Battery trickle charger?

Rat407

Rat407

Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Messages
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Location
North Carolina
I searched but didn't seem to find a direct answer.

Looking at getting a battery tender to hook up to my 2019 Silverado. It gets used but on short trips and not much for long drives and sites days on end some times. With all the electronics on these vehicles now, is it possible to hook up a tender without damage to the electronics? Also direct to the battery I would think would be better correct?

So if it is something I can do, recommendations on what would be a good tender to get?
 
Rat407 said:
I was looking at this one. The 800ma to me is perfect for a maintainer and not have issues with any other electronics. But I'm no electrician.
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This is the only charger I’ve ever had a real issue with. It started charging to high 15’s or more. Manufacturer verified it was an issue.

Personally I’d go with the NOCO genius 1 or 2, or the battery minder 1510 or 2012. Fits flooded battery the 1510 is good and has a thermistor to optimize float voltage.
 
I used the Delran Battery tender plus for many years. Not many bells and whistles like the NOCO Gensis series and the CTEK’s, but it worked flawlessly. And it has a great feature that the others don’t have: a metal case. Which can come in handy if you run over it once every 4 or 5 years. Mine is a little scuffed up, but otherwise 100% functional.

Last summer Amazon ran a very tempting sale on the NOCO’s, and I sprang for the Genius 5 at less than 1/2 price. Now my Delran is semi-retired and waiting for me to run over the NOCO.

I think for most people you can’t go wrong with any of the big three: CTEK, NOCO Genius’s , or the Delran Battery Plus (1.5A). I wouldn’t get the lower rated Delran’s however.

Z
 
mrsilv04 said:
I've been using a Battery Tender Junior for 25 years now. Same one. I use it on whatever I'm not driving, I just continually move it from vehicle to vehicle.
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me too, but just for 6+ years. works great, just $25.
 

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I'm not particular on brands, most seem interchangeable. Most important is to use it on a car that is infrequently driven.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money, Costco carries two or three brands, they all work fine. Duracell, Battery Tender and a no name one called Touring Items Type S on sale for $40 delivered: https://www.costco.com/5a-battery-charger-and-maintainer.product.100809154.html
I have one on order to be delivered tomorrow.

All of these come with ring mounts you can attach to your battery...you can extend them enough with a splice so you don't even have to open the hood. On some cars the cigarette lighter socket is always on (rare these day, as manufacturers don't want accessories running down the battery) and you can attach a cigarette lighter adapter to plug in. That is convenient and you can safely close the door on the cord. You will never drive off with it attached either. :)
 
BTW, since we are using these as a "maintainer", don't get too wrapped up about charging output. Even less than 1 amp, like the 800 ma Battery Tender works fine. While 3 amp to 5 amp is common, I have found the smaller ones can actually bring a battery up to a higher state of charge, not a lot, but a bit more. The smaller ones just take a bit more time to full charge. Perhaps a couple hours or more, versus 20 minutes. But is anyone in a hurry to care?
 
A fully charged battery takes almost no current. Max current is nearly irrelevant for a maintainer. The issue is that some vehicle charging schemes don’t fully charge the battery, so a charger with a higher current capacity will get the battery to a higher state of charge faster.
 
f355spider said:
BTW, since we are using these as a "maintainer", don't get too wrapped up about charging output. Even less than 1 amp, like the 800 ma Battery Tender works fine. While 3 amp to 5 amp is common, I have found the smaller ones can actually bring a battery up to a higher state of charge, not a lot, but a bit more. The smaller ones just take a bit more time to full charge. Perhaps a couple hours or more, versus 20 minutes. But is anyone in a hurry to care?
Click to expand...

The closer to 100% state of charge a battery is the slower the absorption rate. Even at an appropriate charging voltage, a nearly fully charged battery won’t reach 100% in 20 minutes. That’s just not how batteries work.

Also, the battery will take less current for a given charging voltage the closer it is to 100%. The output advertised by a charger is 100% irrelevant here. Every smart charger will output low current as the battery approaches 100%.
 
It's a great idea-- my truck sits all week and drives a mere 5 mile round trip to the dump, which isn't enough.

Consider some sort of solar panel rigged up behind the driver's headrest so it sees out the back window?

You will not damage electronics, the battery is a huge filter.
 
gathermewool said:
The closer to 100% state of charge a battery is the slower the absorption rate. Even at an appropriate charging voltage, a nearly fully charged battery won’t reach 100% in 20 minutes. That’s just not how batteries work.

Also, the battery will take less current for a given charging voltage the closer it is to 100%. The output advertised by a charger is 100% irrelevant here. Every smart charger will output low current as the battery approaches 100%.
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Yup. But people are looking at the lights or display and a higher output charger will hit the "full" or absorption mode faster than a lower output one, even if it is still not really completely charged and inching its way there.
 
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