Battery Minder Plus Experiment Concludes

[D1dad]

I just checked all 3 of my batteries that have been regularly charged on either a Pulsetech or BM 2012 since new in 12/24. All 3 are still reading 100% of health. It’s only been 7 months but, I’ve seen new batteries on the shelf test less. Granted, these were all perfect batteries when installed but none the less. So far it’s working.

 

[Mav123]

My 2 cents:
I am in a mild climate...I have been using battery tenders for over 15 years intermittently, but got more religious about it during the pandemic in 2020 due to my cars sitting more and now I use them constantly. My "fun" cars are constantly on battery tenders and daily drivers are plugged in at least two or three times a week overnight.

Over the past three years I have switched to using only Battery Minder and Pulse Tech as they seem to have lots of good feed back here. I have seen a difference in battery capacity and state of charge/state of health readings using these brands over others, such as Battery Tender, or Granite Digital Save A Battery brands. The algorithm of Battery Minder and Pulse Tech do seem to be better at reducing sulfation or whatever and improve performance. I had batteries that were declining, in spite of daily use of a battery tender that improved when switching to using a Battery Minder (2012 or 128CEC2). I have one of the Battery Minder wall wart units from Harbor Freight, it is a 1 amp unit and so small, I think they are really best for long term use, not for overnight, as you found, they can take quite a while to reach float charge.

What I have learned with using the Battery Minders longer term, is they need to operate on the float mode for weeks at a time to "restore" a sulfated battery. When I switched my two declining batteries to Battery Minder, these are on daily drivers, so I plugged them in every night for three months and they regained over 150 CCA capacity. Even the Battery Minder instructions state their desulfate does not work overnight...it takes weeks, as it is a gentle process.

If you are only using your Battery Minder to recharge the battery, it is not getting a chance to desulfate. Leave it on as much as possible. I would get a larger unit if possible, like a 2012 which is 2 amps, it will usually reach float mode in four hours on my cars. The 128CEC2 is selectable 2, 4, 8 amps but they recommend the 4 amp for multiple batteries (which is how I use it) and the 8 amp setting for Odyssey batteries.

As far as Optima red top batteries...they used to be awesome (used them for 20 years), but I went through three of them over 5+ years, each started leaking, though the batteries performance was still excellent. I no longer use or recommend Optima red tops. I hear their plate type yellow batteries are fine, but I am just done with the brand.

I have had good luck the past few years with Clarios AGMs (Interstate, AC Delco or Walmart), mostly the German and Korean made ones.

Do you (or others here on this forum) know if there are differences in internal algorithms between BatteryMINDer 2012 and BatteryMINDer Model 1510? I know 1510 has a 1.5 Amp output, whereas 2012 has a 2 Amp output. Are there any other differences beyond this? Thank you.

 

[f355spider]

Do you (or others here on this forum) know if there are differences in internal algorithms between BatteryMINDer 2012 and BatteryMINDer Model 1510? I know 1510 has a 1.5 Amp output, whereas 2012 has a 2 Amp output. Are there any other differences beyond this? Thank you.

There may be. If you check the thread at the top of this forum section, there is an ongoing thread on battery tenders. There is a forum user "pasadena_commut" who has made several posts in the past month or two specific to the very similar 1500 (its the same as the 1510, the difference is the 1510 comes with more accessories). I am suspecting that all of these "wall wart" versions to include the inexpensive 1 amp Northern Tool version do not use the exact same algorithm, and seem to have a much more "mild" temperature compensation than the 2012 variants or the 128CEC2 multi amp setting/multi chemistry setting version.

I only have the 12117TC Northern Tool to compare to my 2012AGM and 128CEC2, and it is clear this "wall wart" version does not temperature compensate the same...it rises and falls much less from temperature variations than my other Battery Minders.
Battery Minder has stated they use a different algorithm with the 12117TC.

Might be best to call Battery Minder to get the straight answer, but the testing the other forum user showed a difference with the 1500/1510.
How meaningful these differences are, is the bigger question...and I don't know.

 

[D1dad]

It seems like the northern tool just goes from A to Z regardless of the state of the battery. My 2012s and Pulsetechs test and charge accordingly through the process. I’ve had batteries that were almost topped off, only charge for a few hours and as long as 8. The northern tools charge for days regardless of the state of charge.

 

[rondg]

Contrary to popular Internet lore, the primary cause of death for the majority of automotive batteries is NOT sulphation. It's primary plate erosion and corrosion. Every time a lead acid battery is discharged and charged, a little bit of lead is lost from the positive plates. Preventing this is the main benefit of keeping a maintenance charge going on a battery. When a lead acid battery is held at a full charge you eliminate a lot of those charge/discharge cycles.

