So I went out to the garage and noticed that my charger has neglected to do its job on the car. Its a pretty old Sears Diehard trickle charger that I think has seen its day. I need to buy another one, any good recommendations?
Are there any that charge two vehicles at once? Id like to do my boat and car together if possible in lieu of buying multiple.
I looked into the Battery tender, they have a 4 bank around 250 bucks which doesnt include the 25ft extended lines. Ouch, prefer to find just a 2 bank at half that cost.
Believe it or not Walmart sells a small Schumacher charger/tender for about $20.00 and it comes with 2 different cable ends 1 with clips and 1 that can be hooked on to the battery cables. I believe they are for motorcycles but I have used mine on my cars with no problem.
So it depends on WHAT TYPE OF BATTERY YOU HAVE... Most of us are running Optima batteries and you need to pay attention to this because not all batteries are the same!
Battery Tender (the brand) are good for flooded type batteries... not so good for AGM's (Optima etc). You need the BATTERY TENDER PLUS for AGM battery charging.
The battery tender (generic word here) MUST BE compatible with AGM type batteries -- they require a different rate of charge.
I've upgraded my Battery Tenders to C-TEK... which allows a choice of type of battery.
13. How is the Battery Tender Plus battery charger different from the Battery Tender battery charger?
OVERVIEW and COMPARISON: The Battery Tender and Battery Tender Plus battery chargers are both designed to provide a quick, economical means to recharge motorcycle and engine start batteries used in other power sports equipment. Typically, power sports engine start batteries are in the 12 Ah to 20 Ah capacity ranges. Both chargers are constant voltage type with precisely regulated output current limits. Both chargers have a regulated, nearly constant 1.25-ampere output charge current during the bulk charge phase. Physically, there is virtually no difference between these 2 chargers. Both the Battery Tender and the Battery Tender Plus operate in 3 charge modes, bulk charge, absorption charge, and float charge.
RECHARGING AGM BATTERIES: The primary difference between these 2 chargers is that the Battery Tender Plus was specifically designed to accommodate the charging requirements of the new, Absorbed Glass Matte (AGM) style batteries. To achieve that goal, it was necessary to modify the absorption charge mode in the following way. The Battery Tender switches to float mode when the charge current drops to 0.5 amps. The Battery Tender Plus switches to float mode when the charge current drops to 0.1 amps. The result is that for an extended period of time, not to exceed 8 hours, the Battery Tender Plus output voltage will be held at a constant voltage that is significantly higher than the float voltage.
A lot of discussion about OPTIMA batteries not holding up -- and I believe it is mostly due to people KILLING their battery with improper charging. They run it down - then put the wrong type of battery charger on it - and do this a few times and pssssssst...... she's toast.
A lot of discussion about OPTIMA batteries not holding up -- and I believe it is mostly due to people KILLING their battery with improper charging. They run it down - then put the wrong type of battery charger on it - and do this a few times and pssssssst...... she's toast.
Good info, I had to learn about this the hard way.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Battery chargers
Linear Mode
