6 volt Battery Tender Plus

Cracker39

Cracker39

Senior Member
I just purchased one of these little charger/maintainers and, in the process, found out that, after a long run, it has been discontinued by Deltrans. Several of the suppliers still have them in stock so if you're interested you need to move fast! I didn't see anything that looked like a reasonable "equivalent" device.
 
Schumacher makes good ones.
 

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After a battery charger fire, and an exploded battery, I'm not if favor of leaving any kind of charger on an unattended battery. Putting a 2 to 6 amp battery charger on the battery for an hour a month is more than enough for the Model A or my 1950 Studebaker. Both have the standard lead/acid 6 volt batteries and both are over 10 years old, and they still work fine.

I bought a battery maintainer about 6 years ago, but have never used it.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
After a battery charger fire, and an exploded battery, I'm not if favor of leaving any kind of charger on an unattended battery. Putting a 2 to 6 amp battery charger on the battery for an hour a month is more than enough for the Model A or my 1950 Studebaker. Both have the standard lead/acid 6 volt batteries and both are over 10 years old, and they still work fine.

I bought a battery maintainer about 6 years ago, but have never used it.
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Ouch, that is bad news! I guess I am puzzled why technology can't come up with a maintainer that won't burn the house down.....
 
I use Black and Decker tender from Amazon, it will charge a battery [takes a day or two] then maintains it. It has a switch for 6 or 12 volt and costs about 20 dollars. These work great with no problems. Green light tells if it is charging or maintaing.
 
Tom Cavallaro said:
Tom you have me scared to death to leave the room with a battery charger on for any reason......
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99% of the time it's no problem. The battery that exploded overnight was on a 1 amp charger and even a 1 amp charger can make a bad battery overheat and explode, as I found out. That was mostly my fault because I felt the battery and it was warmer than it should be, but I left the charger on hoping the battery would recharge. Anytime a battery gets warm on a low charge you can bet it's the end for that battery and you should stop charging and junk the battery.

My Dodge Dakota had a low battery, so I left a 3 amp charger on it overnight. I had the hood open and the charger setting on the top of the radiator. I think the selenium rectifier went bad inside the charger and was the cause of the charger to go up in flames. I was lucky that the fire didn't spread beyond the charger, but that taught me to remove the battery and put it outside with the charger, if you have to leave it unattended.
 
I agree that there's no real need to keep the charger plugged in continuously - but the simplicity of using the battery tender, with the permanently attached pigtails, and the no nonsense indicator lights, makes it a winner for me. I've lost two batteries to freezing because I thought the Airstream trailer's charger was doing a good job - and getting to the batteries to check them directly, in sub-freezing temperatures, was very difficult. The safety afforded by the attached pigtails is also a real plus. I no longer have to break out the safety glasses when attaching the charger because the battery is not even in sight! I routed the pigtail to a point under the engine cowling. I had a boat battery blow up in my face when I was young and stupid and the only thing that saved my eyes and face was instantly jumping overboard.
 
the A does not have a draw when off so leaving a tender on it all the time is not necessary. hooking one up periodically for short durations makes more sense but is not necessary either... why not just start the car now and then and let it run for 20-30 minutes at a slightly increased RPM about 6-700 which is better for everything points, engine, seals and gaskets, battery, waterpump, carburetor and so on...
 
The battery maintenancers only charge when the battery is low. I have used them for over 5 years, plugged in all the time during storage. The battery life is much better. Newer special interest cars come with a battery maintenancer plug to keep the computer draw from running the battery dead. Don't be confused with a trickle charger and a maintenancer.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
99% of the time it's no problem. The battery that exploded overnight was on a 1 amp charger and even a 1 amp charger can make a bad battery overheat and explode, as I found out. That was mostly my fault because I felt the battery and it was warmer than it should be, but I left the charger on hoping the battery would recharge. Anytime a battery gets warm on a low charge you can bet it's the end for that battery and you should stop charging and junk the battery.
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Hmmmm... So let us see. You tried to charge a battery that you thought was bad but tried to recharge anyway, even tho it felt warm while charging with a 1 amp battery charger "hoping the battery would recharge" and it exploded OVERNIGHT? And your suggesting not to use a battery tender?