Sulphation it's a real thing but more so on heavily neglected batteries. It's the number of charge/discharge that does most of the damage.

what kills batteries is when one (or more) cells start having lower specific gravity than the other cells (you can check this w/ a hydrometer). if you don't correct this w/ an equalizing charge (15.8v, aka "recond mode" on cteks) the low cell/s "die" (probably from sulfation)

 

[Donald]

I have only Battery Minder chargers/maintainers. I think I have 3. But could be a couple I cannot find.

OP the Battery Minder you were using, does it have high/low temp compensation?

Basically unless you are using the Battery Minder in the basement it needs to have temp compensation for best results. Especially in Texas heat.

On a normally used vehicle I am not sure it's worth connecting up any kind of battery maintainer.

Either plan on batteries in Texas not lasting very long or move.

 

[DBMaster]

I have only Battery Minder chargers/maintainers. I think I have 3. But could be a couple I cannot find.

OP the Battery Minder you were using, does it have high/low temp compensation?

Basically unless you are using the Battery Minder in the basement it needs to have temp compensation for best results. Especially in Texas heat.

On a normally used vehicle I am not sure it's worth connecting up any kind of battery maintainer.

Either plan on batteries in Texas not lasting very long or move.

That's funny. I've thought about moving many times, but not due to climate. I did get about a year more life than I normally expect out of the last battery.

The charger I have does have temperature compensation. There is a sensor for it attached to the wall wart.

 

[JHZR2]

I placed an East Penn manufactured Everstart Maxx into service in my 2012 Mazda3 (Skyactiv) in August 2020. I added wiring with an SAE connector inside the bumper so I could easily connect my BatteryMinder Plus on a weekly basis. It's a 1.0 amp maintainer/desulfator. The routine was to leave the charger connected until it switched to maintenance mode, indicating the battery was fully charged (initially this would take less than a day, but as the battery aged it would take 2-3 days.)

Fast forward to this week, four years and ten months later. Even though the battery still read 13+ volts it lost its starting capacity as evidenced by slow cranking and a voltage drop to less than 9V when starting.

Some anecdotes on this forum indicated that such routines might double the life of the battery. In my case, I did get longer service than I ever have from a FLA battery, but I'm not sure it was worth the trouble. At best, I think I MAY have increased the service life of the battery by 20-25%.

What has your experience been if you conducted similar experiments?

Funny, I installed a Walmart Everstart Maxx in our 2014 Odyssey at the same time. I have a charger, so do keep my vehicles topped up, I have an SAE lead on the Odyssey. It gets used a few times per year.

Battery is still perfect, no leaks, no corrosion, starts easily, no issues with short or long trips.

So the difference is heat. You’re in a warmer climate, degrading side reactions double every 8 degrees C. Sure, sulfation also occurs and can be offset by keeping SOC at 100%, but your degradation is increasing due to the other reactions. And perhaps due to excessive draw by the vehicle.

 

[DBMaster]

Funny, I installed a Walmart Everstart Maxx in our 2014 Odyssey at the same time. I have a charger, so do keep my vehicles topped up, I have an SAE lead on the Odyssey. It gets used a few times per year.

Battery is still perfect, no leaks, no corrosion, starts easily, no issues with short or long trips.

So the difference is heat. You’re in a warmer climate, degrading side reactions double every 8 degrees C. Sure, sulfation also occurs and can be offset by keeping SOC at 100%, but your degradation is increasing due to the other reactions. And perhaps due to excessive draw by the vehicle.

Is your Maxx an East Penn sourced battery? I've seen them from three different manufacturers at my closest Walmart. The one I have now is JCI.

 

[JHZR2]

Is your Maxx an East Penn sourced battery? I've seen them from three different manufacturers at my closest Walmart. The one I have now is JCI.

Yes.

 

[Mav123]

I'm trying to set up 3 to 4 batteries to be maintained with varying degrees of sulfation and different ages, from about 7 years old to as recent as 1 year old. I read through the online manuals for BatteryMinder units, and they state that in order to put them together is necessary to thoroughly desulfate each one. Would you guys recommend just getting 3w or 4 1500/1510 units, or one 128CEC2 and keep them that way?
Thank you.

 

[D1dad]

Buy the whole Pulsetech set up that charges 4 batteries. If I had it to do again, that’s the route I would have went. I have a battery minder with a splitter that keeps my lead batteries topped off and then a 2012 agm that I’ll use on my wife’s car, that actually has an agm. The agm charger seems pretty aggressive, so I’ll only use it during the winter and will unplug the temp comp sensor so it throttles down a bit. During the summer I’ll use the Pulsetech xc450 which does have an agm setting.

 

[Daveglt]

Use BatteryMinder 1500 on 2017 Acura MDX Hybrid with AGM battery, battery is now 9 years old and still shows full CCA, car is not driven for wees at a time and the Minder keeps the battery healthy! Use their purpose built unit for my Concorde aircraft AGM battery and they last over 8 years on average with be idle for weeks between use. Good product

 

[Mav123]

Use BatteryMinder 1500 on 2017 Acura MDX Hybrid with AGM battery, battery is now 9 years old and still shows full CCA, car is not driven for wees at a time and the Minder keeps the battery healthy! Use their purpose built unit for my Concorde aircraft AGM battery and they last over 8 years on average with be idle for weeks between use. Good product

Thank you for the data point. I thought since their 1510 is somewhat of a base model, 1500 is even more so, people gravitate towards the higher-priced models because of the temperature compensation. Would you say 1500 has good temperature compensation in hot or cold environments?

