Battery Tender Jr. fine to maintain my two 6-Volt batteries?

[falconman515]

So I know I should have done this many months ago when I pulled the batteries off the trailer for storage but haven't

Looking for something to maintain these batteries while being stored

Is the Battery Tender Jr. 12v a fine option?

(I should use the 12-volt maintainer correct? not the 6v since I have them wired to make 1 single 12v)

Battery Tender Jr.

Thanks so much. 🙂

-Chris

[chubbuch]

Buy a DieHard 71219 or 71239. Both are maintainers, detect 6 or 12 volts and go on sale all the time for less than $30. I have the 239 and and extremely pleased with it.

[consumeratlarge]

Yes, it will keep them at the float charge, no problem. Battery Tender Jr. will also do the bulk, absorbtion, and float, so that you can hook it up to a battery that isn't up to full charge.

Vehicle batteries don't have the problem of needed the electrolyte stirred up by an equalizing charge (an intentional overcharge for an hour or 2), which makes the gassing bubbles come up, and theoretically 'stirs' the liquid, as well as requiring water to be added later. Some solar batteries can weigh more than I can lift, so you're supposed to overcharge them to mix up the electrolyte when the individual cells get to be more than a tiny bit different.
Vehicle batteries get vibrated enough to not need this overcharge, and your storage time will be without any deep discharge cycles if you keep the BT jr hooked up.

The battery tender Jr. will keep your battery from freezing, too. If you hook up a light or a fan to the battery while it's in storage, just leave the BT jr hooked up and it will go to the correct recharge voltage, then go back into float when it's charged.

[falconman515]

dannytas wrote:
I may be a little slow...but do you pull your batteries because you store your trailer elsewhere? Is it inside or out? I'm only asking because I store my trailer at home and do use the Battery Tender Jr. as well and I don't pull the batteries.

To clear things up, I don't use the Battery Tender Jr. while the trailer is plugged into power and I don't use the because it's parked inside. 😄

Ya I store my TT at a family members ranch property during the offseason and also stored in local storage while in use during the summer months.

Wither way the batteries are pulled as I will not leave them outside 24/7 unsecured in either location.

Not to worried about the summer in-use months cause they get a full charge and discharge at least once a month .... but while it's stored for 6+ months during fall and winter I pull them and they are left in my garage the entire time.

I have been throwing a charge on them every month or two but figured a battery tender would do best for them.

And I figured as long as I fully charged them with my portable shumacher charger to full charge then threw on the battery tender it would just keep them "Tended" to for the entire time and help the battery last longer right?

[consumeratlarge]

I have dozens of battery tender Jr.'s on all my machines on the farm. They work great. The battery tender, regular model, is even better, because it is temperature compensated, meaning, it keeps a higher voltage in cold temperatures. It also has about double the amperage of the Jr. model.

However, as you said, if you've got your batteries charged already, it will keep up a few hundred amp hours of 12v no problem. In fact, it will charge them eventually if they are down, but this will heat up the transformer somewhat, and I always make sure they're well ventilated if the battery I hook up to has a good ways to go to be charged. I even keep the golf cart batteries topped up, without fear of boiling over, by using 2 24v battery tenders, mounted on the cart.

I've never had one wreck a battery, but have had a couple fail when I put them on some motorcycle batteries that had a shorted cell....I just thought at the time that they were at low state of charge. I know, I should always check the specific gravity, but stuff happens and you get distracted from all the things you should do.

BTW, I always keep a Battery Tender Jr. hooked up to the RV chassis battery. It is plugged into the coach 120v outlet and recovers the battery in short order if I, say, run the jacks without starting the engine while parked and plugged in.

[mlts22]

I have a one amp BatteryMinder that has a push button desulfate cycle. It was more expensive than a cheaper charger, but does a good job at keeping batteries that don't have any draw on them at/near 100% SoC.

