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Old 12-27-2012, 10:57 AM   #1
CamillaMichael
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Battery Charger

I have a Battery Tender Plus that I have had for about four years. It has worked well up until now, but I think it may be on its last legs. Does anyone know what the life span is for these things?
 
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Old 12-27-2012, 12:56 PM   #2
racerjoe
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ours is about that old. so far so good. Have you checked with them to see what they could do for you?
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Old 12-28-2012, 06:25 AM   #3
CamillaMichael
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Sent an email to customer service (?)...no response, although that seems to be the common theme I have seen online. Could be the new battery I just purchased is not up to grade????
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Old 12-28-2012, 12:01 PM   #4
DQDick
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If the battery is new, take it back and have them test it. That will give you an idea where to start and if that is the problem they can solve it while you're there.
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Old 12-28-2012, 12:55 PM   #5
Irlpguy
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You do not say why you think the battery tender is on it's last legs, so one would just be guessing as to what the problem might be, if there is a problem.

I would let the battery sit for 24 hrs with no load on it and no charge going into it. Then check the voltage, if it is fully charged it will measure around 12.8 volts, less as the charge state decreases. With no drain on the battery it should maintain this voltage for some time. Now put the battery tender on it and recheck the voltage after a couple of minutes. I would think the voltage should now read somewhere around 13.2 volts, anything much more than this for a long period of time will overcharge the battery. If the battery reads the higher voltage with the tender connected, then I would say the tender is working ok.

I use one all winter on the batteries from my and my sons quads and my lawn mower, have used it for years and have never had an issue, and the batteries are always good to go in the spring.

You could have a problem with the battery even though it is new, but as I stated to begin with, what exactly is the problem.
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Old 12-28-2012, 01:51 PM   #6
Ski Doo
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Your battery tender only puts out about .6 amps. If the battery is down very much it wont be able to handle it.
Hook up your battery to the tender and see what the charge rate is.
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Old 12-29-2012, 02:52 AM   #7
Ozz
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Can you tell us why you think it is on its last leg?
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Old 12-29-2012, 11:44 AM   #8
CamillaMichael
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By request, I was thinking that since my previous battery seemed to be taking longer to charge than previous use of the Battery Tender Plus (which has an output of 1.25amps), that the battery was going bad since I had it for over three years. I traded up from a group 25 to a group 27 battery and put the new battery on the Battery Tender Plus...did not pay much attention to the charge process (flashing green light) until a week or so ago and then I noticed that the new battery was taking around nine hours to reach full charge (steady green light on the charger)from the time it was disconnected from the charger and reconnected. Since the battery is new and the battery charger is around four years old I made the assumption that the charger was going bad. Moments ago I got a response from the charger manufacturer stating that any time the charger is detached from the battery and reattached the charger would go back into charge mode until the battery reaches 14.9v and could take up 72 hours so nine hours does not seem to be bad. It appears that this is a case of me not understanding the operation of the charger.
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Old 12-29-2012, 11:56 AM   #9
Irlpguy
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Sounds like all is well and there will be no need to replace the battery tender. Sometimes we get lucky.

If you bought a new battery it would not be fully charged unless it had been put on a charger for a period of time. Putting it directly on the tender at 1.2 amps would definitely take some time to top it up.

Glad to hear all is well.
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Old 12-29-2012, 12:58 PM   #10
Ozz
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by CamillaMichael

By request, I was thinking that since my previous battery seemed to be taking longer to charge than previous use of the Battery Tender Plus (which has an output of 1.25amps), that the battery was going bad since I had it for over three years. I traded up from a group 25 to a group 27 battery and put the new battery on the Battery Tender Plus...did not pay much attention to the charge process (flashing green light) until a week or so ago and then I noticed that the new battery was taking around nine hours to reach full charge (steady green light on the charger)from the time it was disconnected from the charger and reconnected. Since the battery is new and the battery charger is around four years old I made the assumption that the charger was going bad. Moments ago I got a response from the charger manufacturer stating that any time the charger is detached from the battery and reattached the charger would go back into charge mode until the battery reaches 14.9v and could take up 72 hours so nine hours does not seem to be bad. It appears that this is a case of me not understanding the operation of the charger.
Cool beans!
The device is rally meant to just keep it nice and topped off, not to bring it back from near dead, or a low charge.
I know now you have gleaned a wealth of information on it. Nice of the Mfgr. to get back to you and explain things.
I likes the brand and have many of them.
Later dude..
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