 

[Daveglt]

The 1500 model I have has a temp sensor on it and it seems to work very well. The AGM battery in the MDX also hs cooling fan built into the plastic battery box to circulate air around the battery which probably is an aid enhance its battery life.

 

[f355spider]

Thank you for the data point. I thought since their 1510 is somewhat of a base model, 1500 is even more so, people gravitate towards the higher-priced models because of the temperature compensation. Would you say 1500 has good temperature compensation in hot or cold environments?

The only way to know is to use an inexpensive data logger and see. They have a lot of useful features.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145506387230?_skw=bluetooth+battery+monitor&itmmeta=01KNPTKYPF3SRKTG0MBR4QDW54&hash=item21e0db451e:g:SbMAAeSwYelohDt3&itmprp=enc:AQALAAAA4GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDSLIYwnqtgWk69ALxD00Lmu6pPTbzMeVy9QSAgCJusLDr0PyNCq3VHcsQUD0hFHsWm1p758G3abyLby7Oyfa6+n/xov1e+mn/GzW3PaIj6/556ay1/GUCwsYtT7TzZDqctN8P9RDFHaBeyLV7vOGYYOSHZDECwID00hEqNUCm+IRexL0eaUDBOd0TkuYysPWkeBmJSfAogIHqZyg3GZi9kXbuQflIy4KStatqHUb0Uhq3gbr9+6AVmw7O/oR8CQazoV/cGqWT6JvwboY7gSYzg|tkp:Bk9SR87rz9qtZw

I keep one always connected to one car, and I can instantly check the battery charge status and whenever on a drive I can check alternator charging voltage and cranking voltage. I can test different battery chargers and maintainers by connecting them to this specific car and review the data logger...it does out to 15 days.

The more practical question is does temperature compensation really impact battery life that much? I suppose it would matter most if you have temperature extremes where you live. I live in a very mild area where it probably doesn't matter. Lowest and highest temps in my garage probably range from high 20s to maybe 100F. And those extremes are rare...maybe a few days a year.

 

[repairman54]

I've got a mix of 1500 and 1510 BM's. Some older none temp. and some with temp. comp. 9 of them in play on various vehicles and equipment whenever parked or stored. A few batteries are over 10 years old also.
My Harley is on a temp. comp. 1510 unit, 2011 Odyssey battery in it. Was fine last summer, too cold here to wake it up yet. It see's -30f winters and summer max. is 90f. in unheated storage. Just had to replace a 13 yr old Yuasa AGM in one of my snowmobiles this winter, it still cranked up fine but erratic low voltage on starts ups would trigger a CEL on the sled that would go away on a restart so after 13 years I got my moneys worth.
My snowmobile club has Ctek maintainers on its equipment, first gen. ones. No desulificaton and batteries only last 5-6 years.
BM maintainer / conditioners for the win IMO.

 

[D1dad]

I had my lawnmower battery on and off the plusetech all winter and consistently for the last month and tested it today, still 100% healthy. Considering it’s the cheapest Walmart battery I could find for my zero turn and it’s now 4 yrs old, I’m convinced charging works. It may die tomorrow, but it’s healthy today.

 

[Mav123]

I have anecdotal success with the recently purchased Pulsetech. My Honda has an 8-year-old battery and was periodically connected for 3-4 months every 8 months or so to BM 1510, the Older" model what outputs 13 V. The newer BM units, all of them, do not reach the needed 13v, but only 12.2 v or so. The 1510 kept the battery but did not improve it. Just connected to Pulsetch since January and just tested it. The internal resistance stayed the same, about 6 Omhs, but CCAs went up, about 40 CCAs shy of the rated CCA. I am testing PulseTech on my Ford now, it was connected to BM 1510 for 4 months, and also has an 8-year-old battery, but it shows 700 CCA out of the rated 850 CCA. Will see if PulseTech can recover the CCAs.

 

[barryh]

Another vote for heat being the battery killer here.

Anecdotally, trunk-mounted batteries last substantially longer than those located in the engine bay.

For my vehicles with batteries in the engine bay, I usually raise the hood after I pull into the garage.

No question that heat very substantially shortens battery life.

I've noticed a big difference between battery life in two cars where one had the battery under the hood but behind a sealed and insulated bulkhead. The other was under the hood and exposed to engine heat. This exposed battery survived only 60% as long as the other one. There are insulated boxes to fit the battery in but I think for the exposed batteries I will adopt your approach of lifting the hood after I pull in the garage.

I wonder is there one particular battery type that is more tolerant of heat than others