Battery Tender

Georgew48

Georgew48

Senior Member
This may be a stupid question but I want to hook up a 6 volt batterytender to my battery but I'm not sure if I should hook it up with the battery connected to the car or should I remove the battery cables then hook it up. The reason I ask is because of the positive ground on the Model A. Will it hurt the charger if I connect the positive cable to the positive ground. I have tenders on my motorcycle and ATV's but they are all negative ground.
 
It won't hurt a thing if all the wiring is in good condition. Connect the Black [ - ]Battery Tender clip to the battery cable end where it connects to the starter, and connect the Red [ + ] Battery Tender clip to a head nut and you are good to go. If you feel more comfortable, find a rag/towel to insulate the Black wire around the starter switch to eliminate arc-ing or a direct short.

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I've had Battery Tenders for years and I connect it about once a month for a couple of days to bring the battery up to full charge then swap it to another Model A. I don't leave it connected all the time during the winter, just to bring them up to full charge and prevent freezing.
 
We have reviewed several different brands of tenders. They all seem to come with connectors to attach to the battery or clip on. Be careful of the unprotected leg of the clip where you can change from the alligator clips to the permanent clips, that wire will be hot on a 6 volt positive ground system. Some of the tenders did not have a cover to place there and you could short out your system while driving.
 
I bought a small battery charger from Sears for about $25 that charges either 6V or 12V batteries in the 2 to 4 amp range. What I like about it is that unless it sees a battery connection there is no power output. That means if a clip lead falls off the charger shuts down instead of flinging sparks. There are indicator lights on the panel that tell you it sees a battery, it is charging the battery, the battery is fully charged. It will also charge a positive ground battery by simply reversing the leads, red to ground.

Tom Endy
 
John LaVoy said:
We have reviewed several different brands of tenders. They all seem to come with connectors to attach to the battery or clip on. Be careful of the unprotected leg of the clip where you can change from the alligator clips to the permanent clips, that wire will be hot on a 6 volt positive ground system. Some of the tenders did not have a cover to place there and you could short out your system while driving.
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Mine does have the cap and I have it attached to the battery fulltime. I just tuck the wire under the battery cover when I need to drive.
 
Make sure your battery is in fact installed positive ground if you’re reversing the charger cable connections. Connect the black charger cable to the negative battery post and the red charger cable to the positive post regardless of how your battery is grounded to the car. You should always wear eye protection whenever you work on a battery including working with the terminal connections, charging and jumping etc.
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50417&highlight=battery
 
DO BE AWARE that if you unplug the battery tender at the quick, in-line connector which was DESIGNED for a negative ground system, the NEGATIVE/BLACK lead is HOT, and you should consider making a little cap for it when not in use, say under the mat, to prevent a dead short from the negative lead to an arbitrary ground in the car if it touches metal.
 
I have a battery tender for my 12v battery in my car, however, I still have the 6v battery. Will the same tender handle the 6v battery out of the car. I want to keep it charged until I can find a buyer for it.
 
buyitsmart said:
I have a battery tender for my 12v battery in my car, however, I still have the 6v battery. Will the same tender handle the 6v battery out of the car. I want to keep it charged until I can find a buyer for it.
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Use a 6V tender/charger for a 6V battery ! Use a 12V tender/charger for a 12V battery!
 
buyitsmart said:
I have a battery tender for my 12v battery in my car, however, I still have the 6v battery. Will the same tender handle the 6v battery out of the car. I want to keep it charged until I can find a buyer for it.
Click to expand...

Some tenders will sense the battery voltage and charge accordingly, while others are good for only one voltage.
 
I bought the Sears also (Diehard). It is made by Schumacher, but carries a three year warranty vs. the one year warranty on the Schumacher.

As mine typically last about 18 months each....
 
I have three Model A's in my garage. Would it be possible to run wire harnesses to all three and have this type of charger / maintainer cover all three?

I could also remove them all and have them on a bench over the winter to do this.

Or do you need one charger only per one battery. Any ideas on this pro or con...

I also remember a food canning company I used to work for back in the 60's that in the winter season they had shelves of Lead Acid batteries used for their harvesting equipment (maybe around 30 batteries) that were all daisy chained together with wire and nails driven into the posts. These were all be connected to a charger. I just remember the acid smells and the battery cells all bubbling.
 
I wire 6 batteries in parallel to one maintainer been doing so for about 15 yrs so far so good, I just make sure they are fully charged before adding them onto the maintainer charger.
 
Old cars can do weird things, disconnect the battery when it is on any kind of charger would be my advice. I paid dearly by leaving one hooked up with the cables on overnight. It's always nice to have the fire dept. knocking on your door at 3AM to tell you your car and garage are fully engulfed in flames. I am the most careful person in the world, but something shorted out and overheated and started a fire. I will never ever leave any kind of battery charger hooked up with the cables connected again. It's always so much fun to find out that your insurance is backing out of the deal after it happens and you have to keep paying back that loan from the bank for the next few years with nothing to show for it. If only I had disconnected the cables I would be so much better off today.

Obviously there was a small drain and or short that was pulling down my battery after sitting a few days, the battery would go dead and that was that. But with a source of power trying to recharge the battery whatever was shorting and draining the battery overheated and started a fire. So that is why my advice is to always disconnect the cables with any kind of battery charger, what's it going to take an extra minute or two?

I'd share some photos of the carnage but it still makes me so sick that I don't want to see them again.
 
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