My HD brand battery tender is cycling irregularly.

Now that it is plugged into a more visible location, I see it go to yellow, blink Green and go solid Green.

It's probably 10 years old. I'm guessing I should buy a new one? The battery is new (unrelated reason - was drained down during my extended transmission replacement).

 

You could try it on another battery just to confirm your suspicions...

Or head over to Wal Mart and get another...

 

Thank you. Anyone else? It is a Harley branded one.

 

It's more likely the battery than the tender. Check the voltage after it's been off the charger overnight.

 

yellow means charging
blinking green means battery is 80% full
green means battery is charged and tender goes to maintainer mode

now if it goes from yellow to blinking green to green without being unplugged or anything electrical turned on the bike, I suspect your battery is losing it's charge, i.e., battery is failing

 

I bought a battery load tester recently, I'll try it tonight on this new HD battery (from the dealer). Should be interesting. Major pain to pull the old one too.

 

Battery load tested fine. New charger on order.

 

May I use a different brand than HD? Is there one you trust? thanks

 

The HD chargers are made by Deltran. I would replace with a Deltran Battery Tender.

Deltran owns the Battery Tender trademark.

 

Battery chargers cannot tell you if a battery is good or not.

Battery Tender:
Yellow = Battery is accepting a charge.
Green (Blinking) = Battery Tender assumes the battery has been on the charger long enough to reach a 80% charge.
Green (Solid) = Battery is no longer accepting a charge.

Just because the Battery Tender is solid green does not mean the battery is fully charged. It just means the battery is no longer accepting a charge.

You said that the battery is new but you let it drain. Once a battery goes dead it will never charge to full capacity again. I do think you're right though. A new battery vs. a 10 year old charger, I would replace the charger first.