Favorite battery tenders?
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1,702 Posts
Why? I use them to maintain batteries, not necessarily to charge dead ones - the company makes larger units to do that, otherwise it would take a while @ 750ma. Own a couple of them, never damaged any battery they have been on. The kit comes with the harness to hard wire to a battery and I can unplug from that and use the traditional clamps on another if necessary. Plenty of cheaper knock-offs, but the original has worked well for me.
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22,931 Posts
There is only one "Battery Tender" made by Deltran, it's a brand name like "Kleenex".
I have many of the BT JR's, they have never let me down.
www.batterytender.com
I have many of the BT JR's, they have never let me down.
Battery Tender® Junior 12V, 750mA Battery Charger
INCLUDES- 12V, 750mA battery charger and maintainer with LED status light to show battery status- Fused ring terminal accessory cable for hard to reach batteries- Fused alligator clip accessory cable for an alternate connection - 5-year warranty and lifetime customer supportSPECIFICATIONS-...
www.batterytender.com
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4,268 Posts
Same as the other 2, why change a good thing.
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3,000 Posts
Deltran Battery Tender. My first one came with a BMW that I bought in 1986. I still have and use both the car and the battery tender. Over the years I have added many more - including for lithium battery charging, a couple of Deltran solar panels for the cars that I keep outdoors and not near an outlet, a 6 volt tender/charger for my electric fence batteries. In 2007 and 2013 I bought Lexus SUV's, and they also came with Lexus-labeled Deltran battery tenders.
The beat up look of my original came from forgetting about it and having it get caught in the cooling fan. It took a licking and kept on ticking.
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The beat up look of my original came from forgetting about it and having it get caught in the cooling fan. It took a licking and kept on ticking.
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4,955 Posts
I had an old Deltran "Super Smart" Battery Tender, probably about 25 years old. I wasn't sure how well it worked as I had it attached to my Harley battery and it didn't really extend the life of the battery, had to replace it each year when I was actively riding. Deltran has probably improved in recent years, so I'm not knocking the brand.
I have since moved on to NOCO, got a couple of small 1A units and a 3.5A unit. The larger unit has a desulfating setting which the smaller ones don't, though they all should automatically desulfate somewhat (I believe). There were a few other brands I looked at, but NOCO had good reviews and have a wide array of connection pigtails, such as alligator clips, lighter plug, direct wire, OBD port and a remote charge port that fits into the empty hole in the dash of my 1026R. NOCO also had some solar maintain panels that also could use the same pigtails. Last I looked, some of those pigtails may no longer be available.
No complaints so far.
I have since moved on to NOCO, got a couple of small 1A units and a 3.5A unit. The larger unit has a desulfating setting which the smaller ones don't, though they all should automatically desulfate somewhat (I believe). There were a few other brands I looked at, but NOCO had good reviews and have a wide array of connection pigtails, such as alligator clips, lighter plug, direct wire, OBD port and a remote charge port that fits into the empty hole in the dash of my 1026R. NOCO also had some solar maintain panels that also could use the same pigtails. Last I looked, some of those pigtails may no longer be available.
No complaints so far.
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873 Posts
I have a battery maintainer that I have had forever, but my neighbor is storing my Simplicity for me and that went with it. I just bought a Viking from Horrible Freight, is has a microprocessor. Seems to be decent so far.
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-amp...ntrolled-battery-chargermaintainer-63350.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-amp...ntrolled-battery-chargermaintainer-63350.html
Maybe I don't understand the difference between battery tender and float charger, but I just use these:
www.harborfreight.com
Is that not a "battery tender"?
I also had one of (and will buy another of) these, it's a charger and maintainer in one. Great unit but mine went missing somehow.
www.harborfreight.com
Automatic Battery Float Charger
Amazing deals on this Automatic Battery Float Charger at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
Is that not a "battery tender"?
I also had one of (and will buy another of) these, it's a charger and maintainer in one. Great unit but mine went missing somehow.
4 Amp Fully Automatic Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger/Maintainer
Amazing deals on this 4 Amp 12V High Freq Battery Charger/Maintainer at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
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3,850 Posts
It is not a "Battery Tender".Maybe I don't understand the difference between battery tender and float charger, but I just use these:
Automatic Battery Float Charger
Amazing deals on this Automatic Battery Float Charger at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
Is that not a "battery tender"?
I also had one of (and will buy another of) these, it's a charger and maintainer in one. Great unit but mine went missing somehow.
4 Amp Fully Automatic Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger/Maintainer
Amazing deals on this 4 Amp 12V High Freq Battery Charger/Maintainer at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
As @Kennyd said: Battery Tender is a registered trademark of Deltran Inc. Similar to kleenex is to tissue or xerox is to photocopy, "BatteryTender(R)" is to a battery trickle charger/maintainer.
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722 Posts
I have two Deltran battery tenders, one for 12V one for 6V batteries. I like the detachable connectors and interchangeability.
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3,000 Posts
I've been thinking that Deka is one of the East Pen-manufactured battery brand names. Was Deka an independent manufacturer back in the day?Deltran units are nice. I have an old unit that I got from Deka when I used to buy a lot of AGM batteries from them (mumble) years ago.I've thought about buying something more "modern", but this thing just keeps on chugging.
Best,
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