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Battery Tender??

7K views 72 replies 18 participants last post by  gsimmons85 
#1 ·
I have kept my bike on a battery tender since I installed the battery in 2011. I never had any trouble with it. A friend called me yesterday afternoon. His wife's bike which she almost never rides has been on a tender for two years. He called me to ask about the condition of the battery. Evidently it is bone dry no electrolyte at all left in it. Anybody else ever experience anything similar?

I don't know what kind of tender it is. I did ask was he sure it was a tender and not just a trickle charger. He says it was a tender.
I will be checking the fluid in my battery tomorrow. To be honest I haven't really done anything except make sure the terminals were tight for 5 years.
I have a volt meter in my fairing which I do frequently check as I ride or before starting. Never had a problem.
 
#2 ·
Sounds like they had battery with a crack somewhere or other issues. Tender not going to cause that.
 
#3 ·
2 years.. battery just dried out on its own.. it is water and acid. and a vent..

Owner Fault.

and may want to sent tender back to factory for inspection... as most have a long warranty. I own 3. and all are used 24/7/365. 1 standard and 2 jr's.
 
#4 ·
There are several inexpensive tenders on the market that do not regulate that well, the one from Harbor Freight comes to mind first. I have several of the HF tenders and several expensive tenders, I don't use the HF tenders any more as I have had the drying out problem with them. I have found that using a timer with the tender is the ideal situation, I leave the tender plugged in all the time during the winter but I have mine set up to tend (charge) for only an hour each day and I don't use the tender at all during the summer as the bike gets used regularly. Unless the battery is a sealed cell battery it is a good idea to check the electrolyte level several times a year and top off with demineralized water as needed. Leave a small air gap below the cap to keep the water from overflowing due to expansion when charging as the water heats up.
 
#11 ·
There are several inexpensive tenders on the market that do not regulate that well, the one from Harbor Freight comes to mind first. I have several of the HF tenders and several expensive tenders, I don't use the HF tenders any more as I have had the drying out problem with them....
Huh? I don't see any Battery Tenders available for purchase at Harbor Freight. Lots of battery chargers... Nothing manufactured by Deltran, and nothing with the Battery Tender brand name. A typical trickle charger or 'battery maintainer' is not the same thing as a Battery Tender.
 
#5 ·
I didn't know they still made any motorcycle batteries where you had to check the water level. I thought they were all the sealed type. Even when I bought one online and it came with the acid/water/electrolyte liquid that I had to add, the top sealed after the liquid was added and the liquid level could no longer be inspected or changed. I thought all these batteries were sealed. Guess I was wrong. Dang, I've only been up for 30 minutes. Usually I'm not wrong for the first time each day until I've been up for at least an hour.
 
#12 ·
cheap batteries do.. not higher priced units. they are sealed after filling.
Battery for the CB350 and Jenny's Shadow 1100 (Yuasa) both are NOT maintenance free units...Replaced the one in Jen's bike this past summer, and come to find out her old one was just low on acid...Went ahead and replaced it anyways though...

Have a Black & Decker float charger and two Schumacher's that do exactly the same thing as the "Battery Tender" brand does....On/off automatically as it monitors the voltage for winter storage....
 
#8 ·
Adding ACID to any battery is a BAD practice. Do be extremely careful.
 
#9 ·
I have had bad experience with "battery tenders" made by companies other than Deltran. I just threw out a battery tender look alike that I bought at Advanced Auto.

I own a cruising sailboat and in the cruising community batteries are an important topic.

I believe that the issue with the "look alike tenders" is that they provide too much current (amps) to the battery at the wrong time. Too much current will boil off the water that is in the electrolyte.

Deltran has a LOT of good information here: http://www.batterytender.com/Battery-Basics In particular read and comprehend the area labeled Battery Charging Algorithm Fundamentals

Most motorcycle batteries are flooded lead acid (FLA) batteries. FLA batteries can be "maintenance free," aka. Sealed Valve Regulated (SVR) or Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries - which actually means maintenance proof, or in the case of a traditional FLA they will have caps. Alternatives to FLA include Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM), Gel-Cell, Lithium-Ion (and there are about five different flavors of these). Each of the different battery types will accept current at different rates.

Each motorcycle voltage regulator is designed and built to support a specific battery type (FLA, AGM, Gel, Li-ion) and provides the correct charging voltages to the battery depending upon the battery's State of Charge (SOC). For FLA the regulator provides ~14.2 VDC when the engine is running, and when the SOC is below 100%. When the voltage regulator sees ~14.2 (or whatever the set point actually is) it simply shuts the alternator off, and the bike runs for a bit on the battery.

You can delve deeper into the state of Battery Technology, and batteries in general here;
http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq.htm
 
#10 ·
I wish I was home.. to provide more information..
years ago (many) a main processor was developed and was offered to venders to develop uses for the battery monitors systems...

I have in the basement the development system on a breadboard with processor that later went into the Delton system.

so a 10 dollar smart charger is Not possible...
if I remember correctly.. the breadboard with processor was $150.00,

company I worked for did not use it in the development of a 16 channel analog to digital converter.
I also have a working prototype of the 16 channel A/D with programmable digital output for relays and controllers... I used it for a time to monitor (5) 12 volt batteries. and to turn on and off chargers to the batteries. Using IEEE488 commutations to a computer. over the winters. I am talking around 1990- 96.
 
#16 ·
:stirpot: Why don't you pansies just ride once in awhile?:stirpot: :icon_cheesygrin:
 
#22 ·
Might be time to bring in that deck furniture :)
 
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#23 ·
And throw a cover over that boat
 
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#28 ·
That's beautiful! I went to AK a couple years ago, it's extremely beautiful there!! There's no real way to describe AK in words or even in pic's..... AK has to be experienced! I'd be living there right now if my wife could take the weather there.....
 
#38 ·
She always was better than Ginger. Virginal?
 
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#39 ·
The "Battery Tender" brand, which I believe is Deltran is rock solid and you can't go wrong with them. The difference that some may be missing is a trickle charger vs. a float charger. A trickle charger can fry a battery. Battery Tenders are float chargers, and the best thing to do is leave them on and plugged in consistently and not on/off. A battery is designed to naturally discharge; so taking a float charger on/off or putting on a timer is completely defeating the purpose of putting one on there. I leave mine plugged in constantly if I am not riding the bike. My original battery from when I bought the bike new was over 9 years old; I only replaced it with an AGM just because I felt like it was time and was starting to see a little bit of bulge at the sides...but, it still started the bike up fine and operated well. So, that is a testimony of what a true float charger accomplishes when used properly.
 
#41 ·
What the heck was Rich talking about?:shrug:
 
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