Battery tender/charger?

[Kdunham32]

Just curious what the difference is between battery tender jr and regular battery tender that is a 2 bank tender? And would a battery tender be my best bet or a battery charger? And just throw charger on batteries when needed? Right now I bring my batteries inside where there at room temp and store them.

[SAABDOCTOR]

HI A BATTERY TENDER YOU CAN PLUG IT IN A ND LEAVE IT. IT WILL NOT OVER CHARGE A BATTERY AND WILL KEEP IT UP LIKE WHEN YOU STORE IT. AND YOU CAN LEAVE THE BATTERIES OUTSIDE. WHAT I DO IS WHEN I PUT MY UNIT AWAY FOR THE WINTER I DISCOENT THE BATTERY FROM THE TRAILER AND PLUG THE TENDER IN IN THE SPRING IT IS READY TO GO. IT IS SUCH A SOFT CHARGE THAT I HAVE NOT HAD TO ADD WATER OVER THE WINTER. GOOD LUCK

[BoosTT]

Battery tender jr is only a 0.75 A charger. Battery tender delux (I think that what its called) is 1.25 A. An normally battery charger is 2 to 40 amps.

The amount of amps you need is based on the current draw. If you disconnect the battery, 0.75 A is plenty. If you leave the battery connected, you'll want more. This is because the device draws power, like a car alarm. So you could be charing at a rate of 0.75 A and discharging at a rate of 1A.

You don't want to use a normal battery charger for storage, unless it has a tricke mode.

[BoosTT]

I guess you could charge the batterys using a regular charger every now and then too. Not the best for the batterys though, since they'll be cycling.

[SAABDOCTOR]

NOT SURE WAY USING A REGULAR CHARGER IS BAD FOR THE BATTERY UNLESS YOU RUN IT AT THE HIGHEST SETTING AND BOIL THE WATER/ACID OUT OF THE BATTERY! IF YOUR UNIT IS IN STORAGE THE BATTERY SHOULD BE UNHOOKED AND THE TENDER SHOULD WORK FINE. MY SAAB CONVERTABLE SITS ALL WINTER BATERY HOOKED UP WITH A TENDER AND THERE ARE NO ISSUES. IT'S A 1990 THE ECU DOES NOT GO TOSLEEP LIKE ON A NEW CAR. BUT SOME OF THE 12V STUFF IN YOUR CAMPER MAY DRAW OVER 2 AMPS CHECK IT WITH A METER IF YOU ARE UNDER 5OO - 700 MA YOU WILL BE FINE IF IT IS TOO HIGH UNHOOK THE BATERY FROM THE TRAILER

[BoosTT]

Originally Posted by SAABDOCTOR

NOT SURE WAY USING A REGULAR CHARGER IS BAD FOR THE BATTERY UNLESS YOU RUN IT AT THE HIGHEST SETTING AND BOIL THE WATER/ACID OUT OF THE BATTERY! IF YOUR UNIT IS IN STORAGE THE BATTERY SHOULD BE UNHOOKED AND THE TENDER SHOULD WORK FINE. MY SAAB CONVERTABLE SITS ALL WINTER BATERY HOOKED UP WITH A TENDER AND THERE ARE NO ISSUES. IT'S A 1990 THE ECU DOES NOT GO TOSLEEP LIKE ON A NEW CAR. BUT SOME OF THE 12V STUFF IN YOUR CAMPER MAY DRAW OVER 2 AMPS CHECK IT WITH A METER IF YOU ARE UNDER 5OO - 700 MA YOU WILL BE FINE IF IT IS TOO HIGH UNHOOK THE BATERY FROM THE TRAILER

Some battery chargers "float" aka don't over charge, but not all do. If your battery charger "floats" it can be used as a battery tender and left on and connected to the battery at all times without harm.

[golfpro]

bear in mind that the harbor freight float chargers the 5.99 ones will not float like they advertise. they will boil your battery to the point of no return. been there done that.