Author Topic: Battery maintainer  (Read 3214 times)

Offline tbern

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Battery maintainer
« on: Nov 05, 2017, 09:57 AM »
Any preference on a brand? Cheaper ones from harber freight ok? Anyone have a B&D bm3b model? Has decent reviews on amazon and comes with quite a few different hookup methods?  Looking to use on a ATV and a tractor that sits all winter unused.

Offline ice dawg

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #1 on: Nov 05, 2017, 10:09 AM »
I use a Genius G3500 and a Battery Tender Plus. Both work well for me. I put the Genius on my zero turn mower all winter and the Battery Tender maintains my side by side when I don't have it on the ice.
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Offline mjmeyer

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #2 on: Nov 05, 2017, 12:50 PM »
Battery Tender Plus here, too. 5 years, no complaints. 3 x 12V 9aH SLA Batteries to charge.
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Offline DR.SPECKLER

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #3 on: Nov 05, 2017, 01:41 PM »
battery tender plus and battery tender jr.maintains all my batteries.

Offline FG Steve

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #4 on: Nov 05, 2017, 04:12 PM »
For full -size lead acid batteries (i.e., looks like a car battery) I have been using the cheap harbor freight float chargers for a few years and they seem to do just fine.  No issues yet.  I picked up a handful of them very cheap on Black Friday.
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Offline tbern

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #5 on: Nov 05, 2017, 06:50 PM »
Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts, appreciate it.

Offline Warren_G

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #6 on: Nov 22, 2017, 12:00 PM »
Another plug for the Genius chargers, I have a G3500, a G1100 that I use for boat, sled, ice shack batteries, and a G750 that I keep my Vexilar on year round. Not only do they do a good job of charging and maintaining any size of lead acid battery, but they have been able to bring back a couple of my older batteries from the dead. I had a deep cycle battery in my boat that I thought was unrecoverable, the G3500 restored it to almost like new performance and has been going strong for 2 years, so it basically paid for the cost of the charger.

Offline motocross269

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #7 on: Nov 28, 2017, 09:48 AM »
Stay away from the Harbor freight brand...My neighbor at the lake had his Polaris Ranger one and it caught fire...Luckily it was contained and only burned the UTV tire and melted the siding on his pole barn...

I have had good luck with the Deltran battery tenders and Noco....

Offline DLB

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #8 on: Nov 30, 2017, 07:53 AM »
I use the cheap Harbor Freight ones also.  Never had a problem in all the years I've used them.
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Offline bart

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #9 on: Nov 30, 2017, 08:42 AM »
I have been using the TecMate Optimate 3+ for the past 6 years, no problems.
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Offline Lavman

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #10 on: Dec 26, 2017, 01:04 PM »
Another plug for the Battery Tender Plus, use it on my Polaris Ranger in between plow sessions. Last year I upgraded to the Optima Yellow Top for it as well, plowing with LED lights and amber safety light plus the electronic power steering takes a toll on the battery. If I forget the Tender is hooked up its no problem, this is  good because I find myself becoming more forgetful as I get older........

Offline JaminWI

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #11 on: Jan 04, 2018, 10:59 AM »
@Lavman - what size Optima yellow did you fit in your Ranger?  Any creative cutting needed to fit it?  I have been thinking about upgrading the battery in my 2015 Ranger for cold weather starts and the winching toll when plowing.  The OEM battery is junk.

Offline Chris338378

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #12 on: Jan 04, 2018, 11:21 AM »
I also use the Battery Tender Jr. and wouldn't risk going with one of the cheaper ones.

Offline cwavs1982

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #13 on: Jan 04, 2018, 12:49 PM »
Since someone mentioned the float system - what is the main difference between the float style and the tender system?  Anyone have a preference on which system is better?  I have seen different posts on different pages and I was not familiar with what they were talking about - so I just ignored it.
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Offline Fisherman 1

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #14 on: Jan 04, 2018, 02:41 PM »
Float systems usually have a 3 level system, fast charge to recharge to about 90%, then a lower rate to finish off and a maintain mode that turns on and off to keep it fully charged.

