Battery Tender problem

I keep a deep discharge RV battery on a Battery Tender charger all the time in my home for power outage light and fan. I've been doing this for decades, going through two or three batteries and chargers.

At present I am having an annoying problem. The charger red light comes on - meaning no connection to the battery I assume. If I press on the battery clamps so they dig into the battery terminal for a good connection the green charger light blinks, and soon glows steadily, indicating it is charging and operating correctly. But soon the same situation reoccurs. I tried a battery terminal wire brush and the terminals are now shiny. I cleaned off the charger clamps as best as I could. Problem continues.

Appears to be a charger clamp connection problem or, somehow, a charger problem.

Suggestions?

TIA

Reply to
KenK
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Check the wire / clamp connections for the charger, if they are simply crimp connections, you might want to unplug the charger, clean and solder the wires to the clamps.

Mechanical crimp connections suck for low voltage DC especially if the atmosphere is even mildly corrosive, as it would be around a charging battery.

Reply to
None

Not sure what's going on, but I'd check what the lights mean. I've had Battery Tenders and I believe that red indicates charging, green indicates fully charged.

Reply to
trader_4

Read the instructions ? .. rather than posting your best guesses - .. for us to figure out and/or guess at. ... just sayin' .. John T.

Reply to
hubops

The first google hit below - may or may not be useful.

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John T.

Reply to
hubops

Maybe the battery is fully charged and simply dont need a charge. My cordless tool chargers usually go to green when I plug them in, but if I just finished charging the battery, they go to red in a minute or less.

Discharge the battery some. Just put a car tailiight bulb across it or something for 20 min or so. Then connect your tender. Could also be a battery that is failing. Do you have a battery tester. A real one that draws current, not just a multimeter.

Reply to
Bud

Just like I thought solid red - charging solid green - charged blinking red - not connected or other problem blinking green - 80%+ charged

He has the light meanings backwards.

Reply to
trader_4

Try replacing the clamps with a more permanent connection since you use it as a permanantly connected device.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

Try replacing the clamps with a more permanent connection, since you use it as a permanently connected device.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

KenK wrote in news:XnsA8C86E3CBA35Binvalidcom@

130.133.4.11:

A week or so ago checked water in battery. Found all cells a bit low, two VERY low. Topped all cells off. Checked water again yesterday, same thing. Took battery to where I bought it. Tested very bad. Got new battery today. Bought a new Battery Tender to go with it - concerned that old one might have been part of the problem.

Reply to
KenK

Unless there was a physical leak in the battery, which you would see liquid under it, it should not lose water from only a trickle charge. Sounds to me like that "tender" was over charging, which ruined the battery. Good you replaced both!

Reply to
Bud

A shorted cell can cause gassing at low charge. 14.6 volts on a good battery is 2.43 volts per cell. On the edge of gassing. Short one cell and it becomes 2.92 volts per cell on the rest of the cells - which WILL gas. Gassing means water loss.

Could the tender have failed?? Possibly - but in my experience batteries fail much more often than good battery tenders (or other decent chargers)

Reply to
Clare Snyder

Before buying a new battery tender, I'd keep an eye on the existing one with another battery, check the voltage, etc. I'd agree, there is probably nothing wrong with it.

Reply to
trader_4

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