TexasMadMan

As the title says, my several year old battery tender went bad and ran the 4 year old Delco battery to completely dead. I just got a new tender and the battery has charged up to full.

I've heard in the past once a battery is completely drained, problems may happen soon with the battery.

Given the fact the Delco is 4 years old, do YOU replaced it or get a little more use out of what you have? Thanks as always.

4SUMERZ

If the battery went completely dead, then it will likely not last very long, especially with the high amperage needed to start a C6.
At 4 years, I personally would get a new battery, for the minimal cost of a new one.
As you know, the C6 is very dependent on a full charged battery due to all the electrical demands and systems.
How many electrical gremlin threads have we seen on this forum that was caused by a weak battery.

Chances are, the lead corrosion on the plates have dislodged due to the total discharge and re-charge of your battery, and all that crud is now sitting at the bottom of the battery, just waiting to make contact with a cell plate, and short it out.

There are plenty of articles on what happens to a dischaged battery on the web. Google away and make your own call.

Out of curiosity, what brand was the Battery Tender.

TexasMadMan

Thanks for the quick reply. I think a new battery is the best option. Just wanted a little push.
To answer, I have been using the Battery Tender Junior.

blittle

Absolutely agree.....no way a 4yr old battery is going to comeback!

cessna10

4SUMERZ

Thank You. I have been using the Deltran Battery Tender Plus since 2009, and it's been a beast.
The Jr. has a 5 year warranty, so you can get a new one, or update to the Plus for a bit more amperage.

10thumper

The new units are crap. Their warranty costs more than just replacing it when you read the details. I had the same thing happen with x2 Battery Tenders and I threw the other x3 I had away (multiple motorcycles). Never again will I buy their junk.

Eritosthenes

One of the joys of C6 ownership is becoming literate about lead-acid batteries.

As a rule-of-thumb, each total discharge of a conventional battery results in a loss of about 10% of its capacity when recharged. When added to the deterioration during a "normal" lifetime, a total discharge after four years can easily be the last straw.

If you store your C6 during the winter, the battery will be vulnerable to total discharge if you lose electrical power for an extended period (and don't have a standby generator) or if your tender fails as yours did. To avoid this problem you could replace your battery with a marine-type designed for deep discharge such as the Optima Yellow Top. They are a bit pricey. Mine cost $230 at O'Reilly.

LS WON

I have gone 12+ years on my original 6 year warrantied AC Delco battery on 2005. It starts fine but I'll likely replace it with the same AC Delco it came with which is now a AC Delco Silver 30 month battery with 590 CCA or perhaps I should go with the Gold AC Delco 650 CCA 42 month battery?

cclive

Any electronic device can go bad...rare but certainly possible. Buy another and move on. At 4 years, you might as well just get a new battery also, although there's no huge hurry...doesn't need to be tomorrow.

vetdude

Talked to Deltran about a similar issue. They said 10 years is about the life span of their Battery Tender Plus. They also said that once a battery goes completely dead, you should replace it due to the potential of at least one dead cell.

enventr

I have used the battery tender plus for many years in the Vette and a newer tender for my Lexus. So far no
Issues. These cars are on the tender most of the time

dpigguy

School me - other than failing to charge the battery, how does a battery tender that goes bad drain the battery it was tending?

cclive

I think the battery just naturally was discharged by the car...with no tender to keep the voltage up.

zero11

IMO the battery was on it's way out ,I would change also as was said the tender did not kill the battery it just quit working. IMO I know some guy's do use the jr tender on there cars but I think it's a little to small for a car ,I use a jr on my zero turn mower battery ,as I said JMO.