[Empty_Nest__Soo]

I have used a BatteryMinder for many years and am very happy with it. I have 3 now, 1 for 2 T-105's from the TT, one for a sports car I use only in summer, and 1 for the lawn tractor battery.

Not the cheapest option, but much better than the typical "trickle charger." Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Wayne

[dannytas]

I may be a little slow...but do you pull your batteries because you store your trailer elsewhere? Is it inside or out? I'm only asking because I store my trailer at home and do use the Battery Tender Jr. as well and I don't pull the batteries.

To clear things up, I don't use the Battery Tender Jr. while the trailer is plugged into power and I don't use the because it's parked inside. 😄

[time2roll]

BT Jr. should be fine if the battery is fully charged at the start.

[Crabbypatty]

My TT has an intellipower charger buy the charge wizard that plugs into it and you leave your TT plugged in all year. Simple and it works perfectly

[falconman515]

I think I'm just gonna throw a charge or two on them them until they got back in storage again int he fall.

But once I do this and these sit for 6 odd months the linked Battery Tender Jr. should be a fine option to throw on a fully charged set of batteries (2-6volts making 1-12volt) and let it sit and maintain my batteries for the entire off-season right?

[westend]

falconman515 wrote:
Can I just throw my Schumacker charger on the batteries every month for a few and be fine?

Or is there an advantage to my batteries by having them maintained and fully charged at all times?

I keep them stored in the garage and the water is still full and fine after about a dozen discharges and charges last summer / fall.

I will be using them again come June / July ... maybe I will hold off and get a battery tender when they go back in storage again in the fall.

But is this really needed if I throw a quick charge on them every month???

You could get close to the same longevity by just periodically charging (depending on overall use through the year).

The better thing about having the Battery Minder on the batteries 24/7 is that it is "set it and forget it" and in the theoretical sense, if the batteries are always being fed low level charge, sulfation can't gain as much foothold.

One thing I noticed, recently, with my bank of 2-6V GC2's is that they respond well to higher voltage charge while in storage. My solar charge controller does the work with it's temp compensation and I was monitoring voltages, periodically, during the Winter. On some cold days, the controller was pushing 14.9V at the fully charged batteries. Last week I checked specific gravities with a hydrometer and the measurements were greater than when put in storage. The electrolyte levels had not changed appreciatively.

[falconman515]

Can I just throw my Schumacker charger on the batteries every month for a few and be fine?

Or is there an advantage to my batteries by having them maintained and fully charged at all times?

I keep them stored in the garage and the water is still full and fine after about a dozen discharges and charges last summer / fall.

I will be using them again come June / July ... maybe I will hold off and get a battery tender when they go back in storage again in the fall.

But is this really needed if I throw a quick charge on them every month???

[falconman515]

smkettner wrote:
Battery Tender is an excellent brand. However 0.75 amp is a little light for 200+ amp hours of battery. For a few dollars more I recommend the waterproof 5 amp version.

Battery Tender 022-0157-1 Waterproof 12 Volt Power Tender Plus

OK maybe it is more than a few $$$ 😞

Ya $55 is Not a "Few" bucks more!!! LOL ... you linked one that is over 3 times the price.

This thing is suppose to a Charger along with a tender.... I don't need a charger ... I already have a battery charger of course.

I'm just looking to "Maintain" A Fully Charged set of batteries?

I am not using this to charge them from 50% to full 200+ amps ... they will already be fully charged with my Shumacker battery charger to full power .... This is just to maintain that ... I would assume this thing can maintain a fully charged battery just fine right???

Am I missing something with a Battery "Tender" ... I thought they we're to maintain the fluctuation in a battery so it will slightly charge it as it gets low then do this again when it loses a little bit of power etc. etc.

[time2roll]

Battery Tender is an excellent brand. However 0.75 amp is a little light for 200+ amp hours of battery. For a few dollars more I recommend the waterproof 5 amp version.

Battery Tender 022-0157-1 Waterproof 12 Volt Power Tender Plus

OK maybe it is more than a few $$$ 😞