I've got two Deltrans. A jr. model on my dump trailer and a bigger version on a backhoe. A buddy that had a bunch of cars and bikes suggested Deltran over some of the other brands he had tried. He bought them in lots of 5 or 6 on feebay at a real good price. Someone mentioned them causing batteries to blow up. That was probably a trickle charger, not a tender/maintainer.
i just installed one on the inside of my hard bag on my old shovelhead , so if I have any troubles I just plug her in
Timely thread,I received 2 for Christmas and forgot about them. After reading this thread I went out and found them under a pile on the work bench. HRP
I have a couple of the Jr's. Probably not ideal to "charge" a battery but they are great at "maintaining" a battery. I keep one on a ATV whenever its not in use, a garden tractor during the winter, and the Coupe whenever its not out. I have the QD leads bolted to all of the batteries so it's plug-n-play. I like them.
I have a Battery Tender Jr. that I alternate between 2 cars, it's always on one or the other. Walmart is advertising them for $23. Battery Tender is the brand name. I've also used a Shumacher trickle charger that kept a battery going for more than 7 years, probably longer, that's when I sold the car with charger. That battery may still be going. In general I think if you get a good one it can double the life of a good battery. They're really not designed to charge a dead battery. A friend of mine had problems with a trickle charger from Harbor Freight.
Thanks guys. I will need to try them out. 4 quads and 7 cars I cant seem to keep the batteries charged haha. If anyone sees the sears ones on sale please let me know. I will keep an eye on sears.com.....
I have the Harbor Freight float charger, used it on my Plymouth during the winter months that the car was not driven, it worked great with no problems and started right up when I was ready to drive it again.
Yep, I've used the HF units for about 10 years and they will maintain and preserve the batteries. They are not designed to be chargers. Some old wives tales say to not ever put a battery on a concrete floor. This is not true. A battery discharges in the unused state because of dirt and contamination on top of the case.
We've got a couple of the Deltran units. Used them on everything from a big John Deere tractor, to the battery for our garage's fire detection system. Work great with no problems whatsoever. Highly recommend them.
I was going to chuck a battery backup for the ol computer system and got to experimenting I got rid of the battery packs, hooked up a set of cables to an old battery and... Damn, it works great.
I have several HF battery tenders in my garage and have had very good luck with them. As long as the battery has a full charge they work well. Two of my old cars sat for almost 6 months over the Winter cranked over and started with no problems.
Be aware a Trickle charger is just that and charges a battery all the time eventually this will kill a battery and boil it dry. A Tender on the other hand constantly tests a battery and only charges as it has to. It will keep a 12 Volt battery at about 13.5 Volts all the time as that way the battery lasts longer.
LOL! I recall when the battery on my bike went dead at work at 9:00 PM & I was all alone there. I took a battery from one of the backups, stuck it in my saddle bag with a couple jumper wires, started it up and rode it right home.
The Sears units are tenders and not trickle chargers. They have a light that lets you know when they are charging and when they are satisfied and just standing by.
Put me down as another battery tender/maintainer fan. I use the cheap HF versions, can find them for $5-6 on sale. They work good, but as stated by others, the tender/maintainers are not for charging a low battery, they are to keep the battery at full charge and ready to go. I probably have about 5 of the HF tenders in use around my house on old cars and my tractor.
I do the same thing. I've been using one on my DynaBat batteries and tractor batteries for years. It got run over once, but it still works fine.
Used generic one for years. They all work well. However, on my "55 GMC truck I put in an Odyssey Battery. Very compact. super CCA and it holds the charge. Tried it last week after this long Michigan winter and Bam started right up. The battery was pricey but it can go anywhere. It is mounted behind my seat. Just some more wood for the fire....... Good Luck whatever way you go
I have a Battery Tender I use on the wifes Vette in the winter and it has worked great so far. Thinking of getting another one or two for the Hot Rod and the Mower.
I have 5 of them, plugged in all the time. I like the water proof ones, looks like a hockey puck. You can't damage them. I perm. mount the leads to the batteries with the pig tails/ plug ins sticking out of the grills or behind the bumpers. I have driven over them no damage. My wife forgot to un-plug one , ripped the plug right out of the wall and it bounced around under the car for about 9 miles, and it still worked.
I use them all the time and just bought 2 more today for around $20 each. http://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/battery-tender-junior-021-0123-battery-charger.html
I have not seen a sears unit. Most have lights that inform you the status of charge. Some simple and some show the stage of charge.
LOL, there's one for the books (as they used to say in the days when people read books...) Did she ever come home with the gas nozzle still sticking out of the filler?
My roadster was sitting for a few years. dead as a door nail. I put my "tender' on it just for kicks it only charged for an hour or 2. I was shocked when it turned over. I looked closer at the tender and it says tender/charger. There is a solid state circuit inside that prevents the charger from boiling out the water. We never could do that in the dark ages.
I have 4 Battery Tenders ,3 on cars and one maintaining a battery on the bench, no problems no battery,s replaced in 7 years!!
Again, thanks for your input. Deltran (Del Tran?) should eliminate the lame recommendations they have on line and use the testimonials from The H.A.M.B. Since I don't need much, I went with the Junior. By the way, Speedyb just answered something I wondered about: taking care of the spare new battery sitting on my bench.
I have many Battery Tenders, including 24v and 6 volt models. I use them on many different batteries and vehicles - motorcycles to trucks. Some are dedicated to a particular application and remain connected all the time. Others get rotated from battery to battery every month or so. Never a problem.
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