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Winter Project....tending to your battery

  • Thread starter Thread starter C3RVETTE
  • Start date Start date
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C3RVETTE

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A good fall car-care project involves battery maintenance.
As temperatures start growing colder, enthusiasts
store their Corvettes away and their batteries tend to sit
for months without being used. Under these conditions,
battery life tends to suffer. Its a good idea to keep a battery
at full charge as much as possible.
A product called Battery Tender is designed to keep
infrequently-used batteries up to snuff at all times. Unlike
the trickle charger that constantly puts juice into a battery
whether it needs it or not, Battery Tenders have a smart chip that monitors the batterys state of charge and puts
voltage in only when needed.
The idea of plugging in any electrical device and leaving
it on all the time is scary. A lot of weird things can
happen with electricity. While researching this topic
on the Internet, a newer product called Battery Tender
Junior turned up. It is a lightweight, compact version
of the Battery Tender that has most of the same features,
but is extremely convenient to use in vehicle-storage
situations. The Internet revealed a company that sells
the Battery Tender Junior at a very reasonable cost.
Remy Battery Co., Inc., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
It seemed like a good idea to contact them about the
safety question.
I understand your concerns; too few people treat batteries
and battery-related products with the proper care
and the respect that they deserve, said company vice
president Michael E. Moeller. We believe in educating
customers on the proper way to handle and maintain batteries
and battery-related products and we have been in
business since 1931.
Moeller explained that the Battery Tender Junior
operates on a 3-step charging program. Step 1 is called
Qualification. In this step the tender insures safety by
verifying the status of the battery before charging it. Step
2 is called Bulk Charging. The bulk charge raises the batterys
voltage to 7.2 Vdc. Step 3 is Float
Charge. While float charging, the tender
maintains the fully-charged battery at 6.6
Vdc. If and when the battery voltage drops
below 6.3 Vdc, the battery tender resumes
charging until the battery is back to 7.2 Vdc.
Then it goes to float again. Of course, these
voltages are for a six-volt battery. There is
also a model with higher Vdc levels
designed for 12-volt batteries.
Moeller said that all Battery Tender
brand tenders (which are those made by
a Florida company named Deltran) are
totally spark proof and reverse-polarity
protected. He explained that they have
a fused, short-circuit-protected transformer.
There are also fused output leads on the
ring-terminal battery connectors. This is
the safest battery charger on the market
he said.
Should you require additional technical
information on the Battery Tender brand chargers from
Deltran, you are welcome to visit their web site
at www.batterytender.com said Moeller. Their
technical engineer Dan Williams can answer your
questions
cheers.gif
 
I've used the Deltran "Battery Tenders" for many years; my toys are heated garage-stored for six months every winter, and once a month I connect the Tender to each one - takes about 24 hours to bring the battery back up to full charge (green light). On the cars with difficult battery access (it was REALLY buried on the Ferrari), I hard-wired the connector leads to the battery terminals, leaving the double connector easily accessible (a hard-wire harness comes with the Tender, along with the usual long cable with battery terminal clamps, and the Tender has the primary cable with an in-line polarized connector that accepts either secondary cable). Have never had a battery problem.

:beer
 
These things are great. I have been threatening to get one for several years. If I had to store the '81 away from home or in a building I didn't go into very often in the winter I would have had one by now. Fortunately the '81 sits in the heated shop where I do all of my playing and It is easy for me to just plug in the trickle charger for a few hours once a month.

I sure could use one for the John Deere though. Maybe this is the year I'll buy one.

Tom
 
I've been thinking about picking one up for awhile...been hearing about them on several TV car related shows I watch.How much for a standard automotive version? My 79 hasnt been much problem,but the 77 I had would go dead if it sat between 1-2 wks.But I did put one of those battery disconnects on the positive terminal of the 79,mostly for security.:)
 
Just got an e-mail from Eastwood, and they have the Deltran "Battery Tender Plus" on sale right now for $39.99; have never seen them that reasonable anywhere before.

:beer
 
Me too. I think I'm going to jump on that.

Tom
 
Tom Bryant said:
Me too. I think I'm going to jump on that.

Tom
I got that email too,& posted their winterizing tips here somewhere.
 

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