Scott, battery tenders ALL have an internal circuit breaker inside the device to prevent a short if you mix up the connections (commonly termed "reversed polarity"). It is basically required in order to get a UL, CSA or ETL safety certification. They could use a fuse also, but most manufacturers gave up on fuses for devices like these years ago.
Best price I have seen is here: http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparral/productr.asp?pf%5Fid=321%2D2100&gift=False&0=dept%2Easp%2Cdept%5Fid%3D827%26menu%5Fid%3D%26Tree%3D%2CStreet%20Electrical&1=dept%2Easp%2Cdept%5Fid%3D247%26menu%5Fid%3D%26Tree%3D0%2CBattery%20Chargers&Gift=False&HSLB=False&mscssid=0733C01CABAF4549A07340F97598F39C Maybe you can find it cheaper on Ebay. Retail is $60 at most stores, and the "private label" ones that Deltran makes for BMW, Porsche, and Harley Davidson are exactly the same unit and $70! http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page65.html Note that at least the BMW and Porsche versions come standard with the cigarette lighter adapter.
I wrote to Deltran about this, but it'll be a couple of days until I hear back from them. In the meantime, the weather's so pretty, I'm anxious to drive my car, and I'm hoping some of you might have an idea on what's going on here: I have an Optima Red Top battery in my 3.2 Mondial Cabriolet. The car has been sitting for a while without being cranked, so when I cranked it recently, it didn't turn over very strongly. Knowing that a less-than-fully-charged battery can sometimes cause weird things to happen on these cars, and since I haven't been keeping a charger of any kind on it, I decided to drop by FC to see what most people here recommended to keep a battery fresh. So many here seemed to like the Battery Tenders that I ordered a Battery Tender Plus. All that being said, the charger came in, I connected it using the instructions that came with the charger, and that's what led to some unexpected results. I connected the charger leads to the battery (making sure polarity was correct), and then I plugged the charger in to the AC power. The red light on the charger illuminated (solid, not blinking), indicating a properly-connected, charging status, and I left it to charge the rest of last evening and overnight. When I came out this morning, some 14 hours later, the red light was still on. Assuming the battery I started with had been discharged more than I had thought, I left it on to charge the rest of the day. Approximately 24 hours after I had first put the charger on the battery, I went to check it and with intentions to drive the car. Unfortunately, not only was the red light still on (solid), when I unplugged the charger and removed it from the car, the battery was actually drained to the point it wouldn't even turn the engine over to start! Before having put the charger on the battery, it was "weak" (didn't turn the engine over as fast as I like), but at least it had power to crank the engine. Much to my surprise, once I put the charger on the battery, it seems to have had an opposite effect by draining the battery to the point that it doesn't have enough power to engage the starter! Based on stories I've read here and other places about possible detrimental effects of some types of trickle chargers, I'm reluctant to go out and purchase one of those, but I've also got a convertible that I'm not able to drive in springtime weather (we don't get much "pleasant" warm, low-humidity weather in the south, so I'm anxious to drive it) Please let me know if any of you might have an idea on what could be going on here. Thanks.
The only reason it will take a few days is this happened on a weekend. Give them a call monday to get an answer: 1-877-456-7901 Check the troubleshoot guide: http://batterytender.com/includes/languages/english/resources/Trouble_Shooting_LWOB.pdf?osCAdminsID=340cf056b7e37f3662e001e495eac704 I would suggest you remove the battery from the car and try again. I would check the voltage with a volt meter before and after pluging in the Tender. You have a 5amp Tender so it should charge it in a day or something is wrong with the Bat or Tender.
I use a $30 Schumacher (it sounded logical for a Ferrari) from Advance Auto Parts to keep my yellow top Optima well charged. http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=SHU&MfrPartNumber=SE112S&CategoryCode=3014
I too, have a Schumacher tender connected to Rachel whenever she's in the garage. I hard wired to the battery with the quick disconnect inside the rt. front wheelwell. And I ALWAYS place the tender's instruction sheet on the windscreen to remind me of THE CONNECTION Not fun if you forget
Battery tenders are not chargers. If you have a discharged battery, it will likely take 10A or so to charge. And then there's the issues with a discharged Red Top. I have a Red Top in my 328. When it got discharged, I unhooked the car and put a voltmeter across the battery: 6V. I put a 10A charger (not tender) on it for four hours. After that, I checked the voltage again: 6V. A week later, I put the 10A charger on it again for 4 hours -- and *then* it came back. And after the car sat 10 days without being run (but with a battery hog recovery system), it was flat again. Again, it took two sessions with the 10A charger, with time in between, to bring back the Optima. After that, I charged up the battery, and use a 1.5A tender to *keep* it charged. My next battery probably won't be a Red Top. When a Red Top gets discharged, it get weird. But once any battery is discharged, you need a charger, not a tender. Tenders don't supply enough current to feed a dead battery.
I'm not intending to be argumentative, but this statement is contrary to Deltran's product literature. Their literature clearly states that the tender will both charge a discharged battery AND maintain a fully-charged one. I contacted Deltran prior to purchasing the BT Plus, and they responded that the BT Plus is what I needed, as it was best suited for an Optima Red Top Again, not according to Deltran's literature. In a nutshell, per my initial post, the battery wasn't discharged until I put it ON the charger.....
Another good thread on battery tenders; if I hadn't gotten sick this weekend I'd be installing one in my car instead of sitting here in bed surfing Fchat for the first time in well over 6 months! I plan to use the waterproof Deltran Battery Tender as it's the one they recommend for mounting in the car. I want to be able to plug an extension cord into my car. But I have to say that outside of that, any of the mentioned Ford, BMW, Porsche, etc branded models are certain to be first quality and safe purchases.
Today I bought this, does anyone have the same unit, is this a good Tender, any comment? Thanks. Greg (GCalo) I still have the tender from Harbor Freight for $4.99 and it's still works, just had a little extra $ from my tax return that's why I bought this. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes I know I should have listen to you but I did'nt know I needed it ASAP like yesterday, but thank you just the same.
I have a little 12 volt inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I plug the battery tender into that and hook it up to the battery. The battery keeps going dead, and I can't for the life of me figure out what's wrong. I have checked all the connections and everything looks good. Any help appreciated
I use the Porsche battery maintainer, you plug it into your cigarette lighter and it keeps the battery maintained for months....I think they usually sell for around $80 at the dealer.
Frankly, I prefer the $45 hard wired variety. On another note, I have a little device I got from a friend that plugs into the lighter. It has a nine volt battery attached. It holds your radio and computer settings so you can disconnect the battery to clean and service the terminals. Don't know who makes it but, I could ask if anyone is interested.
You forgot to connect the Tesla broadcast power connection to the antenna. But I forget if that's on AM or FM.
If you can run an extension cord, I would do that.....I don't believe that any of the solar powered units are microprocessor controlled, so there is a slight risk of overcharging....and if the car is covered well, it is also possible it will never keep up with the natural discharge rate of the battery.
