Thread: Battery tender?

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I have one and it works well. Got it for like $40 from Sears. Works well as long as I have it set to 12V and not 6! It's also not a replacement for jumpers as I once had to leave the car out of the garage for 2-3 weeks and it wouldn't start. I tried with the tender to see if it'd give it enough juice to turn over but found that even with another car and jumpers it took a good 10 minutes to charge enough to start. Be careful though; some tenders you have to reset after the power goes out. Once the power comes back on, they go into a sort of limp mode where they're not charging at all and you need to reset it. Mine doesn't do that but I have a friend who's tender does and it annoys him every time the power goes out

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Don't know? I agree about using a tender in lieu of battery/relocation... I'm confused. In my case, my car sits for several weeks on-end without being started or driven. In fact I don't think the car has run now since October sometime. I've been meaning to start it and run it a bit. Unfortunately the roads are all ****ty by me so I can't take it for a drive

Sorry I mentioned the relocation, it cluttered the thread.

In another thread I was considering relocating the battery to the trunk (there's another thread here to that effect). This is an S13 we're talking about, and as with most S-chassis cars the FMIC piping goes straight through the battery tray, necessitating either a relocation or a small battery. I went with a Miata-sized battery, which 90% of the time works great and I have no issues.

However, in the colder months it tends to drain faster, and I tend to drive the car much less, as it's one of the few rust-free S13s I've ever seen and avoiding snow/ice and especially salt will help to keep it that way. Once or twice each winter I go to drive it and find the battery too weak to start the car, necessitating a jump. I have been trying to avoid relocating the battery all along, and when I heard about using a tender I started to research it, hence this thread. Blair, pic in the link above. It's smaller than a soda can, for reference.

I've now been using it since it arrived, and it seems to work well so far. I'll be interested to see how it goes over the long term.

Tender is definitely the way to go; works great for my SE-R. Even on my daily driven FX if it goes below 10 degrees the remote start doesn't work properly because the battery doesn't have enough juice for the starter to catch with the quick jolt the remote start gives it. I have to turn it off and back on again. Only issue is if it resets when the power goes out... unplug it and see for yourself before it'd be too long and you can't return it

I have an Odyssey 680 (?) in my Classic. I just went to go for a late night cruise, it is actually cool out right now for the first time in about seven months....and my battery is dead. I just drove the Classic on Sunday, it has only been about 3 days. DAMMIT.

Did a quick search....bada bing.

Rittmeister, did you like this product?

Here's a working link for the one you bought from Summit:

Deltran Battery Waterproof 800 Charging Systems - SummitRacing.com

It is unclear if that unit has overcharging protection (?).

Here's another one I found:

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM-1562A-Charge-Battery-Companion/dp/B0009IBJAS/ref=pd_sim_auto_1

Kick ass customer reviews. Inexpensive. Overcharging protection.

Also, Sears carries a Diehard that is actually the same unit - built by Schumacher. I could go buy one tomorrow morning. I'm leaning in that direction already.

Any input from anybody on the Schumacher (or Diehard) unit?

i've got the one we have at advance auto (i work there)
on my bike, keeps it nice and charged over the winter

I just bought the Sears Diehard unit.

It is literally this unit, with a Diehard sticker on it.

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM-1562A-Charge-Battery-Companion/dp/B0009IBJAS/ref=pd_sim_auto_1

It says to use it in a "vented area." My car is sitting in my driveway, the battery charger resting on top of the air intake, power cable snaking out the slightly propped-open hood, everything hooked up and charging properly.

They warn extensively about "gas buildup" and explosion hazards.

Will fully closing my hood, and running the power cable out the bottom of the engine bay and over to the outdoor wall socket, allow "explosive gasses to build up"? It seems to me that the engine bay is so open, even with the hood closed, that there is no way that gasses could build up under the hood.

1) With an Odyssey 680 battery, does it even produce any gasses when charging?

2) The directions are not too clear about what constitutes an "enclosed area" and I would like to set the battery tender (trickle charger) under the hood, and close the hood completely while it is doing its job. Again, while sitting stationary outdoors in my driveway.

Does anyone think (or know if) that will be an explosion hazard?

Thanks!

Hydrogen defuses easily so I think it would be hard to get enough to gather to blow up.