I plug it in as soon as I close the garage door.
Battery tender usage question
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,783
Likes: 4
From: Ohio
Battery tender usage question
Those who use these tenders and don't drive your car on a regular basis, do you keep it connected all the time or do you just do it periodically to bring the battery back to full charge?
I've been doing it the latter, but am starting to just leave it on all the time...any possible problems with this or is this what most do?
BTW, I'm using a Ctek tender
I've been doing it the latter, but am starting to just leave it on all the time...any possible problems with this or is this what most do?
BTW, I'm using a Ctek tender
Last edited by ghostmech; Dec 7, 2013 at 04:59 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,783
Likes: 4
From: Ohio
Do you find it will recycle thru the various stages of charge as time goes on? I left mine on all day and thru the night, checking it periodically to see the speed of charge rate and what happens for a long period of time after it went green (full charge). Sometimes it would cycle back to 3/4 charged and eventually back to full. This morning it was back down to the lowest battery level (as if the battery were low and the charge sequence was just starting out again). Is that normal?
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,868
Likes: 294
From: West of Burlington, Ontario Canada
Do you find it will recycle thru the various stages of charge as time goes on? I left mine on all day and thru the night, checking it periodically to see the speed of charge rate and what happens for a long period of time after it went green (full charge). Sometimes it would cycle back to 3/4 charged and eventually back to full. This morning it was back down to the lowest battery level (as if the battery were low and the charge sequence was just starting out again). Is that normal?
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Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,783
Likes: 4
From: Ohio
There is a micro processor in the charger that conditions the battery. At no time have I experienced the charger letting the battery get to a low then recharge state. I spoke with the Battery Tender/Deltran guys at a car show not long ago and they basically told me that the Tender keeps the battery in a better state than in the car.
Hmmm...Then I must assume the what is happening with my Ctek is not normal. To go from fully charged/almost charged to the next morning where it shows low charge.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,921
Likes: 777
From: Huntsville AL
Yeah, you might have a bad battery. I have been out of town for two weeks and it started right up when I returned. No tender.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,868
Likes: 294
From: West of Burlington, Ontario Canada
I'm not sure how the Ctek works? I can only assume it's supposed to work the same as the Battery Tender. I would pull the battery and have it tested to make sure it doesn't have a bad cell or something else wrong with it.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,009
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From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
OP-
The CTEK's (and probably some of the other brands) are supposed to sometimes go through a cycle that's supposed to "de-sulfate" the battery or something like that, could that be what you saw? My CTEK manual tries to explain it, but I think something got lost in going from Swedish to English.
The CTEK's (and probably some of the other brands) are supposed to sometimes go through a cycle that's supposed to "de-sulfate" the battery or something like that, could that be what you saw? My CTEK manual tries to explain it, but I think something got lost in going from Swedish to English.
SUBVETTE
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,841
Likes: 93
From: San Diego CA
My Battery Tender + goes on my vehicles whenever they are in the garage (I have one for each vehicle). Once the green light comes on, it stays on. I have never seen either of my tenders go back to red after being on green. The only thing that will get a red restart is disconnecting and then reconnecting the tender.