Sorry Tom. I usually learn from your posts. But I don't follow your logic here.

I leave a Battery Tender on my '55 Ranchwagon and very rarely have to add (distilled) water, showing me it is not over charging (or barely charging at all).
 
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It's my understanding that the charge rate of the battery tender, after achieving an 80% charge on the battery (---flashing green,) is 1.25 amps. It continues at that rate until the battery reaches 100%, at which time the indicator light turns solid green and it shuts down until the battery needs a minor boost. I don't like trusting anything said to be totally "automatic" but, at worst, it beats trusting my memory to turn off and remove a non-automatic charger before it does any damage. The Tender won't, however, recharge a fully discharged battery - so I use a 2nd automatic Shumaker when and "if" ever needed - i.e. - dome light left on, etc.
 
Y-Blockhead said:
Hmmmm... So let us see. You tried to charge a battery that you thought was bad but tried to recharge anyway, even tho it felt warm while charging with a 1 amp battery charger "hoping the battery would recharge" and it exploded OVERNIGHT? And your suggesting not to use a battery tender?

Sorry Tom. I usually learn from your posts. But I don't follow your logic here.

I leave a Battery Tender on my '55 Ranchwagon and very rarely have to add (distilled) water, showing me it is not over charging (or barely charging at all).
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The maintainer is plugged into 110 volts. Can it malfunction and catch fire?:confused: Or overcharge the battery? Or cause a spark inside the battery by plates shorting? I sleep much better knowing the 110 is even off to my Studebaker garage when I'm not in there.
 
I use a schumaker (sp?) maintainer. It will completely turn the charge off when the battery is fully charged. You need to be carful what you select, read the tech specs, some keep charging, just at a very low rate, and they call themselves maintainers. I do not leave it on all the time, if I have not ran the A, for a month or 2 I plug the maintainer in for a day. If I forget to turn it off for a extra day, nothing is harmed as the maintainer will not over charge (under normal use, with a decent battery). Kind of the best of all worlds, when I forget, it takes care of its self for the extra day, no harm done. As far as having something plugged in and charging in my shop, it would be best to kill all power and heat, however I like my shop kept above freezing and my portable tool batteries charged... so I take the risks.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
The maintainer is plugged into 110 volts. Can it malfunction and catch fire?:confused:
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Haha... I suppose so can a Refrigerator or Microwave. You computer? An alarm clock? Do you unplug them when not around?

Are you concerned that the Battery Tender (NOT a regular battery charger, I agree to not leave them unattended) is going to catch fire. Isn't your garage/shed fused?

I forgot to mention I only use the Battery tender on the '55 when the car is going to sit for a period on time because the radio and alarm have a constant draw. I don't leave it on for months at a time. I don't use a Battery tender on my A because it doesn't have any parasitic users.

Not trying to change your mind. I respect your knowledge on A's. I think we should agree to disagree on this point tho.:cool::cool:
 
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I don't risk leaving chargers on for any length of time anymore, period. Not after reading what has happened to others on here. I have a 6V Deltran maintainer plus a regular charger.

One of the better ideas I believe was from Tom, was to simply hook the charger thru a timer that automatically kills the power after a short duration. And only use it once a month or so. Or, like Mitch said, just run the car monthly for 20-30 minutes either way would be a safer route to go.
 
when I take off for a month or more in the winter, I hook up 7 battery tenders, including a couple of 6v units. Been doing this for 20+ years and have never had any of the bad experiences mentioned here. I'm starting to feel bad as my hydraulic brakes on my A's don't leak and I've yet to have a battery explode hooked up to a tender.
 
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