question on battery tickler charger (or battery maintainer)

rnln · 01-02-2007, 09:40 AM

I have search and read many duscission on these products but don't understand the basic level of it. The thing I confuse is if these item need to plug into home electrical outlets? If not, where does it get electrical source to charge the battery?

The Pepboys guy recommended me several of them. The smallest one cost only $25 or so. Will it work?

Please input as much as you know. Thank you.

the · 01-02-2007, 09:44 AM

Yeah, you need to plug it into a home electrical outlet.

It slow charges the battery and automatically shuts off when the battery is fully charged. When the battery drops below that level, it automatically begins charging again. Doing so, it maintains the battery at the proper charge.

I don't think it is rocket science behind these things, so even a cheap one from pep boys should work. But, given that electricity, a battery and charging is involved, I use "name brand" ones, either from Schumacher or Battery Tender.

Even a Schumacher or Battery Tender is not very expensive, though.

www.batterytender.com

defcon65 · 01-04-2007, 07:32 AM

HF sells a decent one for ten bucks. It's a float charger type which shuts off at a certain voltage and won't dry out the cells by cooking them like a trickle charger will. I've got one on the Carrera now.

Danny_Ocean · 08:16 AM

If you park your car outside, and live in a reasonably sunny region, there are solar trickle chargers/maintainers. I have one on my boat and it works fine.

wcc · 01-04-2007, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by defcon65
HF sells a decent one for ten bucks. It's a float charger type which shuts off at a certain voltage and won't dry out the cells by cooking them like a trickle charger will. I've got one on the Carrera now.

+1

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42292

I picked mine up when they were on sale for about $3 bucks. I have lots of these and they work GREAT!

Eric86Red911 · 01-04-2007, 11:35 AM

I'd recommend an electronic smart charger. Not only will they charge a drained battery, but they'll work as a trickle charge as well. That way you don't need two different chargers.

wcc · 01-05-2007, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eric86Red911
I'd recommend an electronic smart charger. Not only will they charge a drained battery, but they'll work as a trickle charge as well. That way you don't need two different chargers.

Please correct me and excuse me if I'm wrong, but the little bit of electronics that I know is that's exactly what a float charger does. If you are lower then full it charges the battery to full and keeps it there. If it drops from full it comes on and tops it off.

billroth · billroth's Garage

I just picked up a C-Tek. Expensive but was able to charge a battery that my Crappy Tire (Canadian Tire for our brothers south of the 49th) so called intelligent charger wouldn't get going. Now, let's see if the battery works.

Lawrence

88911coupe · 12-17-2009, 04:55 PM

I have a DieHard 10/2/60 "Fully Automatic Battery Charger Engine Starter" Model. 200.713101. Is there some way to tell if it will work as a battery "tender"? Not really sure what to look for. It has clear instructions for charging a low battery whether it's in or out of the car and I can put it on automatic. I left it on my battery for several months while doing the rebuild and it kept it charged up fine. Does that mean it will work keeping the battery charged up while IN the car? I just put it on 2 amps and left it there for months and it seemed to work great but I don't know if having it in the car changes things and I don't want to fry anything like the DME control unit.
TIA

wurls · 12-17-2009, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88911coupe

I have a DieHard 10/2/60 "Fully Automatic Battery Charger Engine Starter" Model. 200.713101. Is there some way to tell if it will work as a battery "tender"? Not really sure what to look for. It has clear instructions for charging a low battery whether it's in or out of the car and I can put it on automatic. I left it on my battery for several months while doing the rebuild and it kept it charged up fine. Does that mean it will work keeping the battery charged up while IN the car? I just put it on 2 amps and left it there for months and it seemed to work great but I don't know if having it in the car changes things and I don't want to fry anything like the DME control unit.
TIA

I have the Battery Tender brand single charger, and have been using it DAILY for the last 2 years without issues.
I keep the battery constantly trickle charged up because my car isn't used daily, but when I want to drive it, I don't want any issues.
Hope this helps.

pwd72s · 12-17-2009, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88911coupe

I have a DieHard 10/2/60 "Fully Automatic Battery Charger Engine Starter" Model. 200.713101. Is there some way to tell if it will work as a battery "tender"? Not really sure what to look for. It has clear instructions for charging a low battery whether it's in or out of the car and I can put it on automatic. I left it on my battery for several months while doing the rebuild and it kept it charged up fine. Does that mean it will work keeping the battery charged up while IN the car? I just put it on 2 amps and left it there for months and it seemed to work great but I don't know if having it in the car changes things and I don't want to fry anything like the DME control unit.
TIA

I have the same unit...no problems using it both in and out of the car at the 2 amp automatic setting. never used the 10 amps setting on gel cells...thought it might push them too much.

Rusty Heap · Rusty Heap's Garage

2 amps isn't a "trickle charge" for a "battery tender" rate. 2 amps is a "top it off at a slow charge" rate.

