good battery tender / charger / tester?

getting ready to store the riv for the winter and want to put a battery tender on it. Has anyone done this to their riv and how did you hook it up. it looks like it would be easier to hook it up where the power wire goes from the fuse box to the battery than to the battery itself but not sure if this would cause any issues. any input?

If it's a genuine Deltran brand Tender, you can connect to any constant positive wire on the car, and negative to the chassis. Imo, the easiest location would be the positive post under the hood, left of the serpentine belts. This wire provides a direct connection to the battery.

If you are using a basic trickle charger, or other device, I would remove/disconnect the battery from the car before connecting.

I don't think putting it on the terminal under the hood would work. I tried that on the chrysler I had last fall and the light on the tender stayed red for 3 days until we put it on the battery.

I don't know the full story on your Chrysler's wiring, or exactly how you connected the tender at that time, but the Riviera's positive terminal under the hood is simply a direct line to the battery's (+) post. If you get a different result using the terminal, you're probably not connecting it properly, or the tender could be malfunctioning (not likely, but possible).

mudbuny76 wrote:

I don't think putting it on the terminal under the hood would work. I tried that on the chrysler I had last fall and the light on the tender stayed red for 3 days until we put it on the battery.

Works fine on my car.

I charge through the underhood terminals twice per week.

I have read that the basic trickle battery tender is not good for the battery's longevity as it will build up some kind of corrosiony stuff on the plates. You need a battery maintainer that will occasionally put a shock/drain on the battery to break that buildup off. If you aren't going to use that, you are better off just disconnecting the battery for the winter. Otherwise a tricklecharger style charger should only be used short-term.

I apologize about not having the right terminology for my input... This was from a recent discussion I had, but I can't find the details now.

Reading Deltran's battery tender info, they say their product is different than a trickle charger. Their claim is that the battery tender is basically a battery maintainer.

http://batterytender.com/resources/why-battery-tender

Closely watching this thread - could use a maintainer myself

Quote :

Why Battery Tender
All Battery Tender battery chargers are designed to fully charge and maintain a wide range of styles of lead acid batteries in ways that avoid the potential damaging effects that can be caused by most trickle chargers.

All Battery Tender battery chargers have the five following characteristics:
Fully Automatic: At the end of the regular charger cycle, every Battery Tender battery charger automatically switches its output voltage to a safe, storage or float level that eliminates the need to constantly check on the conditions of the battery.

Full Output Power at Low AC Line Conditions: Battery Tender battery chargers will deliver full output power with input AC line voltages as low as 90 VAC. (Excluding chargers with output current of 2 amps or less).

Zero to Minimal Current Draw from Batteries: When the AC power is disconnected, most Battery Tender battery chargers draw zero current from the battery. A few of the higher power models draw less than 1 milliamp from the battery.

Compact, Lightweight Construction: At any given power level, Battery Tender battery chargers offer some of the highest charging power density in the industry.

Visual Indication of Charge State: Every Battery Tender battery charger has some combination of colored lights to indicate the progress of charging.

Battery Tender battery chargers offer a variety of power levels: 7.5, 15, 70, 300 & 600 watts, maximum charge currents: 0.75, 1.25, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 15 & 20 amps, and nominal battery voltages: 6, 12, 24, 36 & 48 volts. Various charging algorithms are available to accommodate the wide range of lead acid battery styles: Flooded, Sealed, VRLA, GEL & AGM. Check with the factory for the combination of power, current, voltage and battery style that best meets your needs. Battery Tender battery chargers are equipped with a variety of safety and interconnect options, not available on all models. Safety options include: spark free operation, reverse polarity protection and continuous short circuit protection. Interconnection options include: alligator clips, fused ring terminals and quick disconnect DC output cable harness. A variety of AC input power options is available.

We make chargers that fully charge a battery then automatically switch to a maintenance mode when the charge is complete! Check out our products page now.

It seems that their most basic charger is just a trickle charger. I have one and I'm pretty sure that's all it does. They do sell higher end chargers which switch to "maintenance mode" instead of just a maintenance float level.

We also have one of these we use over the winter which has a "desulphation" mode.

http://www.amazon.com/CTEK-Multi-Smart-Battery-Charger/dp/B000FQBWCY/

deekster_caddy wrote:

We also have one of these we use over the winter which has a "desulphation" mode.

http://www.amazon.com/CTEK-Multi-Smart-Battery-Charger/dp/B000FQBWCY/

This puppy will absolutely, absolutely maintain a battery?

