Battery question...

[ericboutin]

My truck is not a daily driver and my batteries aren't that old....a couple years I would guess. When it gets cold, starting of course becomes an issue especially since she usually only gets started once a week or so. Anyway I've seen those little tiny charges that are supposed to hold a charge....not overcharge just hold a charge...I'm thinking this would be a good idea for someone like me. Should I use 1 for each battery and somehow isolate the batteries; or can I just use one and let it try to keep both batteries charged up? I know I need to do something cuz I think I'm destroying perfectly good batteries by not using them...

 

[SparkandFire]

I've got one of these on my camping trailer-
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/3LE87?Pid=search

It keeps two class 31 batteries charged nicely!

Just make sure batteries are fully charged before you plug this in, it only trickle charges, so if the batteries are dead, this thing will never recharge them!

 

[ericboutin]

Yah that is very similar to mine...I think mine peaks at 2 amps...anyway I actually have two of them. So just do a good "charge" with a big charger and then I can just hook up "1" of these little trickle chargers to the pass side battery and call it good. It can keep both batts at full?
Thanks

 

[maddenji]

I used an automatic "trickle charger" on mine when I stored it for a while. I didn't drive it for nearly a year, and left it powered up all the time. Started it right up like I'd never left it.
Jim

 

[Fishin76]

Man, thats cheap. Is that a float charger, like a battery tender? (those go for over $100 at some places)

 

[SparkandFire]

I think this could be considered a battery tender, it regulates the charge current anywhere from 0 to 2 amps, and it only kicks on as the voltage drops.

This thing has an LED that shows what it's doing, the one I put on my trailer will light up full when it's charging, then it blinks when the battery is nearly full, then it shuts off when the battery is fully charged.

I've gone almost a year without using the trailer, then picked it up and found the batteries fully charged and ready to go, works great!

 

[SparkandFire]

I would definately only hook one of these up to your truck, I would think two chargers wired together would not regulate the voltage properly...

One works fine for me, and I've got two decent size batteries on the trailer.

 

[Agnem]

I've become a big fan of the products from http://batterytender.com I picked up a custom labled one at the Corvette Museum, as a souvineer from our rally in Bowling Green this past summer. You can imagine my suprise thinking... there won't be ANYTHING in here I'm gonna want to buy. Anyway, I got it and hooked it up to the Moose Truck. About a month later, it died... and released a nasty smell. Well, I still had the packaging, and it said it had a 10 year warranty. So I called them up. I asked if they repaired it, or exchanged it, and they said I would "get a new one". I explained that it had sentimental value since it was labeled for the Corvette museum. The lady said, just make a note that you want the replacment labled as such, and we will make sure you get one that looks exactly the same. True to their word, I got an identical replacement, and it has been working fine every since. I've since bought a second one, and have it on Lady Moose. No longer do I have slow low voltage high current starts that strain the starter and work the alternator to death when it does get running. When I hit the key it's like a warm summer day and I've been driving it all week.

 

[international]

I've become a big fan of the products from http://batterytender.com I picked up a custom labled one at the Corvette Museum, as a souvineer from our rally in Bowling Green this past summer. You can imagine my suprise thinking... there won't be ANYTHING in here I'm gonna want to buy. Anyway, I got it and hooked it up to the Moose Truck. About a month later, it died... and released a nasty smell. Well, I still had the packaging, and it said it had a 10 year warranty. So I called them up. I asked if they repaired it, or exchanged it, and they said I would "get a new one". I explained that it had sentimental value since it was labeled for the Corvette museum. The lady said, just make a note that you want the replacment labled as such, and we will make sure you get one that looks exactly the same. True to their word, I got an identical replacement, and it has been working fine every since. I've since bought a second one, and have it on Lady Moose. No longer do I have slow low voltage high current starts that strain the starter and work the alternator to death when it does get running. When I hit the key it's like a warm summer day and I've been driving it all week.

Did the Lady Moose get the pink one?

 

[SparkandFire]

I'm a big fan of new technology in certain applications! Computer controlled battery tenders are a good example of functional new technology!

Powertrain Control Modules, on the other hand........

I think the guts of the one grainger sells is probably fairly similar to the one you've got, Mel. I've built some of these for home wind turbines in the past, it's a pretty simple but robust circuit.

The pink battery tender would be perfect for the ladies' trucks!

 

[Agnem]

I didn't see a pink one, but if they had it I'd have gotten it.