Battery Tender problem

[KenK]

I use a Battery Tender charger to keep my deep discharge 12V backup battery charged. This battery is used to provide me with a fan and a light, if needed, at home during a power outage.

After no problems for years the past few days the charger has started blinking its green light for a while, the steady green again after a few hours. The manual says the light blinks when the battery reaches 70% charge. This is occuring during a normal period of no power outages. So it seems to only be supposed to happen when charging. Normal charge condition is shown by steady creen light, which was the usual condition in the past.

Anyone familiar with this charger? Any suggestions? Just ignore it?

TIA

[Steve Stone]

How old is the battery? Perhaps the battery is worn out and the Battery Tender is fine?

[KenK]

Steve Stone wrote in news:nhvgc3$tk0$ [e-mail]:

They were purchased at the same time if I remember correctly. If anything, the battery is newer. Probably three or four years old. I'll try to dig out the purchase date info but I probably won't find it.

[trader_4]

You could measure the voltage with the charger is disconnected to see if it appears fully charged or at 70%. Or use the batter to power some loads and see it it performs as long as it normally does, etc. You don't say what kind of battery it is, but 4 years isn't new and it really depends on how many cycles it's been through. You could also put the tender on another battery, eg car battery, lawn tractor, etc and see how it behaves.

[Don Y]

SLA battery? Can you check the specific gravity in any of the cells? Or, measure the open circuit voltage across them (or, the entire battery, if that's your only choice)? Can you repeat that exercise with a nominal load on the battery and see how "stiff" the battery is?

I.e., the battery may just be shot and the tender is responding to that situation "normally".

(It's tricky to "float" a battery for long periods of time)

You may have to try to discharge the battery and recharge it -- if it is still recoverable.

[Stormin Mormon]

I can't speak to your problem, as I'm not there with VOM and ammeter and specific gravity tester with the floating bulbs, and all my other gear.

That said, I did leave a marine battery connected to Harbor Freight float charger. Expensive mistake. The next time I checked the battery, the water was very low. Took a quart and a half (about 1400 mL) to top off the battery. And said battery was now useless at holding a charge.

Now, I top off my marine battery once a year, and leave it connected to nothing at all during the year.

I do hope your battery has not suffered the same early death that mine did. Good luck, my friend.

[trader_4]

I hope you realize the mistake here was not using a battery tender and leaving it connected. The mistake was using a Harbor Freight battery tender. Even connected to nothing a battery slowly self-discharges, which isn't good for it.

[Stormin Mormon]

Well, reading my post carefully, there is a hint of a suggestion that is pretty close to what you wrote.

[Fred McKenzie]

KenK-

As others mentioned, you need to keep tabs on the fluid level in a lead-acid battery.

I have a "Battery Tender Plus" charger connected to the battery in a Honda generator. I do not remember the symptoms, but the first battery died after several years. The battery is a gel-cell, the kind used in a motorcycle.

It is always possible the charger has malfunctioned, but I would suspect the battery first.

Fred

[KenK]

trader_4 wrote in news:9e47531f-2385-49c5-9975- [e-mail]:

email.me:

I may try that.

Only one or two cycles. Battery looks like a car battery but is deep discharge.

I don't have any other 12V rechargable batteries I can think of except the one in my car.

[Micky]

How much do you have to spend for a battery tender to get one that won't damage the battery? Like a motorcycle or scooter or lawnmower battery.

[Micky]

This is the place to ask. How much do you have to spend to get a battery tender that WON'T damage the battery?

[danny burstein]

[snip]

"Battery Tender" is the actual brand name of a decent line of "smart" chargers that will keep track of the battery charge status, and go to an almost zero current level when the battey is "full".

I haven't left any of these units (the brandname ones) on my batteries for more than 24 hours or so (basically an overnight charge and then pull them off when I get back home...) but other writeups claim to have left these connected for months at a time.

Prices range (for the brandname) from about $35 to $60 for the basic units.

[Micky]

Thanks. I was confused by my Lionel train, that had a tender.

Thanks again. They're probably charging a little extra because they have the name and were first or people think so.

OTOH, "smart" isn't trademarked, and other companies that charge 10 dollars less might be spending 20 less to make it. I'll look for Tender brand.

[Max]

I use this one on my lawn tractor over the winter.

[Max]

About $19.38

[Micky]

Thanks. It does look nice. You remind me that my immediate need is not for winter, but for something to replace the power I use when trying to start this scooter that does not want to start.

I have a 1-amp charger** with no regulation, but otoh, it won't go over 1 amp. Is that a risk to the battery if left connected and ON, or does it have to turn itself off?

I may even get rid of the scooter before winter comes.

**(Made around 1960-2 and used 24/7 for 4 or 5 months in winter 1967/8 to keep my 6-volt car running in the cold weather.)

[Micky]

Good. That's putting a number on it all right!

[KenK]

Micky wrote in news: [e-mail]:

battery

get a

tender.

because they

charge 10

look for

My Battery Tender is geing replaced by a different charger that I ordered today from the source of my Battery Tender and deep cycle Marine/RV battery. They checked the battery this morning and it tests ok with a good tester. So I'm replacing the charger instead of the battery. Here's hoping! Either the battery's repeatedly self-discharging or the Battery Tender charger is discharging it and then recharging it or thinks it is discharged and is recharging it.

[hrhofmann]

I have a cheap charger that I have on a timer, so that the battery cannot get overcharged. It is on only 1/2 hour every 24 hours, for a weed-whacker type of garden tool.