I have a 85 with a new Delco battery. I find that the charge on the battery will only live for about a week with out driving it. I assume this is due to the after market alarm and the ECM ect. Because I live in Seattle, the ability to drive is limited because of the long periods of rain. Accordingly, I am going to get a Tender. I am looking at a Tender from NAPA part # 85302. Anybody have experiance with this unit or suggestions as to a quality one?
Thanks,
JW

 

I have a Deltran Battery Tender Plus and a Deltran Battery Tender Junior that have worked for me for 5 years. Most members here seem to like these or the CTEK tender.

I don't know much of anything about the NAPA unit, but I can certainly recommend the Deltran units. They are available at many auto parts stores and also through Amazon.

If you battery won't hold a charge for anything more than a week, you ned to figure out why that's happening. Have the battery load tested to make sure it's in good shape and also have the alternator tested to mke sure it's providing the necessary amperage to keep the battery charged.

It could also be that there is a current drain. A good alarm system should not draw down the battery in that short of a period. The ECM won't draw much of anything in the way of current' my '87 will sit for 2-3 months and still start easily without a battery tender attached.

 

Disconnect the alarm system and get rid of it. Car alarms are useless anyway. No one cares if they go off except to get rid of the noise. So just ditch it as aftermarket car alarms are a big culprit when it comes to battery drain. As for the tender, what is important is that it actually drops to zero volts when the battery is fully charged. The only way to be really sure of that is to put a voltmeter on and observe. But my guess is...get rid of the alarm and you will no longer need to worry about buying a tender.

 

[QUOTE=c4cruiser;1582124062]I have a Deltran Battery Tender Plus and a Deltran Battery Tender Junior that have worked for me for 5 years. Most members here seem to like these or the CTEK tender.

I don't know much of anything about the NAPA unit, but I can certainly recommend the Deltran units. They are available at many auto parts stores and also through Amazon.

 

Thanks guys. I have had both the battery and alternator tested. Both are good. Also have checked for drain with the alarm disconnected and showed no drain. So, one last question. I want to be able to disconnect and go, so how do most of you posistion the pigtail lead? I was thinking about having it hang out from the gill. I don't want to open the hood every time.
JW

 

Do you have a cigarette lighter that works with the ignition key off? If you do your all set...its just plug and unplug. Pick up the plug at the auto parts store.

 

Agree been doing it this way for years & it's an easy reminder to disconnect before pulling out .

 

you probably don't need it now that you have no drain

 

I have the Deltran Battery Tender on three of my cars. It's just a little extra insurance.

 

I have an aftermarket alarm and i can leave the car for a couple of weeks or months and it will start, check your antenna i had it happen to me that it would not start after a week it turned out the antenna was turning on and off every minute or so. It turned out the grease had all but disappeared, i greased it up and was fine ever since. The antenna motor only shuts off when tension causes the contacts to open.

Also check the under hood lights and glove box light are not illuminating in the closed position.

Something is obviously drawing a lot of power just got to track it down.

 

The Battery Tender Plus comes with a pigtail that you can extend out the gill for hook up and tuck back in another gill opening when in operation. I did the same for many yrs with my '91 and never had any problems.

Good Luck!

SAVE THE WAVE

 

I can't say enough good about the Battery Tender (or their equivelants), far as keeping the battery healthy!

That said, it is NOT normal for the batteries in our cars to drain to the point the car won't start - leave alone drain flat - in only a week or two.

GM guideline says 50mA draw or less is acceptable. I've not seen and C4 drawing much over 25 to 30 mA (tops). At that drain rate, the battery would last several months without dipping below power enough to start the car.

By disconnecting the negative cable (easiest to get to) and setting a volt ohm meter to read 10A, with everything off (including the courtesy lights, etc), by placing the red lead on the disconnected negative connector and the black lead on the negative battery terminal, you'll initially see a little surge (to be ignored) before the reading will settle. That settled current reading is what your want to pay attention to.

If the current reading is over 50mA (0.05A) then while watching the meter, start pulling one fuse at a time to see which one results in the excessive current draw. (the FSM comes in handy for troubleshooting electrical stuff.) Once you find the offending circuit, then you can start the process of elimination until the culprit is isolated. (Just as a pointer, faulty door switches or glove compartment switches that leave the lights on are a common problem. But, there are others too!)

(**Note: Current draw can be done by disconnecting the positive terminal as well. But, that being the case, the red lead goes to the positive battery terminal and the black lead to the disconnected positive cable connector.)

Hope this helps

P.

 

I use the Sears/Die Hard Battery maintainer on my 86 and my 88 - which I may only drive 2x a month. The simple fact is it happens to all cars. I have a 2010 Wrangler- let it sit for 3 weeks, battery dead, **** on the reserve they say- it was dead. I have all the toys, alarms, remote start- and they do work. If someone is going to steal my car, it had better be a pro, not some crack head that breaks open the window and tries to use a screwdriver. I want that alarm blaring and hope he tries to stick that screw driver in his ear to stop the sound.

2007 Ranger Rover SC- same stuff- battery dies in 3 weeks of not driving- 2005 SL AMG - same thing- 4 weeks. its cheap insurance, just get one that has a good rating and a good warranty. I am very happy with the Sears/Diehard model. I have 4 of them, 2 in use all the time and I even use them on my Seadoos and wave runners. This concept is no different than your remote control in the other room you dont want TV and it is dead in a year of not watching TV. No, your wife was not entertaining her boyfriends in that room and she is not cheating on you-the remote battery just died.

Good luck!

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trks...at=0&_from=R40

buy yourself some spares

 

I know you have PepBoys, they sell Tenders, been using them for years, and they do work great. I even have connected to Generator, it's electric start.

 

I bought a cheapie battery float charger from Harbor Freight that's served me well for 3 years now when the car's in storage for the winter. If it ever fails I'd consider getting a true "battery tender" but until then it works great for me.

astepup said that

 

I have a battery tender from Battery Tender.
Costs about 40 bucks but you can find them on fleebay for 25 or so.

Since your battery is discharging in a week you should consider trouble shooting the drain.
Lots of good hints and tricks in the tech and gen on the subject.