Battery Tender Questions

Hey guys, How many of you are using these things??? My buddy SWEARS by them and I wondered how everone's luck with them has been.

For Christmas he got me a couple of those little Deltran Battery Tenders/Charger and I gotta say initial opinion is that those things are pretty sweet. I just put one on my '47 yesterday - it has a LED that lit up yellow. This evening it was green indicating it went off charge mode and is now in "float" mode. Pretty cool. My buddy SWEARS it adds years to teh life of his batteries - well see about that. I do like the idea of having those batterys full ready come spring time. ALso they have a neat harness that you LEAVE connected to your car battery - making the connection easy and spark free (I always wondered why they made the damn leads the exact same length on a charger - would it really have hurt to make one side 3" shorter!!!) oops - I'm ranting again!!

Lastly - what about using them on a GELL CELL BATTERY??? I have an OPTIMA in my digger and wondered if they'd be good there or not. I question it because the Packaging on the Deltran mentioned tehm being safe for lead acid batterys. Made me wonder about the gell cells. I thought those just needed that "float" feature. But I dont know.

 

Don't know about the jell cell. But I used one on my 32 it had a 3 year checker battery in it. And every time I put it in storage I hooked it up. It was going on 6 years good when I sold the car. Hell he might still have it in there...GHOST

 

I have two 12v and a 6v Battery Tender and keep them hooked up whevever I'm not driving the cars. I use a battery shutoff switch, hook up the tender and fehgeddabot it! I've had mine for at least 10-years and they work great. In the winter, I use one to keep my tractor battery charged up, too.

Great product, at least they were......hope the "Bean Counters" haven't screwed 'em up like they seem to do to other once good products.

 

I use them on everything. I use the SAE 2 connector on motorcycles. Batteries last years longer using the battery tenders. They are great on gel batteries too.
I've never had an issue with the leads, WHAT'S wrong with the length of the leads? I thought they were perfect.

Lucky667

 

I had one in my 48 and loved it. The extra harness you leave attached to the battery for easy hookup was nice to have too. Will buy another one, one of these days.

 

Use one on my '32 that has an Optima and works great.

 

I've had an Odyssey gel cell for 4 years. I think iti is a 920. Battery Tender in the winter, even though I do drive when the roads are dry (T-bucket). Works great!

Bill

 

I use the "batery Butler" brand....works great, I have them on all my cars, gel cells and regular type. The best thing about a "butler" brand is the price...$15. I am using 10 of them right now. check it out www.batterybutler.com

 

I've got 5 of those little Battery Tender Jr.s hanging in the garage hooked to various cars and Harley's. Swear by em

 

been using the same one for years! they are great

 

The solar tenders work great too if the power grid isn't handy. They are getting more popular and easier to find. Costco even had a pair for $30.

 

I've got them on the Optimas in my roadster and tent-trailer, no problems

 

It always bugged me when I had a cheapy charger and the leads were bouncing off one another sparking away - YES I know I should be more careful - it just always puzzled me why they just didn't make them a different length - same thing with Battery Jumper Cables - seems goofy to me that they too are the same length - making them slightly different length would seem to be a "free" improvement to me. I know I'd feel better if the set in my wife's car were that way - matter of fact I think I'm gonna go and modify hers!!!!

I guess what I was initially saying is that with these chargers having that plug in connector actually makes the length a non issue. Just another neat thing about them - that's all.

I am REALLY digging that wire in connector deal - the battery on my digger is a tad difficult to get to the leads on - wiring up that little (light) connector seems like a home run!!

 

I work in remote locations so I'm away from home for long periods of time- before I got a grip of Battery Tenders the first fucking thing I'd have to do when I got home was start trying to jump dead cars and I'd go through at LEAST one battery a year, usually a couple. Now when I leave I just plug in the Tenders and everything is tits when I get back home. I'm on the third year on the battery in my daily driver, too. Thyey are well worth the cost.

 

Thanks for the lead. I was just about to buy a Battery Tender Plus, but these are half the price and appear to be equally good.

 

I have used them for years and love em. Don't know about the gel-cells.

 

they are great, i used them in the winter on my motorcycles.

 

I like the Battery Minder. It is a charger and desulfator. It uses pulse charging technology to desulfate a battery. It also works for Gelcells. The Pulse acts like sandblasting to keep the plates clean. The sulfation knocked off recombines in the acid and won't fill the bottom of the battery. Had a Gelcell that would not take a charge, 2 weeks on the battery minder brought it back. Have two that I leave on my stuff all year round.

 

I must have over 20 of the things. Where they are really important is for motorcycle batteries. Before I had them, two years was a long life; now its five years and running. Shop for price though, they can be had for $15-$20. I've also seen the same ones in the Corvette publications for over $60.