Best battery tender for car
 

What is the best battery tender charger for long term storage of a car?

Not sure if it's the best but I have been happy with battery Tender Plus on the 987.2 and 911 SC for a few months at a time.

Battery Tender® Plus 12V 1.25 Amp Battery Charger

I have used a couple dozen Battery Tender Junior's for a long time with no issues.

Do you specifically want a Battery Tender or would any brand of battery maintainer work? I like the Schumacher brand. I have several different models, none have caught fire or ruined a battery.

+1 for the battery tender plus. It is a solid product.

I have a Canadian tire unit that came with two different types of connectors. Alligator clips and one that connects to a terminal connector where you would attach the mating end to the battery. It works fine haven’t fried a battery yet. Have had it for yrs. I do plan on getting a battery tender at some point. My bil has several for his bikes but I think the jr version

I have maybe five Battery Tenders I bought over time from Costco. I use them for my truck, tractors, and whatever else. They've always performed flawlessly over the years, & I haven't had one fail yet. I was at Costco day before yesterday and noticed they were going for $29.97, which means they will be phasing them out at least in the store.

I have two C-Tek 3300. I love them. All the Rennlist Turbo forum snobs use this one :rolleyes:.

https://smartercharger.com/collections/vehicle/products/ctek-multi-us-3300

+1 on Ctek, it is the actual make of the Porsche branded ones - just cheaper for missing the logo, not really out of snobbishness as it's no pricier than other brands, but it's been reliable long term and came with all sorts of useful connectors like permanent lines you can install on a car that seal with rubber caps, cigarette lighter connector, normal clips.... I've since equipped all my cars with the connection you clip on so now I never need to open a car's hood anymore to plug them in. It's particularly useful on modern porsches that wake up like 17 different ECUs when you pull a door handle, and you can never get a real voltage reading once the car is awake and the battery under attack.

On another note, talking about useful tools, a few months back I finally bought a "real" battery tester, not a voltmeter or the kind that smokes (a SOLAR BA9 40-1200 CCA Digital Battery and System Tester). I've been fooled in the past with the regular load testers and voltage meters telling me a battery was good or bad and that was incorrect. The above tests a battery based on its type, its CCA rating, and does a bunch of tests on the cells, measures what's left of the CCA now and whether or not it should be recharged or is not worth the hassle. Saved me a lot of head scratching, I recommend it highly for $50 when you order your Ctek - useful tool to have and no battery needed, it powers off your tested battery ;-) (that's my public service announcement for the day ;-)

I recently went with the optima 1200, I think it's called. Lots of features, works well...

(edit) Read about 'em here:

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/battery-charger

don't discount what is available directly from overseas, with USA warehouses


A huge selection. high frequency kilohertz battery recovery modes too. keeps from plates sulfation.


https://us.banggood.com/wh_buy/Usa/Battery-auto-charger.html


I've owned both these.

https://us.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-12V-10A-20-150ah-Smart-Battery-Charger-LCD-Display-Souer-For-Car-Motorcycle-wp-Usa-1110501.html?rmmds=search

https://us.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-IMars-12V-6A-Pulse-Repair-LCD-Battery-Charger-For-Car-Motorcycle-Lead-Acid-Battery-Agm-Gel-Wet-wp-Usa-1365821.html?rmmds=category



they work well for ATV's , truck camper, porsches,, and so on. I like the digital displayed data.

I have the Optima 400 and it has performed very well for me.

+1 Battery Tender Plus. I have 5 of them and they're fool-proof.

Battery Battery Trickler
 

Now I think I know the answer but people tend not to believe for some reason or another. My friend has a 2015 BMW 428. He recently went to start after sitting for a while and the battery was dead. Anyhow, I told him to pick up a trickler and said you can find pretty cheap. He wants to buy a BMW one because he is concerned there is some special BMW technology going on.

From experience, with my 00 Boxster I was have a cheap one that has been working fie for years I (I think harbor freight). Should he pay the premium or is he okay with a cheaper one.

This guy also took his Volvo to the dealership for Volvo air when his tires were low. :)

Battery Tender Jr.

Whatever, I googled trickler and a bunch came up.

Not sure what Jr is about?

They used to be made in France, probably China now ?

I have had very good luck with the Harbor Freight versions. The $10 is often on sale for $5. And the $35 version was just on for $22.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html



https://www.harborfreight.com/4-amp-fully-automatic-microprocessor-controlled-battery-chargermaintainer-63350.html

At one time I had a Benz in storage. It was a temp thing and I didn’t want to buy a tender. I screwed in a light bulb socket adaptor that allowed me to plug in an electric cord. I plugged in my regular trickle charger and clipped it to the car battery.

Now, every time someone opened the garage door, the light that comes on would temporarily power the trickle charger. I had zero issues when my mom came to get her car months later.

They sell butt ticklers in Key West.