~500 mA or what you would call 1/2 an amp is a trickle charge / tender rate.

A constant 2 amps on a small ATV or motorcycle battery will slowly bubble and evaporate it / slow boil it dry. I'd never leave even a car battery on a 2 amp charge for weeks or months on end.

keeping the water topped off regardless of slow/trickle amperage is important.

Also the KEY is whether the charger is auto-regulating, just feeding the battery only what it needs, or is the charger putting out a constant rate of .5 / 2 / 5 / 10 amps regardless of battery state of charge......that's when you overcharge and kill a battery.....force feeding it even after it says "I'm full"

pwd72s · 12-17-2009, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

2 amps isn't a "trickle charge" for a "battery tender" rate. 2 amps is a "top it off at a slow charge" rate.

~500 mA or what you would call 1/2 an amp is a trickle charge / tender rate.

A constant 2 amps on a small ATV or motorcycle battery will slowly bubble and evaporate it / slow boil it dry. I'd never leave even a car battery on a 2 amp charge for weeks or months on end.

keeping the water topped off regardless of slow/trickle amperage is important.

Also the KEY is whether the charger is auto-regulating, just feeding the battery only what it needs, or is the charger putting out a constant rate of .5 / 2 / 5 / 10 amps regardless of battery state of charge......that's when you overcharge and kill a battery.....force feeding it even after it says "I'm full"

Both the Sears 2 amp unit mentioned above AND the "battery tender plus" mentioned by wurls (1.25 amps) have auto shut off features. Meaning when the battery is fully charged, they quit putting amperage in. No danger of boiling therough overcharging the battery with either unit.

fintstone · fintstone's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by billroth

I just picked up a C-Tek. Expensive but was able to charge a battery that my Crappy Tire (Canadian Tire for our brothers south of the 49th) so called intelligent charger wouldn't get going. Now, let's see if the battery works.

Lawrence

+1. I like the CTEK 7002. Very small and ligtweight, but will take the place of a full sized charger as well. Porsche branded versions of the CTEK units come as the optional OEM unit from Porsche. You can purchase wired connectors for each of you cars and use a single unit for each as necessary. It has a specific setting to properly charge Optima/Odyssey...which is nearly impossible with a conventional charger. It can also be used as a 12v supply for when you disconnect/swap your battery but want to retain power to the car to preserve settings, etc.

sean m · sean m's Garage

I got the Schumacher battery maintainer from Walmart.....$20. It works great

OptimaJim · 12-22-2009, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fintstone

It has a specific setting to properly charge Optima/Odyssey...which is nearly impossible with a conventional charger.

fintstone, I cannot speak for other manufacturers, but virtually any automotive battery charger sold today will charge an OPTIMA battery. However, when any battery is deeply-discharged below 10.5 volts, most battery chargers simply will not work.

Many standard flooded batteries are unrecoverable when deeply-discharged, however, there is a parallel charging technique for conventional chargers, which can often revive OPTIMAs and other AGM batteries which have been deeply discharged (below 10.5 volts). It’s a bit lengthy, but if you’d like me to post it here, I'd be happy to do that.

For the record, for regular charging we recommend a maximum of 10 amps, 13.8-15.0 volts. For float /maintenance charging we recommend 1 amp maximum, 13.2-13.8 volts. There are quite a few good battery chargers/maintainers on the market and while we do not have the capability of testing each one and do not officially endorse any specific maintainers or chargers, the CTEK Multi US 7000 or 7002 and the Pulsetech Xtreme are a few examples of devices that our customers and staff have used and liked. If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them. I appreciate your interest in OPTIMA batteries!

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.

bdisco · 12-22-2009, 07:15 AM

I think the OP may have been thinking about a Portable Jump-starter maybe?

tchanson · 12-22-2009, 07:26 AM

I've used a Schumacher 10/2 Amp float charger on one red top Optima almost continuously for more than 10 years, with no issues whatsoever.

Tim

bart1 · 12-22-2009, 09:57 AM

This is the one I use. Infrequent use on Odyssey, Optima and Die Hard batteries and has always seemed to work great.

Battery Tender Junior 12 Volt Charger, Snowmobile, Battery Tender at Sportsman's Guide

There are fancier ones available from Battery Tender. I have a Schumacher 6/2 amp charger as well.

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

Here are the ones I have

From the left, Exide float charger that permanantly mounts to the side of the battery it is always there , you just need to run a lead to it, the middle is also an Exide float charger, you hok the leads to the battery but leave the charger in the garage, it doubles as a booster for starting, HD Sears only thing it's good for is starting dead vehicles

If you are shopping you want a float charger which varies the charging voltage down to zero as the battery approaches a fully charged state. Most of the floating chargers have a chip that does all the work.