6 volt Battery Tender Plus

I have battery tender jr's on both of my Model A's .. I connect them as soon as I am done driving, and have been using them for years with no problems P.S. They are plentiful on Ebay..
 
I think the point several were making is: Why take even a small risk if there isn't a value to it? I use a little 300mA 6vdc power supply from a cordless phone as my A charger. Plug it in once a month for a few hours or a day, battery stays nice and comfortable, near zero risk. Most of the wallwort type power supplies have a thermal fuse internally so that's why you never hear about someone's house starting on fire from a cordless phone charger overheating. I had a shed burn down a couple of years ago because a mouse chewed through a wire in the attic. Now in that case I didn't have an option to turn off the power as my well was in there. Any shed that isn't used much, I now turn off power. And no, I don't wear both suspenders and a belt!
 
My uncle's house burned to the ground because some rodent chewed the wires in the attic. Eagle stated my point.......why add even the slightest risk. Many years I don't touch the car or battery for 6 to 7 months, and it still fires right up in the spring.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
My uncle's house burned to the ground because some rodent chewed the wires in the attic. Eagle stated my point.......why add even the slightest risk. Many years I don't touch the car or battery for 6 to 7 months, and it still fires right up in the spring.
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Following this logic, I imagine you don't use an airplane for transportation.
 
42merc said:
Following this logic, I imagine you don't use an airplane for transportation.
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I quit flying when all the searches and delays started. I'd rather have fun driving my Studebaker and have a car when I reach my destination. I also don't drive my car on thin ice, but lots of fools dump their cars and trucks into the lakes every winter.

Everyone is free to add all the risks they want to their life. You see motorcycle riders all the time with no helmets.
 
it may be worth using a maintainer in extremely cold weather. Battery freezing typically isn't a problem buy hey, they are getting expensive. I use them on my T and my A.
My personal belief is that a maintained battery lives a longer life. Now I'm talking about maintainers like the Black and Decker and tho I haven't measured it it seems to be running 200/250 mils. I would not expect a 1/4 amp to be capable of gassing a battery even an old one or at least in a high enough quantity to produce explosive gas. I agree with Tom a gassing battery can be dangerous and a hot battery should be treated with respect.
 
Before I bought my A, I was convinced that I needed to buy a battery tender. Well, things changed. I LOVE driving Alyssa so much that I look for excuses to drive her at least once or twice per week. :) I watch the ammeter to make sure the battery is topped off within a couple of minutes of driving. Her battery stays fresh, the oil and coolant circulate, and I don't get flat spots on the tires. I filled the water level up last weekend and topped off the charge with my Schumaker 6 volt/12 volt/2 amp/15 amp charger. She regularly fires up on the second or third revolution of the engine. I love the sound of her engine.
 
Sears sells a small unit that will auto charge/maintain 6 or 12 volt batteries and will not overcharge. It will shutdown if necessary. I've used one for the last year....no problems.
Don't forget POS. grnd for the charger too.
 
I'm with Tom. I had an expensive Snap-on battery charger burst into flames, while I had it on a car I was working on. It had worked perfectly up until that time.On my A, he I now use a clock/lamp timer on a low output standard charger. It only comes on for one hour and it's during the day when I'm nearby
 
Sears sells a very nice battery trickle charger called a die-hard. it will charge a 6-volt battery at 4-amps, or a 12-volt battery at 2-amps. Front panel switch to either. The charger will not turn on unless it sees a battery, there must be some residual voltage in the battery for it to turn on. If a lead falls off the charger shuts off. When it senses the battery is fully charged it shuts off. They sells for around $25.

Tom Endy
 
I've used my 1.25 Schumacher with a 24 hour timer for a LONG time. Usually check (not infrequently top up) electrolyte once during the winter.

The timer is set for about a 10 minute daily cycle.

But I suppose ANYTHING could happen in 10 minutes?

Or even in the 23hrs 50 minutes of the rest of the day? (timer motor?)

When I built my house in 1982, a 1" hole in the stud for electric wiring was STANDARD for our area - possibly even driven by code (can't have the holes too small as one can damage the insulation pulling the wires through the hole?)

And then it was discovered that drilled holes were MAJOR pathways for mice entrance/egress between mouse housing subdivisions. And the mice were wont to "expand" their access by chewing that offending wire that restricted their path. Suddenly the code was changed requiring 3/4" holes. And a lot of monkey dunk got sold for work in progress to close in the holes that had already been made and were accessible for retrofit.

So maybe even if the timer is removed, those pesky wires might still be a problem?

Joe K
 
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Some of you may be interested in a tender/booster/charger made by genioschar
gers .com
I checked them out on YouTube and Scotty Kilmer on YouTube and liked what I saw. However quite pricy but for modern use and a!so 6 volt applications I may someday try one.
 
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