter lena said:

agree with others above on the battery tender, i think the most important thing you can do is make it easy to use. i have hard wired the plug in charge wire to my battery  connections

 

I recently bought a pack of four cables on eBay and found them to be cheap fakes, total flimsy junk.  Be sure to buy genuine Battery Tender cables from a reliable source.  I returned the junk and bought from Jeg's.

 

cable

[KC9KAS 4,744]

I have attached a male/female pig tail on all Wheel Horse tractors as well as my motorcycle batteries.

I have used the HF battery tender for years and have lengthened the life of my batteries from 3-4 years to 6-7 years.

They will not charge a dead battery, but will maintain a charges battery.

[Digger 66 3,488]

13 minutes ago, KC9KAS said:

I have attached a male/female pigtail on all Wheel Horse tractors as well as my motorcycle batteries.

 

 

Here's a pic of the one that snaps on to the Tender Jr ( when you unplug the Alligator Clip end ) .

These are available at the local auto parts stores in the trailer / lighting aisle .

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,376]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Schumacher-Electric-12-Volt-Car-Battery-Charger/1000575609... I have used the older version (strictly 12 volt) of this for the past 5 years or so with excellent results... JMO.

[Razorback 1,072]

I use a Battery Tender and like it very much. A few weeks ago I bought one of these:

Genius G750 battery charger

 

Genius charger manual

 

I have used it several times and it appears to work well. 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Razorback

[pfrederi 18,334]

I have been using this Noco for 4 years and has proven it self to work well, no cooked batteries.  i needed the capability for my big tractors.

 

 

[Razorback 1,072]

Great timing, pfrederi!

[12Horse Paladin 1,038]

Thankyou all for your input; i ordered this one, as well as a few other odds n ends off ebay. Im not sure about everything yall are mentioning about hooking it up; i was just planning on using it when i pull the battery for longer periods, but im sure ill figure it out. It sure looks awful small, compared to the shumacher's my Dad uses while the other horses are parked/stored, and i really cant tell from the ad where the indicator lights are, but figure that was just the way the ad was laid out...

 

[lynnmor 7,568]

The Battery Tender Jr will work just fine for your intended use.  It has a charge rate of 3/4 of an amp so it would take considerable time if the battery is run down.  I have the standard 1.25 amp version so that it is better able to handle larger batteries.

 

Unlike the single stage models mentioned previously, the Battery Tender chargers have a four step program for a much better result.

 

Complete 4-step charging program (Initialization, Bulk Charge, Absorption Mode, Float Mode).

Automatically switches to float / maintenance voltage after fully charging the battery.

If the battery voltage drops too far under load, full charger output power resumes.

[12Horse Paladin 1,038]

2 hours ago, lynnmor said:

The Battery Tender Jr will work just fine for your intended use.  It has a charge rate of 3/4 of an amp so it would take considerable time if the battery is run down.  I have the standard 1.25 amp version so that it is better able to handle larger batteries.

 

 

I was looking for, but couldnt find the larger version, which i wanted. But only found it in other makes. Isnt it called the 'SR'?

[lynnmor 7,568]

2 hours ago, 12Horse Paladin said:

I was looking for, but couldnt find the larger version, which i wanted. But only found it in other makes. Isnt it called the 'SR'?

 

It is the Battery Tender Plus! and is available online at numerous sites, also auto parts stores, motorcycle shops, battery stores and about a thousand other places.  It is made in a standard version and another that is water resistant.  Prices vary, so shop around.

 

Look around on the manufacturers website:

Plus

[ZXT 2,401]

I have a few HF battery tenders and they appear to work fine but I rarely use them. I've found that there isn't much point in putting a tender on something if it isn't going to sit untouched for more than 6 months.

 

I know my grandfather keeps a Battery Tender Junior on his Model A and on one of his 57 Chevys. The other 57 sits without a tender year round and its battery is about to be 11 years old. The battery on the 57 with the tender has been replaced twice in the last 8 years. 

 

My uncle keeps a Black and Decker tender on his boats and swears by them. I'm not sure which model he has but I might check with him to find out.