Battery Tender and cig lighter adapter
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,382
Likes: 4
From: Kennewick, WA
Battery Tender and cig lighter adapter
Been using a Battery Tender Jr for years, just using the alligator clips, I rotate it between my Jeep, cars and bike all winter.
Last week I got a cig lighter attachment for it to plug into the lighter socket that's hardwired straight to the battery on my Dyna.
I came back from a long ride and plugged the Tender into the socket and waited for the red light (charging) to quickly change to green (charged), which I'm used to seeing happen almost immediately. It stayed red. Four days later of continuous charging, it still remained red. The Tender felt warm, but something didn't seem right. Why wasn't the light green by now?
I just went out and unplugged the cig lighter attachment and put on the alligator clips to the battery instead. Within 10 seconds, the Tender's light went from red to green.
Does anyone have any idea why the lighter socket charging attachment didn't seem to work? It was finicky and took some jiggling to make a connection, but when total contact wasn't made the Tender didn't light up at all. I figured that when the red light went on, that juice was making it to the battery.
If the battery was charged, why didn't the light turn green when connected through the plug?
Last week I got a cig lighter attachment for it to plug into the lighter socket that's hardwired straight to the battery on my Dyna.
I came back from a long ride and plugged the Tender into the socket and waited for the red light (charging) to quickly change to green (charged), which I'm used to seeing happen almost immediately. It stayed red. Four days later of continuous charging, it still remained red. The Tender felt warm, but something didn't seem right. Why wasn't the light green by now?
I just went out and unplugged the cig lighter attachment and put on the alligator clips to the battery instead. Within 10 seconds, the Tender's light went from red to green.
Does anyone have any idea why the lighter socket charging attachment didn't seem to work? It was finicky and took some jiggling to make a connection, but when total contact wasn't made the Tender didn't light up at all. I figured that when the red light went on, that juice was making it to the battery.
If the battery was charged, why didn't the light turn green when connected through the plug?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,289
Likes: 22
From: Beautiful Downtown Burbank
Why arent you using the battery tender connection pigtail that dangles under the battery on your 07?
Using a cigarette lighter is a crappy connection at best. If the planets arent in alignment, and it isnt the 6th tuesday in the month, it wont work worth a damn.
Using a cigarette lighter is a crappy connection at best. If the planets arent in alignment, and it isnt the 6th tuesday in the month, it wont work worth a damn.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 449
Likes: 1
From: The Mohawk Trail
My guess is excessive resistance in the cig connection for what ever reason too. Try hooking up your DVOM and measuring voltage levels while the charger is connected via either method. I think that will give you a clue Hemi.
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 822
Likes: 34
From: Grand Island, Nebraska
Will the battery connection pigtail fit under the batter cover on a dyna? I had one of those on my previous bike (road king classic) but it doesn't look to me like there is room under the battery cover to install the pigtail on my dyna. I just assumed that I need to remove the battery cover and use the clips instead.
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,899
Likes: 8
From: Aurora, IL
Been using one like that on my Jeep for about a year. Works just fine. I've seen guys use them on classic cars all the time so they dont have to have wires on the battery or a non stock plug anywhere.
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Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
HemiOrange,
I surprised nobody knows the real answer. The reason you cannot charge thru the cigarette lighter socket is it is "dead" with the ignition turned off. The make the lighter socket work the ignition has to be turned on. You do not want to leave your ignition on and charge at the same time. (Double checked my '10 just to be sure).
Like one guy said add the charging pigtail to the battery and charge thru that. Also makes a great source for heated gear and checking battery voltage.
Hope this helps.
Phil
I surprised nobody knows the real answer. The reason you cannot charge thru the cigarette lighter socket is it is "dead" with the ignition turned off. The make the lighter socket work the ignition has to be turned on. You do not want to leave your ignition on and charge at the same time. (Double checked my '10 just to be sure).
Like one guy said add the charging pigtail to the battery and charge thru that. Also makes a great source for heated gear and checking battery voltage.
Hope this helps.
Phil
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Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,899
Likes: 8
From: Aurora, IL
HemiOrange,
I surprised nobody knows the real answer. The reason you cannot charge thru the cigarette lighter socket is it is "dead" with the ignition turned off. The make the lighter socket work the ignition has to be turned on. You do not want to leave your ignition on and charge at the same time. (Double checked my '10 just to be sure).
Like one guy said add the charging pigtail to the battery and charge thru that. Also makes a great source for heated gear and checking battery voltage.
Hope this helps.
Phil
I surprised nobody knows the real answer. The reason you cannot charge thru the cigarette lighter socket is it is "dead" with the ignition turned off. The make the lighter socket work the ignition has to be turned on. You do not want to leave your ignition on and charge at the same time. (Double checked my '10 just to be sure).
Like one guy said add the charging pigtail to the battery and charge thru that. Also makes a great source for heated gear and checking battery voltage.
Hope this helps.
Phil
Banned
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,494
Likes: 5
HemiOrange,
I surprised nobody knows the real answer. The reason you cannot charge thru the cigarette lighter socket is it is "dead" with the ignition turned off. The make the lighter socket work the ignition has to be turned on. You do not want to leave your ignition on and charge at the same time. (Double checked my '10 just to be sure).
Like one guy said add the charging pigtail to the battery and charge thru that. Also makes a great source for heated gear and checking battery voltage.
Hope this helps.
Phil
I surprised nobody knows the real answer. The reason you cannot charge thru the cigarette lighter socket is it is "dead" with the ignition turned off. The make the lighter socket work the ignition has to be turned on. You do not want to leave your ignition on and charge at the same time. (Double checked my '10 just to be sure).
Like one guy said add the charging pigtail to the battery and charge thru that. Also makes a great source for heated gear and checking battery voltage.
Hope this helps.
Phil
CB