Battery Tender... questions
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Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Anchorage Alaska
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Battery Tender... questions
I have some questions about battery tenders.
About all I know is that they do something to help the battery. Do they basically plug into a wall, then connect to your battery, and keep it charged while the car sits for some length of time? Are these intended to be set up, plugged in, and left plugged in the entire time? Or, do they only need to be used for an hour here, an hour there?
What's the difference, if any, between these and trickle chargers?
I'd like to buy the right item for my Vette, which is stored this winter. So far I back it out of the garage every week or two and let it run for a bit and warm up to temp, but I wont always be able to do this. Maybe this isn't even the best way. But until I get the alternatives straightened out, I'm stuck.
What do I need, so that come April my Vette will start right up?
FWIW, I'm looking at this offering from AutoGeek:
http://www.autogeek.net/btplus.html
About all I know is that they do something to help the battery. Do they basically plug into a wall, then connect to your battery, and keep it charged while the car sits for some length of time? Are these intended to be set up, plugged in, and left plugged in the entire time? Or, do they only need to be used for an hour here, an hour there?
What's the difference, if any, between these and trickle chargers?
I'd like to buy the right item for my Vette, which is stored this winter. So far I back it out of the garage every week or two and let it run for a bit and warm up to temp, but I wont always be able to do this. Maybe this isn't even the best way. But until I get the alternatives straightened out, I'm stuck.
What do I need, so that come April my Vette will start right up?
FWIW, I'm looking at this offering from AutoGeek:
http://www.autogeek.net/btplus.html
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I use for the last 10 years Battery Tender Jr, connected to the car when I am not using it for weeks. I have it setup with a quick disconnect that comes with the unit.
What it does is keep the battery up to standards, and than turns off and on when needed to keep the battery fully charged.
What it does is keep the battery up to standards, and than turns off and on when needed to keep the battery fully charged.
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Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Anchorage Alaska
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
I use for the last 10 years Battery Tender Jr, connected to the car when I am not using it for weeks. I have it setup with a quick disconnect that comes with the unit.
What it does is keep the battery up to standards, and than turns off and on when needed to keep the battery fully charged.
What it does is keep the battery up to standards, and than turns off and on when needed to keep the battery fully charged.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2002
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I have had a Battery Tender Plus for five years or so. What 1bdvet said is correct. It charges as needed. I use it on and off on my tractor and my pickup (which sits a lot). Great investment. My brother has one and uses it on his boat batteries too.
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From: No place to legally ride ATV's NJ
I have used the battery tender, and battery tender junior in the past. They just plug in, and you can leave them plugged in for long time storage. But that is all they do. Now I have two CTEKs. One of them has the ability to be put in a supply mode, which basically means that I can mess with the car's stereo or whatever, without the car running - and the battery won't drain. It also has as setting that can rejuvenate batteries that don't quite hold a long charge anymore. It's not guaranteed to bring a battery back to life, but with regular use it will keep your batteries in top form. My other CTEK is good for all other my other charging uses during winter, which I bounce around from tractor to ATV to Bike, etc... The CTEKs can withstand some extreme conditions, such as being run over and getting wet. Whatever you pick, it will keep your battery good for storage. 
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I've been using a Battery Tender Plus on my '02 C5 for over 6 years now and that's almost continuously except when I take it out for the occassional good-weather weekend drive. I have thousands of hours on that Battery Tender with never a problem. It has kept my Optima Red Top battery in primo condition since 2002 when I had to replace my 9-month-old stock battery after it went south shortly after buying the car.
The tender will slowly charge the battery to it's proper charge level and then go into a maintenance mode and keep it in optimum condition. Some chargers do not discriminate with respect to the type of battery and so are not a good choice for certain types such as glass mat. There is some "intelligence" built into some chargers where they can adjust to the type of battery and apply the appropriate charging profile to fit the battery. The Battery Tender is a good choice as is the Ctek unit Willfulone sells on his site. There are several others worth looking at out there as well. Do a search and I'm sure you'l find a ton of info.
The BT can bring back a weak battery but not one that is completely dead. As mentioned abouve, the Ctek can often revive a dead battery. Neither can bring back a battery with a dead cell though.
The tender will slowly charge the battery to it's proper charge level and then go into a maintenance mode and keep it in optimum condition. Some chargers do not discriminate with respect to the type of battery and so are not a good choice for certain types such as glass mat. There is some "intelligence" built into some chargers where they can adjust to the type of battery and apply the appropriate charging profile to fit the battery. The Battery Tender is a good choice as is the Ctek unit Willfulone sells on his site. There are several others worth looking at out there as well. Do a search and I'm sure you'l find a ton of info.
The BT can bring back a weak battery but not one that is completely dead. As mentioned abouve, the Ctek can often revive a dead battery. Neither can bring back a battery with a dead cell though.
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I've been using a Battery Tender Plus on my '02 C5 for over 6 years now and that's almost continuously except when I take it out for the occassional good-weather weekend drive. I have thousands of hours on that Battery Tender with never a problem. It has kept my Optima Red Top battery in primo condition since 2002 when I had to replace my 9-month-old stock battery after it went south shortly after buying the car.
The tender will slowly charge the battery to it's proper charge level and then go into a maintenance mode and keep it in optimum condition. Some chargers do not discriminate with respect to the type of battery and so are not a good choice for certain types such as glass mat. There is some "intelligence" built into some chargers where they can adjust to the type of battery and apply the appropriate charging profile to fit the battery. The Battery Tender is a good choice as is the Ctek unit Willfulone sells on his site. There are several others worth looking at out there as well. Do a search and I'm sure you'l find a ton of info.
The BT can bring back a weak battery but not one that is completely dead. As mentioned abouve, the Ctek can often revive a dead battery. Neither can bring back a battery with a dead cell though.
The tender will slowly charge the battery to it's proper charge level and then go into a maintenance mode and keep it in optimum condition. Some chargers do not discriminate with respect to the type of battery and so are not a good choice for certain types such as glass mat. There is some "intelligence" built into some chargers where they can adjust to the type of battery and apply the appropriate charging profile to fit the battery. The Battery Tender is a good choice as is the Ctek unit Willfulone sells on his site. There are several others worth looking at out there as well. Do a search and I'm sure you'l find a ton of info.
The BT can bring back a weak battery but not one that is completely dead. As mentioned abouve, the Ctek can often revive a dead battery. Neither can bring back a battery with a dead cell though.
I use the Battery Tender Plus when my C5 sits over winter. Just plug it in, attach to the battery, and let 'er sit for weeks/months at a time.
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When I had my C5, I used a Battery Tender Plus on it and kept it plugged in and connected to the battery any time I was not driving the car. The Tender automatically charged the battery at a sufficient rate to keep it fully charged.
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Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Anchorage Alaska
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
Thanks for the help everyone! I ended up getting the Battery Tender Plus from Autogeek. I was placing an order anyway so there wasn't really any additional shipping charge for throwing it in.
I was very tempted to order the CTEK, it sounds fantastic too! But when you live in Alaska, complete with outrageous shipping charges, it's best to order from as few places as possible. I think I'll be good to go when the BT Plus arrives.
I was very tempted to order the CTEK, it sounds fantastic too! But when you live in Alaska, complete with outrageous shipping charges, it's best to order from as few places as possible. I think I'll be good to go when the BT Plus arrives.
