I have two CTEK’s. They’re great

 

Newer GM cars and all car makers(?) have desulfication function in the cars charging system. Pretty neat.

 

Great results with this one for the past 7 years, all battery types and a 125A starter...

 

They are standard/optional with an impressive range of upper end auto brands.

 

I use a BatteryMinder. I have the 2012 and a 2012 AGM for the optima batteries. I have been running this charger for years, and my 2001 Z06 has an Optima from 2006 still going strong. https://www.batteryminders.com/2012-...-worldwide-use

 

I just picked up this Noco Genius G4 at Canadian Tire on a clearance sale for $179 Cdn regular $279. Its a discontinued model but the technology is new enough for me. My old Battery Tender has served me well for the last 15 years but this Noco will charge/maintain 4 batteries.

 

I've used the Deltran Battery Tender Plus for many years, no issues and they have worked well for me. Have one on the Corvette and the "Jr" model on the motorcycles, lawn tractor and generator.

 

been there... still have a corroded mess on my concrete garage floor from this.
I recently used a "smart" charger to recover (Desulfate) an old battery and I am a believer. I also used it to desulphate my campers solar battery bank. I still dont leave them connected long term but over the winter ill connect my chargers for a day or 2 on the slow charge setting to basically keep a charge in it.
I dont do anything to my riding mowers battery and the last one lasted 7 years so go figure...

 

i have a daily driver (no battery tender), and about 6 dormant vehicles, all with battery disconnect switches and 24/7 battery tenders, maybe get driven once a year. I'm beginning to lose faith in my battery tenders, and unfortunately I'm heavily vested in them. after a few years of 24/7 use, solid green indicator, one day, the battery tender goes to blinking yellow, and no matter how much you futz with the connection, it stays blinking yellow.

I recently acquired a NOCO Genius10, put that on there, wait till the indication got up to solid green, and then put it into "repair" mode. Then put the NOCO back to maintain mode for a few days or a week. Then I put the Battery Tender back on, and it goes to solid green. And these are new, recently bought Battery Tenders, not clearance or anything like that. I now have 3 of the Genius10, and they cost twice as much as the Battery Tenders.

The proof is in the pudding. I go to start my 454 Dually, only get the sickening click-click-click. This is with the Battery Tender 24/7, solid green. Put a jump starter pack on there and it fires right up. I put the NOCO on there for a few days, hit the repair, and that one took a day or so, overnight, to finish the repair mode. put it back to maintain mode, and a few days later see if it will start, vroom, started right up.

454 C3: went out to start it up, dead battery, even though 24/7 battery tender. Went and bought a new battery, started right up, no surprise. I didn't turn in the dead battery as a core, kept it. Hooked up the NOCO to it, as per instructions, let it get to fully charged before doing the repair mode, took a while doing the repair, was wondering if it would ever come out of repair mode, finally it did, and now it's solid green. Hopefully I can get a few more years out of that battery. I currently have another C3 without a battery ...

I'm also going to try out the NOCO Genius5 and the Genius2, figure I don't need the repair function on all my chargers, can just move them around as needed. And I also ordered a BatteryMINDer 2012 and BatteryMINDER 1500 to see how those perform.

I also have a couple of Pulse Tech Xtreme Charge XC100 chargers (red/black), but those are also long since retired due to flakiness.

just my observations, FWIW. YMMV.

 

This is more informational for anyone reading this but from what I understand you wont find any newer "chargers" that do this... You need a battery "tender" or "maintainer" or sometimes referred to as a trickle charger instead. And there is a difference in MOST cases and many are one or the other.

From what ive read its now an energy star requirement that chargers shut off once the battery is fully charged and that they dont continue to kick on and off. Tis is a HUGE issue on the golf cart forums because people think thier chargers will automatically kick on and off and maintain a constant state of charge.

You can setup the charger on a timer system to reengage it periodically but the better option is to buy a maintainer.
In case anyones wondering the government provides incentives to make the chargers this way since it does cut down on wasted energy (and likely contributes to thousands of wasted batteries every year in the process)

BTW the Noco chargers are great, they are the only ones to make a proper charging system for multiple lithium batteries wired in a series while keeping them balanced as well.

 

Yep, CTEK here too!

Jason

 

Thanks - what I was getting at is known brands/models of chargers that people have found will actually work when they've been sitting unused for long periods not just when they're new.

Since first posting this in 2021 so far the Schumacher I got at O'Reilly is hanging in there.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...+charger&pos=6

 

Not cheap…….but you often get what you pay for. Considering the cost of new batteries (I have 6), sounds like a wise investment. The positive reviews from u guys @ the forum makes CTEK a no-brainer.

 

The "Battery Tender Plus" model are the ones I use 24/7 for over 25 years on all my bikes and cars. Only had one fail and they warranted it and sent me a new one. Like others have said and I also would recommend them. Other brands mentioned seem to have good reviews also. If I need another I will get the Battery Tender Plus model again. I currently have 6 of them and some are 20+ years old.

 

one thing I notice when comparing the CTEK and the NOCO product line, specifically the accessories.

NOCO offers an adapter that will mate the NOCO proprietary connector to the industry standard connector used by Battery Tender and others. Allows me to use the battery clamps and 12V extension cables that I already have.

I couldn't find an equivalent adapter for CTEK's proprietary connector on their Amazon page.

ETA: ====================

I went on the Amazon page for Battery Tender.
seems the "Battery Tender Plus" refers to the 1.25A "Powersports" chargers/maintainers.


the Battery Tender (not plus) refers to their automotive chargers/maintainers, 3A on up to 15A.


seems the "Battery Tender Plus" should be an enhanced version of the "Battery Tender", normal naming convention, but doesn't seem to be the case, at least according to their Amazon storefront.

 

I've used "Battery Tender" for the last 94 years and have never had a problem with them.

 

What conditions are you storing in? I found out the hard way a battery tender (maintainer) will not protect a battery during extreme cold.
I since bring my batteries into the house during the winter with a tender on them.

 

I have vehicles stored both in heated and unheated buildings with the Battery Tenders on them 24/7. I have not had any issues with using the Battery Tenders in the cold. I am in Wisconsin and we do get some sub zero temperatures during the winter months. I have been using the "Battery Tender Plus" model for way over 20 years and as I said in my previous post I had only one that failed which was replaced under warranty and that one was being used in a heated building. The ones I use have a 10 year warranty.

 

Since the family started this company in 1965, Deltran Battery Tender® has taken great pride in designing, manufacturing, and distributing technologically advanced products that meet the ever changing needs of our worldwide customers!

 

WOW, 94 years you got me beat. LOL

Are you still driving your Vette ?