PhatZ06

So I purchased a YELLOW TOP battery for the Vette a couple weeks ago. Plopped it in...drove it around...no problems.

parked it, popped hood, and connected battery tender to it. The light went steady indicating charge.

Three days later...still saying that...and battery was dead.

I took the battery out and hooked battery tender to it...charged the battery in a day.

Put back in car...same thing...battery tender does not seem to charge it, if it is connected in car??

Any ideas? Am I doing it wrong?

I would rather this not be a 'better battery' discussion...since people seem to have very strong feelings there.

The one I have is the Battery Tender (022-0192) Black 12 Volt 0.750 Amp Junior Battery Charger/Maintainer.

PhatZ06

I have a 2002 Corvette Z06 btw.

trackboss

There may be something drawing energy more so than usual in your car. Disconnect the positive cable and hook up a multi-meter between the cable and post with everything in the car off (doors closed, etc.) You should be able to see how much energy is being used. You can open a door, etc. and watch the meter as an example to show you spikes.

ddawson

I used that same on on a Red Top for years with no issues.

I have the Battery Tender® Junior 12V @ 0.75A (PN 021-0123) that I use on my C3 which has an AGM battery.

LS14ME2

You have the "new" California approved BTJ... I wonder if it just does not have the oomph to charge a yellow top in the car?

This one... Battery Tender® Junior 12V @ 0.75A (PN 021-0123) that ddawson has is the same JR I have... it was the old school one...

For a yellow top... you might want to try the BT Plus.... that is the one I use for the vette (in the car) and works great... I use the BTJ for my bike.

PhatZ06

Thanks for the quick responses...I'll check into them all. I believe the last battery had was just a costco one with a lot CCA...maybe easier to handle than the yellow top.

harrydirty

BTJ should work fine as long as there is no excessive current draw from somewhere else in the car (the op indicated that the BTJ charged the battery ok once it was out of the car). The previous post about checking for stray current is good; you'll probably find something in the car that is drawing current when it should be off......good luck with the fix.

Boomer111

The BTJ works fine with my yellow top. Yellow top does call for an 1-2A trickle charge though.

If the yellow top gets too run down ( something 40-50% just guess at the #'s ) special charging procedures are warranted.

steponc

Make sure your tender is in winter mode or gel battery mode. It takes the higher setting for the gel to maintain.

Vinnie T

What happens if you don't connect a charger to it while it sits? Will the car start after a few days or does the battery still go dead? Seems like you might have a discharge issue to deal with if that's the case.

Boomer111

I have gone almost three weeks and it started. Before the charger I went a couple of weeks plenty of times over the years.

I just started using the charger because I am not taking the car out as much lately.