Battery Tender Plus Review

Ray@Autogeek

Ray@Autogeek

New member
Mar 20, 2012
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Yesterday morning I heard something no driver wants to hear....the sound of an engine attempting to turn over.

It was a chilly morning in Stuart, FL. Weather reports had thermometer readings at 51° F (which felt like 48° F) on Monday morning. In Stuart, this is considered a category 5 Ice Age apocalypse.

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After my morning coffee and bacon, I went out to my driveway to fire up my motorcycle. I always give my carburated bike a few minutes before riding to let the engine properly warm up, except it wasn't turning over! The starter sounded weak and I knew I would need a jump. I started to run through a mental checklist of possible problems or previous symptoms. I remember thinking on a couple occasions how weak the starter sounded sometimes....and how my headlight seemed to dim while driving at night. I realized I had an underlying problem in my charging system.

After having my bike jump started by a friendly neighbor, I arrived at Autogeek and headed straight to Meghans office. I was pretty thirsty after the start to my week and she always has a can of pop to offer :xyxthumbs:.

Back to my motorcycle, I decided to at least have it on a Battery Tender until I was able to figure out the problem. I found a Battery Tender Plus in the AG Show Car Garage and connected it to my battery.

A Battery Tender Plus couldn't be any simpler to use.

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The Battery Tender Plus charges any size, flooded or sealed maintenance-free lead acid batteries. So having to find specific information on my battery was not needed. I knew Battery Tender had an equation on their website which allows you to calculate the recharge time:

Approximate Recharge Time Calculations

(Battery Capacity) / (Charger Current) = Hours
(Amp-Hours) / (Amps) = Hours

Let’s say I have a 50 Amp-Hour battery and a 10 Amp charger. These are fairly typical sizes for an automotive engine start type battery and an automotive battery charger. The dash that normally appears between Amp and Hours has been replaced by the multiplication sign (*) to emphasize the behavior of these 2 items in a mathematical equation.
If the battery is fully discharged then the first approximation for the charge time is (50 Amps*Hours) divided by (10 Amps) = 5 Hours. Truthfully, this is a rough estimate and it usually tells us how long it will take to recharge the battery to about 80% of its capacity.
Click to expand...

I knew the Battery Tender Plus at 1.25 amps will charge as fast or faster than any 3 amp charger available, and after using the equation above I expected the Battery Tender Plus to take ~4 hours to recharge my 12 AH battery. I only had it on my bike for a couple hours before having to go home and the solid Red light indicated the battery still needed to be charged.

I drove immediately to my local Auto Parts store and had them test my battery. They told me my CCA's and Voltage looked perfect so my battery was perfectly fine :dblthumb2:. Instead of buying a new battery I decided to let the Battery Tender Plus completely charge my battery.

As soon as I got home I plugged the Battery Tender Plus back in. Again, the red light showed the battery would need more time.

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The Battery Tender Plus has a ton of safety features. So I was comfortable leaving the Battery Tender Plus on my battery overnight.

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Before I went to bed I decided to check on the Battery Tender and she gave me good news! A blinking green light!!

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The indicator light guide on the back of the unit told me my battery was now at greater than 80% charge.

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The next morning I was greeted to a solid green indicator light!

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Weather conditions were almost identical to the previous morning. I removed the Battery Tender and my bike started stronger than it had ever before!! When I purchased the bike it looked like it had been sitting for some time, so I should have expected the battery to not be fully charged. After starting the bike a few times now, it's clear to me the bike has been undercharged since I've had it.

After talking to a few car guys, it seems to be a belief that Battery Tenders are simply maintainers ---- Deltran specifically says on their website that this is "NOT TRUE!" Each and every Deltran Battery Tender is programmed with a microprocessor that will correctly charge a battery then automatically switch to a maintenance/float mode - regardless of its size.

Battery Tender has a great resource of information on their website that clearly shows the benefits a Battery Tender has over a conventional battery charger: Freq Asked Questions - Batterytender.com

EVERY car or bike guy should have one of these in their garage. Without it, I would have spent $100 on a new battery at my local motorcycle parts supplier. If you have a vehicle that is being stored - whether it's a car, truck, RV, motorcycle, boat, etc., put a Battery Tender on it and have it fire right up when the next season starts. :props:

Thanks for reading!
 
Funny your wrote this Ray. MY newer car doesn't get driven much in the foul weather, so yesterday I started the car after a week and had a really short drive to the gas station. Filled up and car and tried to start it, it would not turn over.... Stuck at the gas pump!!!!! On top of that everyone here was filling up due to the Hurricane and I had a line behind me. Waited for Acura to pick me up for 30 mins.....

Battery Tender Plus will be on my to buy list now.
 
I have (5) of these exact units currently in service, (2) are on spare batteries and (3) on stored vehicles. Each of the vehicles fires up the first time, every time thanks to these little guys. They are great!
 
I have one of these at home as well and my 07 hardly is driven so she sips on the Batter Tender to keep a fresh charge. I can also say that there is no length of time that is excesive for it to be hooked up. I have deployed many times and my car will sit on the charger for 6 to 7 months without issues.

I agree with you, everyone should use it for a car that is hardly driven.
 
Ordering one for my car as it will be stored for the winter. Free shipping :dblthumb2:
 
I run a Ctek on the Vette, but always wondered about these too. Nice review !
 
