Battery Tender

[Don_Parrish]

Need to mainttain a single 12V battery. Where to buy? NAPA, WM, HF?
How much should I pay? Thanks for any suggestions.

[Blaster_Man]

As I stated earlier, the Harbor Freight model is not a charger and will not charge a battery. If fully charged it will "maintain" it. That's what it says on the box.

[bshpilot]

Gjac wrote:
Do you know what caused the battery to drain.? Are you referring to the red LED light that stays lit causing the drain?

couldn't tell you....what i can tell you is that a friend was using the HF "maintainers" to keep two sep car batteries charged. He unplugged the (2) units from an AC power strip and forgot to plug them back in...and in about 3 days the he went to pull the (vintage) cars out of the garage and the batteries were dead. The cars had been started and driven the weekend prior.

[Gjac]

bshpilot wrote:

Gjac wrote:
For a maintenance charger it is hard to beat the HF one for $4.99 with a coupon. I charge from inside the MH through a 12v outlet. Made a 12v male plug that I can attach the HF maintainer to.

be careful w/ those - had a friend that lost 2 batteries because he lost power and the HF cheapie (apparently) drained his batteries.

you get what you pay for.

Tinstar wrote:
That one that bshpilot referenced is the one I use. It has better ratings than others on the web AND it's also a desulfater. It can make your battery last much longer than a battery maintainer.

Ive been using the batteryminders for years - got 8 years outta my batteries on our F350 Diesel & I've gotten nearly as much outta some motorcycle batteries that sit for years on end.

ONE batteryminders will support & maintain up to 4 batteries.

Do you know what caused the battery to drain.? Are you referring to the red LED light that stays lit causing the drain?

[bshpilot]

Gjac wrote:
For a maintenance charger it is hard to beat the HF one for $4.99 with a coupon. I charge from inside the MH through a 12v outlet. Made a 12v male plug that I can attach the HF maintainer to.

be careful w/ those - had a friend that lost 2 batteries because he lost power and the HF cheapie (apparently) drained his batteries.

you get what you pay for.

Tinstar wrote:
That one that bshpilot referenced is the one I use. It has better ratings than others on the web AND it's also a desulfater. It can make your battery last much longer than a battery maintainer.

Ive been using the batteryminders for years - got 8 years outta my batteries on our F350 Diesel & I've gotten nearly as much outta some motorcycle batteries that sit for years on end.

ONE batteryminders will support & maintain up to 4 batteries.

[Tinstar]

That one that bshpilot referenced is the one I use. It has better ratings than others on the web AND it's also a desulfater. It can make your battery last much longer than a battery maintainer.

[Gjac]

For a maintenance charger it is hard to beat the HF one for $4.99 with a coupon. I charge from inside the MH through a 12v outlet. Made a 12v male plug that I can attach the HF maintainer to.

[Monaco_Montclai]

saw Wal-Mart with on sale for 24usd, now its all happy-camping

[Blaster_Man]

Becareful buying a charger from Harbor Freight. They have one that is a maintainer, but it will not charge.

[bshpilot]

Ive been using batterminders for YEARS on our vehicles & motorcycles.

Battery Minders (intelligent battery maintainers) - available at northern tool & equipment !

I've even installed some Powerlet sockets for quick connect/dis-connect to the batteries on the coach (and all our other vehicles). With the quick Powerlets strategically placed i don't have to open the hood or battery compartments to connect my stand alone battery chargers....

[gbopp]

I have This One from WalMart. It works great.

But, I'm sure the one Dakota98 posted will also do a good job.

[bob213]

I have 3 different float chargers by different mfgs. From high dollar to the basic Shumacher from WalMart. All seem to work equally well. I've had to replace the Shumacher once but at 1/3 the price of the others it's still cheap and works great. Some higher dollar models will desulfate but I do that once a year with my B&D stand alone charger.

[BigBlockTank]

I bought one from Battery Tender from Wal-Mart to keep my Corvette and sand car batteries fully charged, and ready to go. I bought this one because the above mentioned Schumacher one destroyed an AGM battery.

The battery tender is the best charger to top off batteries and keep them at peak charge, without overcharging, and destroying them. I use the Schumacher for a quick charge to get a vehicle started, but won't leave it on there for more than a couple hours.

[Don_Parrish]

Gary, Thanks. Don

[Dakota98]

This one @ Wally World has great reviews & is reasonably priced.


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XM1-5-Maintainer-1.5-Amp/15140193