Offline Chadx

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #15 on: Jan 07, 2018, 10:31 PM »
Since someone mentioned the float system - what is the main difference between the float style and the tender system?  Anyone have a preference on which system is better?  I have seen different posts on different pages and I was not familiar with what they were talking about - so I just ignored it.

Float and tenders are the same thing. Battery Tender is a brand name. Most quality name brand smart chargers all perform the same. They will charge your battery to a certain percentage at their max amperage, then raise the voltage and lower the amps for the next stage to top off the battery, then drop amperage and voltage to a float setting which can remain hooked up and will maintain the battery in a "full" state.

I've used Battery Tender and Battery Minder brands for 15 years or more. I have about 12 of them. My atv, motorcycle and snowmobile batteries last at least 8 years (maybe more but i have sold them around 8 years old and the original batteries still worked great). If I'm not going to use the machine the next day or two, it gets plugged in to a smart charger. Only exception to that is the snowmobiles in the winter time as a charged battery loses very little in cold weather. In hot weather, a battery can lose 1% to 3% per day.

Also, use smaller smart tenders (1 amp or .750 amp) for atv, motorcycle, and snowmobile sized batteries. Leave the 1.25 and 3 amps for bigger batteries like cars or boat batteries especially in hot weather. Better to charge a battery slow than too fast and cause them to gas off. You can use the small chargers on the bigger batteries. It just takes longer, but if you are using them as maintainer rather than chargers (meaning not recharging big electric trolling motors on a boat for example) the smaller chargers do the same thing; maintain your battery at a proper voltage. Plus the smaller smart chargers cost less. I'll even plug one onto my car or truck now and then if I'm not going to drive one for a weak.

Offline Rex in OTZ

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #16 on: Jan 09, 2018, 01:15 PM »
For years I had a Harbor Tool trickle charger, right up till it started boiling off battries. In one situation a Bobcat skid loader the battery was extremely warm to the touch and cells boiled dry.
That little cube charger did it to my Ford F150 and a 12 volt airplane battery.
So it was the charger went bad.
I bought another and it needed watching as itd boil batties dry to.
Then I bought a cheaper Battery Tender but it was a constant current trickle charger that never turns off once the preferred charge is met and will boil cells on a boat battery given a period of time (weekend)and thinking of putting on a timer.

I finally spent the money and bought a real battery tender that float's the battery charge,  then it maintain's the battery with no fear of boiling cells dry over the weekend, unlike the last couple harbor freight trickle charger's.
The maintainer works great on the 2004 Polaris Sportsman 440 with its phantom battery drain, since 2004, I have replaced the battery 7 times, Id park it and 3 weeks later the battery was dead, some times If I'd caught it in time itd charge up, otherwise theyd sulphate and your stuck with a brandnew battery that wouldnt charge.
On a different note, the handlebar mounted kill switch on the Polaris ATV acts as a sort of battery master switch, the problem there is I was still getting a battery drain off just at a slower rate, than before so now I have a battery tender pig-tail attached to the battery and it peeks out the Lt side in front the rear fender and it gets plugged into the tender when its not being used.
Id done the alternater check and the paracitic drain test, I just need to replace the volt control box again (3rd time) as that is usually what I can find in the trouble shooting flow chart.

Offline Lavman

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Re: Battery maintainer
« Reply #17 on: Jan 24, 2018, 08:55 AM »
@Lavman - what size Optima yellow did you fit in your Ranger?  Any creative cutting needed to fit it?  I have been thinking about upgrading the battery in my 2015 Ranger for cold weather starts and the winching toll when plowing.  The OEM battery is junk.

Sorry for the delayed response.

I bought a SC34DU. The footprint of the battery is slightly larger than the battery tray so I simply reached in with my cordless grinder and a zip wheel and trimmed to fit then spray painted the bare metal black to protect it from rusting. I also added the plug in leads that came with my Battery Tender and ran that up to the back of the passenger seat so I don't have to remove the storage tub under the seat to get to the battery to charge it, works slick!

I put the tender on the battery after each plowing session. I have the EPS and that draws on the battery along with the winch and the LED lights I added. So far so good, not issues with the new Optima, cranks even in the extreme cold.

 



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