Your Battery Maintainer/Charger choice?

[Botamon]

I bet I have at least a dozen of these BatteryMinder units. Motorcycle, quad, tractors, everything I'm not driving daily is hooked up. In my experience these things have doubled the average life of my batteries.

But I don't use the alligator clips the units come with. I install leads on each battery so I can plug in without having to physically access the battery. Much handier - makes it that much more likely I'll plug in when I park the vehicle.

I also have some larger BatteryMinder units for when more charging power is needed. My Miller Bobcat welder, which sits in a shed with no power, has a solar-powered BatteryMinder connected.

 

[Old Machinist]

This reminds me. I have two machines I need to put SAE pigtails back on for the winter. I can't remember why they got removed but I have solar chargers sitting idle while two of my mowers are disconnected.

 

[Lil Foot]

For my Optimas:
(Lil Foot, Rhino)

Optima Digital 400

12V PERFORMANCE CHARGER AND BATTERY MAINTAINER Looking for a car, marine, motorcycle, or other AGM battery charger? The OPTIMA Chargers Digital 400 12V Performance Maintainer and Battery Charger automatically maximizes battery life and performance with a built-in battery health mode. It also...

batteryguys.com

For lead acid:
(B7100, Mini Ex)

8A 12V Fully Automatic Rapid Charger - Schumacher Electric

Looking for a 8A 12V Fully Automatic Rapid Charger? Visit Schumacher Electric for portable jump starters, battery starters, EV chargers, and more.

www.schumacherelectric.com

For various motorcycles:

Duraboost Battery Charger 750 - Cycle Gear

The DuraBoost Charger/Maintainer 750 is perfect for those wanting to charge and maintain their 12v lead acid battery. It constantly monitors your batt…

www.cyclegear.com

Megaboost Pro Series 4000 Charger And Maintainer - Cycle Gear

The MegaBoost Charger/Maintainer 4000 is perfect for those wanting to charge and maintain their 6v or 12v lead acid battery. Shop Cycle Gear for our 30-day best price guarantee & 90-day hassle free returns.

www.cyclegear.com

Amazon.com: 6V 12V Battery Charger 1.5A Automatic Battery maintainer trickle Battery Charger Smart Float Charger for auto car Motorcycle Lawn Mower Boat Motorcycle Snowmobile : Automotive

Buy 6V 12V Battery Charger 1.5A Automatic Battery maintainer trickle Battery Charger Smart Float Charger for auto car Motorcycle Lawn Mower Boat Motorcycle Snowmobile: Battery Chargers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

.

LoadTrail dump trailer has a built-in smart charger/maintainer, but it's 150mi from here, so I can't check the brand/model.
(And no. I don't remember it; I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast)

 

[dlsmith]

I have three of the 5 amp Batter Tenders I use for my JD 430, Yanmar genset and 70 Nova, to keep them topped off and ready to go.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tend...=B00EDFPN1O&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_d_rpt_ba_s_9_t

 

[old and tired]

I've always been told to remove jumper cables and/or charger as soon as the engine is started, as the alternator and charger could be giving each other false signals.

Whatever... I got a 20 yo battery and I'm not planning to change what I do since it's working for me. It might not work on a car or truck but on my Kubota, it's the golden ticket (at least in my mind....)

Edit - So if I just plug the charger up to just the battery and not start the tractor up, it will reach "Full" MUCH sooner but if I re-set the charger to charge with the engine running (with the charger on) it will not fully charge the battery until 10 or so minutes.... If that's over charging, it works and I'm fine with it...

 

[Kennyd4110]

Battery Tender JR's, the 'wall wart' style. Have about 6 of them now I think:
3 Motorcycles
2 Tractors
1 Forklift

Some are ~20 years old and still going.

 

[nbryan]

No battery tender/charger yet here on my 2017 B2650HSD. Original battery, still starts her up cold no block heater at -20C, with 10-15 seconds glow.
Just saying...

 

[McMXi]

No battery tender/charger yet here on my 2017 B2650HSD. Original battery, still starts her up cold no block heater at -20C, with 10-15 seconds glow.
Just saying...

I thought about that today. I've never used a battery tender or charger on any of my Kubota tractors. The BX lived in an unheated barn all year round for 5 years, and when I sold it to the local Kubota dealer manager it went with the original battery. My current MX is four years old and the M is 3-1/2 years old and they live outside all year round at present and both have the batteries that they came with. I've never had a problem starting any of my Kubotas and the temps can be down in the -20Fs in the winter.

Once I get the sheds built I might use tenders on the batteries, but the jacketing material that I ordered from Amazon showed up today so I'll be wrapping four batteries this weekend.

