ARUCKEY Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 I would like to purchase a couple of automatic shut off trickle chargers to keep my 12 volt batteries alive over the Winter. Any suggestion on mfg. and suppliers. Second, anyone who has had experience using them. There are some Solar trickle chargers that will keep a battery up once it has a charge. However, Michigan is absent of Sun in the winter. Saw one on E-Bay, but looks like an overseas "special". My experience with that stuff is that it is junk ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Boudway Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Hi,You might be looking for a Battery Tender as advertised on page 35 of the December issue of Hemmings. I don't have any personal experience with these, but I have a friend who uses them. Here's the vender's website: www.halonmarketing.comI'm sure that these are made overseas, as is just about anything else that you buy now.Good luck,Bill Boudway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HeyPop Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Keep in mind you can't just expect the 'trickle' chargers to do all the work over the winter months. Remove from the car if you don't run it over the winter and keep the batteries in a warm area like the basement or a heated breezeway or garage. Even if they're "maintenance free" keep an eye on the fluid levels in the cells. I remove mine from the car and the tractor over the winter and just monitor the voltage occasionally. If it drops below 12 volts I put the charger on it for a day and remove it when it's back up. Working in communications for 35 years I've grown skeptical of any devive that says it does all the work for you. I've seen too many buildings go down when the backup batteries went flat and they were needed the most even though the monitors said they were OK. Trickle chargers have a tendency to put a 'surface' charge on a wet cell and not a good deep charge. just my thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom M Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Hi,I have two of the Battery Tenders. One is a 6v for the Packard and the other a 12v I use on the Harley. They must work well because the battery for the Harley I got 6 years of life out of it and I left it installed in the bike over the winter months. The Packard battery I think I bought it back in 97-98 and still cranks the car over pretty well.I always plug the tender into the batteries after ever drive no matter if I take them out the next day. It seems to work well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Green Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 I have 2 battery tenders and they work excellent. DO NOT store your batteries in the warm as they will discharge faster. Store them in a cool (not Freezing) location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffin Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 For many years I have been using a low cost timer (circa $10) and a standard charger. The timer is programed to charge some minutes every day. The chargeing time I use for a 2A charger is 5 minutes a day. The chargeing time should be chosen to fit the charger so that the battery will be kept fully charged. It is better to use a high current for a short period than a low current all the time. The low current charge will temporarely lower the capacity of the battery.My Hupp battery became 13 years old before I had to change.Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Mills Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 I use both 6 and 12 volt battery tenders. Since I started using them I never take the batteries out of the cars. They start right up in the Spring. I have been averaging 5-6 years of life out of the batteries. I think the battery tenders do a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_PackardV8 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 i dont really like this idea but i have a friend that has done it for many years. If u have an automatic gate or garage door opener just plug a regular battery charger into it and set the light timer for 10 miutes or something. THEN, everytime the gate opens and the light comes on the battery will charge for that length of time. He does 3 or 4 cars that way at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Green Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Some garage door opener light circuits are only rated at a couple of amps so watch what you plug in to them as an overload can happen quickly. Some battery chargers can draw 6 amps depending on battery condition. I have a relay on my opener that turns the entire shop lighting on via a contactor instead of just having the one bulb light on the opener.My Corvette battery which is a Interstate was installed in 1991 and is still going strong. I use the Battery Tender on it and I believe it does exercise the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Albert Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I have use the powercube's used for the calculators that put out 500ma (.5A) as trickle chargers and they are cheep if yo can pick them up surplus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffin Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 In my post I mentioned a timer. I was thinking of a programable timer you can program on/off times for a week. There is also a more simple timer with a rotating wheel with small plastic pieces you can slide to program it to turn on and off the main every day. This later one can only use increments of 15 minutes. JanHupmobile 1929 model MBuick 1932 model 87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom M Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Well I was doing some work on the car decided it wasn't to bad out. Took it out for a few mile ride around the neighborhood got back home went to hook Tender back up was no where to be found in garage. I must of forgot it laying on the running board. Took the dog (Harley) for a walk and found it about a mile from the house. Got back home hooked it back up to the battery and guess what it still works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARUCKEY Posted November 18, 2003 Author Share Posted November 18, 2003 THANK YOU GENTLMAN VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS ON TRICKLE CHARGERS. NOW I HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION I NEED. ACTUALLY, I WENT TO BATTERY TENDER WEB SITE AND MAIL ORDERED ONE "TENDER" . I NEED ONE ADDITIONAL SO I THINK I WILL TRY THE MECHANICAL TIMER FOR THE SHORTEST CYCLE I CAN SET. FROM OTHER WEB SITE INFORMATION I FOUND, I FIND THAT I MUST FIRST FULLY CHARGE THE BATTERY WITH A REGULAR CHARGER AND THEN ADD THE TRICKLE. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE USED THE SITE AND THIS IS OVERWELMING ! MAKES ME FEEL GOOD ABOUT SENDING IN MY DUES.I HOPE TO SEE THE NEW MUSEUM IN HERSHEY THAT I HELPED PAY FOR !RESPECTFULLY, AL RUCKEY DETROIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48LCCOUPE Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 When you have an automatic trickle, you don't need a charger just some DEPENDS. OLD AGE JOKE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amphicar BUYER Posted November 19, 2003 Share Posted November 19, 2003 Use the "Battery Tender"! They are 100% automatic. They check to see what is needed and only come on only when it is required. Really trouble free. They come with a 2 prong plug you can mount to the battery so you just plg-n-play without concern the clips will come off. They are really worth the money!To get 6 years out of a motorcycle battery (especially on a HD where they are wrapped in a hot oil tank) is about 4x more than most w/o a tender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HeyPop Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 Well.. I've got to thank all the great input in this thread for putting and end to my distrust of "trickle chargers" in general. 35 years in the telephone industry had me quite skeptical about them. I've also had a few car battery chargers in my time that have failed me in one way or another. Surface charges that only lasted a crank or two on a cold day (long before electronic ignitions) and at least one battery that was cooked because the charger was sold as a " hook it up and forget it" system. After going to the site mentioned earlier, I too ordered 2 of the Tenders. I also added a battery switch to the Model A so it was isolated from the car during the 'tending'. Thanks gentlemen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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