I have been using one for a few years now on my dual battery Dodge Cummins. Has worked flawlessly every time and since the truck is not driven that frequently the tender stays on it 24/7.

Dave
 
I can tell you right now, if you have anything that sits for an extended period of time, you need one of these, and here's why...I've used one for about 4 years now, I bought one back when I needed to purchase a new battery for my camaro because it went dead from sitting.
My car gets driven very few miles every year, and it sits for up to 10 months at a time without being driven. I'll start it once a month or so just to get the fluids moving and what not, but that's it. Well long story short, this past spring, I had the battery tested just for the hell of it to see where it was as, because I knew it was getting old and was just curious as to it's health. Mind you I had no reason to have it tested as I had never had any issue with my car firing, this was just out of curiosity. When the guy hooked it up, he was amazed at the "health" of the battery, as it read 100%. It was actually even putting out a few more cold cranking amps than it was rated at. That right there alone sold me on the tender for life. Amazing product, and after 4 years of being hooked up to a battery nonstop, the battery was as strong as it was on day one.
 
I've had a unique problem with my two Battery Tenders, and as well a Battery Tender Plus I tried, and would up returning it.

The two I have, were bought about 12 years ago, and while they are not commonly found in the stores, Deltran appears to still make these, and at a cost of about $165. Mine were about $83-$85 when I bought them.

With these two I have, they are small, about 5"x7"x1", and have cooling fins on either side. One is designed for standard Lead Acid Batterys, and the other for Optima Spiral Gel Cell Batteries.

Well, the problem I have, is that I have a late model Viper 5701 2-way Alarm, and Remote Start on my truck.

The Battery Tender will trip the Alarm when hooked up. I don't think the chargers were working right either.

I contacted Deltran just yesterday to inform them about such issues, and got a reply this morning in fact.

The person who responded, told me they never heard of such a problem, or had such a problem before with their chargers, and that I should perhaps try coiling the extension cord, to see of that somehow helps by changing a line frequency?

Doubt if that will do it, but if I have to disconnect the Battery everytime I want to charge it, this seems to make the job of maintaining a battery a PITA. MArk
 
MarkD51 said:
I've had a unique problem with my two Battery Tenders, and as well a Battery Tender Plus I tried, and would up returning it.

The two I have, were bought about 12 years ago, and while they are not commonly found in the stores, Deltran appears to still make these, and at a cost of about $165. Mine were about $83-$85 when I bought them.

With these two I have, they are small, about 5"x7"x1", and have cooling fins on either side. One is designed for standard Lead Acid Batterys, and the other for Optima Spiral Gel Cell Batteries.

Well, the problem I have, is that I have a late model Viper 5701 2-way Alarm, and Remote Start on my truck.

The Battery Tender will trip the Alarm when hooked up. I don't think the chargers were working right either.

I contacted Deltran just yesterday to inform them about such issues, and got a reply this morning in fact.

The person who responded, told me they never heard of such a problem, or had such a problem before with their chargers, and that I should perhaps try coiling the extension cord, to see of that somehow helps by changing a line frequency?

Doubt if that will do it, but if I have to disconnect the Battery everytime I want to charge it, this seems to make the job of maintaining a battery a PITA. MArk
Click to expand...

This may or may not help but I have found that if I connect directly across the battery Pos. to Pos. and Neg. to Neg. things get a little weird. If I go Pos. to Pos. and Neg. to the engine block all is fine.

Dave
 
I've been using a Battery Tender on my 09' GSXR 600 since brand new. I attached the provided quick connect cable to the battery and ran it out the back to the tail section. Every time I park my bike (at home), I attach the quick connect the the battery tender. The bike might stay charging over night, a few days, or several months when I store it for the winter.

For anyone that has any type of vehicle that sits, whether it be a motorcycle, automobile, etc, a battery tender is arguably the single best purchase you can make.
 
KJW Detailing said:
I've been using a Battery Tender on my 09' GSXR 600 since brand new. I attached the provided quick connect cable to the battery and ran it out the back to the tail section. Every time I park my bike (at home), I attach the quick connect the the battery tender. The bike might stay charging over night, a few days, or several months when I store it for the winter.

For anyone that has any type of vehicle that sits, whether it be a motorcycle, automobile, etc, a battery tender is arguably the single best purchase you can make.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing something like that! Good idea. I'm thinking of buying the Waterproof Battery Tender because I park my bike outside and having a charge station setup so I can just pull in and plug in. Hmmmm....
 
davidc said:
This may or may not help but I have found that if I connect directly across the battery Pos. to Pos. and Neg. to Neg. things get a little weird. If I go Pos. to Pos. and Neg. to the engine block all is fine.

Dave
Click to expand...


Thank you Dave for this advice. I will try this tomorrow, and see what results I get?

I did contact my local Viper Dealer today, the people who installed the Alarm, and gave them the code readings from the Valet Device-Remote Start Antenna on the Windshield.

I was getting two flashes, and then a pause,, over and over endlessly. Could have stood there all day watching the two flashes, then a pause.

He said this code was related to the Micro-Sensor that detects Bumps, or hits to the vehicle? Hmm, that sounds awful strange to me, but he said he would make a call to his factory techs tuesday, and get back to me ASAP.

In the meantime, I'll try your little tip, and it sure would be really sweet if your little tip cures this issue once and for all!

Everytime a seem to turn around, Batteries seem to skyrocket in price. And those Optimas, which is what I'm using aren't getting any cheaper either. Mark

 
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