It does a good job for us. I need to look at the model number we have at home and make sure it's this same one, but it sure looks like it. I won't be home from work until very late tonight, so may not be able to get to it. But it definitely goes into 'storage' mode after the battery is fully charged, and they claim it is desulphating whilst in that mode...

To be clear, I have both items - a basic battery tender which I use as a trickle charger occasionally, and the CTEK thing which we connect to the batteries we have stored on the shelf. We move it from battery to battery every few weeks. Generally I do not leave the battery tender connected to something for more than a week or so, although I used to leave it connected to my old van, which had a regular slight drain, and sometimes sat for a month or more in between uses.

Is it possible to get a maintainer you can leave on for months?

That would be the CTEK maintainer. We don't leave it on for months only because we have 5 batteries on the shelf for the winter, so we rotate it around. But you could most certainly leave it on for months, that's it's purpose.

Just ordered - no reason why it wouldn't charge an Optima, is there?

Nope. It will work.

I just bought a CTEK last week at SEMA, They gave me a good show deal. It has an Optima setting. Tech guy told me 48hrs to bring back an Optima from very low voltage.

FWIW, Optima does recommend using the CTEK brand chargers/tenders, but any quality charger will work.

From Optima: http://www.optimabatteries.com/product_support/charging.php#red1

Recommended charging information:

Alternator:

13.3 to 15.0 volts, no amperage limit.

Battery Charger:

13.8 to 15.0 volts, 10 amps maximum, 6-12 hours approximate.

Rapid Recharge:

Maximum voltage 15.6 volts (regulated), no current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125°F (51.7°C). Charge until current drops below 1 amp.

Float Charge:

13.2 to 13.8 volts, 1 amp maximum current, time indefinite (at lower voltage).

The above charging recommendation is pretty broad, and should allow you to use just about any battery charger. The Optima is designed to work with existing alternators and existing 12v electrical systems, and shouldn't require anything special for charging.

Before I installed my Optima, I "tended" it by charging it once per month (for about 6 months) using a $20 charger. The battery has since been in my car for more than a year.

Got my CTEK a couple days ago, just opened it up and read through the instructions. I wonder if it can bring my Optima back? I charged it up and got 8 starts out of it before it died. It's not totally dead.

How long are Optimas supposed to last anyway?

Is the optima new? How long have you had it? Did you give the alternator a chance to charge the battery between starts? When my fuel pump went out, I tried starting the car at least 20-30 times with no issues. Still running the same battery.

The battery is three years old.

I charge once or twice a week. I don't drive often enough or long enough for the alternator to keep the battery charged.

I let the battery fully discharge once before I realized how much the security system drains the battery. I think that's where the problem began. The question is, what kind of damage did the discharge do, and can the CTEK fix it?

From Optima website:

How do I charge a deeply discharged battery?

If an OPTIMA is deeply discharged (below 10.5 volts) most basic chargers will not supply a charge. Also keep in mind an OPTIMA will not recharge properly if treated as a regular flooded or gel battery. To charge the battery, you can wire a second fully charged automotive battery (12+V) to the discharged AGM in parallel (+ to + and – to –). Then hook up the charger to either battery, setting the charger at 10 amps. Leave for two hours, monitoring frequently. During this process if the discharged battery gets very hot or if it is venting (hissing sound from vents) then stop this process immediately. When the discharged battery reaches 10.5 volts or more, remove the standard battery and continue charging the AGM until fully charged.

For normal charging a relatively low current, such as one or two amps can work well, but when the battery has been deeply discharged, some sulfation of the battery plates may have occurred. If you charge at 10 amps, the higher current will help to break up this sulfation.

If you have an automatic charger, let it run until the charger indicates charging is complete. If you have a manual charger, you can get a rough estimate of the charging time in hours of a completely discharged battery (11.2V) by multiplying the capacity (amp hours or Ah) of the battery by 1.2. If your battery is not completely discharged the time would be less.

In most cases these steps will recover the AGM battery. It’s okay for the AGM battery to get slightly warm during the charging process. If it’s hot to the touch it means there’s a short and the process should be discontinued.

Hmm, if the problem is sulfation then the CTEK should do the trick.

I've been using an automatic charger which IIRC charges @ around 2-3 amps, and it's been able to put a charge back on the battery, but I'm sure it has no ability to desulpherize a battery.

The other option would be to put the battery in the car and take a 1-2 hour trip. Unless the battery is completely toast, it should give you a strong start for the return portion of the journey.