 

[BruceMc]

I've use HF tender/charger for years now no issues winter or summer. Doesn't say if there is a working temp range but it does have a "Winter Mode" but does not specify exactly what that is. Does mention to never charge a frozen battery.

Temperature compensation - it incrementally increases the charging voltage the colder it is, since cold batteries don't like to take a charge.

I looked around a couple of years ago comparing the minimum temp rating of a few popular tenders/chargers. Not surprisingly, some don't eve publish those specs. I think the best I found was -4ºF.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

I’ve been using the Battery Tender (brand) for a long time…my original single bank is still going, but I use 2 other 4 banks. (They are all more than 20yrs old).

Then I picked up some additional length of the harness so I can connect multiple machines with some reach/stretch across floor…makes for a real trip hazard if not careful but I also pipe the harness across ceiling and then have hang connector down where I park.

IMO if have multiple items in close proximity, the multi bank is the way to go, less the trip hazard.

MultiBank Power Solutions

Charge multiple batteries simultaneously with our multi-bank battery chargers. Ideal for workshops, garages, and fleets, our chargers include 4-bank battery chargers, 2-bank battery chargers, and multi-battery maintainers to keep your batteries charged and ready.

www.batterytender.com

 

[BAP]

Has anyone ever figured out the cost benefit of running battery tenders? Comparing the cost of buying a tender, paying for electricity to run it versus having to buy a new battery on a more frequent basis.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

some rough math....based on the unit in post #21 ( 12v/1A ) and tender being used full power.

It produces about 12 watts of power, so maybe 20 watts out of the wall...accounts for line losses, efficiency, etc.
My electricity costs me 20c /KwH. Change this for your rate....

1Kw/20 watts = 50 hours, round down to 48hrs = 2 days.

1Kwh costs me 20 c, so that's 10c per day, so $36.50 per year

Reality is the tender won't be fully 'on' every hour of every day , rates vary with temperature and battery condition, etc. so could safely cut the cost in half, which becomes $18.25 per year.
If you get 3 years extra life out by using it , it's cost you $55 +-.
Say new battery costs $210 ( none are cheap' anymore.... and you get 7 years out of a battery
3 years of battery is 3/7X$210 is $90.
So... it cost you $55 to save $90.

As I said rough math and numbers will vary . Mr. Sun still isn't up ,so feel free to tweak the numbers.

 

[Daferris]

Noco tender. But wired up so it's easy to connect. Only issue is the only bulkhead connector I could find was an SAE style so I had to get a little adapter cable to change to the Noco connector.

 

[chim]

None.

 

[lynnmor]

Edit - So if I just plug the charger up to just the battery and not start the tractor up, it will reach "Full" MUCH sooner but if I re-set the charger to charge with the engine running (with the charger on) it will not fully charge the battery until 10 or so minutes.... If that's over charging, it works and I'm fine with it...

A battery in need of a charge will not fully charge in 10 minutes, it takes much longer to do it right. A typical group 51 battery used in smaller Kubotas will take nearly 2 hours to fully charge if it was down just 10%.

 

[hedgerow]

Never have owned a battery maintainer. Any of my big equipment that sets all winter with no starts have battery disconnects on them. Most are stored in sheds with no power to them any way. Had one semi that seemed to be starting a little slow during harvest this fall and got into the shop last week for a service and checked the batteries and there were ten years old so I put a new set in. I never had a problem with a battery setting unless there is a draw. That is why I use disconnects. The newer equipment has a lot of electronics on them. My battery charger is forty to fifty years old. I put it on the fuel trailer once in a while but I just normally hook the cord up to what ever I am fueling up.

 

[Blue2Orange]

Bad thing about lead batteries is they don't really like a deep level of discharge. Prefer to have a fully charged battery when starting.

For what it is worth. On the old NH just purchased the 3rd Optima Yellow top and then traded it in this past April for the BX. 3rd battery in almost 25 years. Last decade the NH sat sometime for more than month. Same thing will be happening with the BX. Limited need. Just trail and driveway maintenance. Harvesting firewood in the Autumn. ~ 8months old and less than 60hrs. Majority of the hours were grading and distributing the 80 tons of gravel delivered this past Spring. Guessing will be back to my ~50hr/year use. Unless winter snowfalls return to the frequency and amount of the past century. Which I doubt. The past few days, the Clippers instead of dropping inches have deposited a centimeter or so of light dry powder.

 

[old and tired]

A battery in need of a charge will not fully charge in 10 minutes

I never said that it NEEDED a charge... I said it usually shows that it has 12.5 volts on the meter... I just think of it as topping off the battery. Whatever... I'm just happy that in 20 years, I'm still using the original battery from 2005!!!!