Shylor

I just purchased this battery maintainer from Sears and have a question for those of you that also have it. It's the 28-71220 fully automatic Float-Mode model.

The instructions say the unit will only have one LED on at a time. But I noticed mine starts out charging (amber), then after a bit the charged (green) LED comes on with the amber LED still on. Then finally just the green LED stays on. The time it does this varies on how much the battery needs charging at those levels.

I also noticed when clamping the unit up to my battery (not plugged in), I got a small spark. So I took a voltage reading from the maintainer and it had a decreasing charge. The voltage goes down to zero but when I hook it up I still get a spark. I've never known a charger to hold voltage being unplugged but I've never had a maintainer style unit before either.

Is any of this normal or do I have a defective unit? It seems to be charging okay. But it doesn get rather hot on charge mode.

Shylor

One more thing. The box and instructions make reference to an engine start feature of this charger/maintainer yet it isn't explained. In fact the instructions say in one sentence, "Always disconnect the charger before starting the vehicle."

I'm confused.

Shylor

I contacted Sears Tech support on the phone. They said if is normal for multiple LED's to be on at once as it charges. So the instructions are incorrect. The instructions and box are also incorrect about the engine start feature, this unit does not have it.

But the sparking I get when connecting to the battery is not normal and they said I probably have a rectifier short. So I will be returning the unit for an exchange.

Shylor

Got the replacement maintainer. It also sparks upon connecting it to the battery, even though the maintainer is not plugged in. I called Sears tech support again and they said to touch the red and black clamps of the maintainer together before connecting to the battery, unplugged ofcourse. I did that and the maintainer still sparked when connecting to the battery and the maintainer was not plugged in. This seems very dangerous to me. I will most likely return the Sears unit for another brand. Any thoughts?

JHS5YDO

I have been using one of Sears battery charger/maintainer for several years now with no problem. I just went out and unhooked it and it did not spark. Does a great job of keeping the battery in good shape. Its a 1 1/2 Amp unit, model # 200.71202 with 2 LED's. I think I paid about $25 for it 4 or 5 years ago. I keep it on my 99 FRC all the time as I don't drive it that much.

John

Old One

Buy the good one, the Battery Tender Plus. It is a much heavier duty unit than the Sears one and I have never seen anything bad written about them.

Shylor

JHS5YDO, Thanks for your input but we have to be talking about the same model, the 71220. I only get a spark when hooking up its clamps (unplugged), to the battery. Not taking the clamps off. Sears doesn't make this maintainer, they just put their name on it.

Old One, Thanks but I really would like to find out if others are having the same issues I am with the Sears model. I decided on the Sears because they had it in stock and it was $29.99 vers $60 for the Battery Tender Plus (locally). Yea I know I can get it cheaper online but I didn't want to wait.

Shylor

So what nobody has this model of battery maintainer?

rrichar2591

How are you making connections when you get the spark? I also have a Sears Battery Tender. I think you are supposed to hook up the positive lead first and then attach the neg clip to a metal ground but not the neg post of the battery. The reason for this is to avoid the spark.

Shylor

It's actually not called a battery tender but a charger/maintainer. And I connect the red to red and black to black. It shouldn't matter if the black is to the black battery terminal or ground on the car, as the maintainer isn't plugged in. What I did tonight was disconnect the clamps from the maintainer via the quick disconnect plug before connecting the battery clamps. Then I connected the disconnect after attaching the clamps to the battery. No sparks this way, so I plugged the unit in.

It still makes no sense that a spark should happen when connecting an unplugged maintainer to the battery.