Oh it does.. Flooded cells can't dry out like an AGM unless they are on a charger for a real long time.. Also the cheaper tenders use no temp sensor or one inside the tender.. If the battery is low it may only get bulk charge and never reach absorb then float because it can't put out enough current.. Battery drys out as it never reaches "float mode" AGMs don't like that..
For sure, I would not use any kind of cheaper charger on a AGM unless it was only to bring the battery up for starting..

 

I have half a dozen Battery Tender Jr's. My Buell battery lasted 7 years. The year my daughter was born I didn't get to ride at all. It was on tender for close to 18 months. I got 3 more years out of it. It died cuz my buddy unplugged it to move the bike and didn't plug it back in. It was due for replacement anyway.

 

The battery in my daughters motorcycle lasted 9 years before it got replaced. Would sit for 4-6 months not on a charger but no security system to drain the battery.. My 02 RKC battery lasted 7 and it might have been placed on a tender 5 to 10 times, never more than a couple days.. It's a 95 with 220 ccp (with manual releases) so it was a workout for the battery..

Add

The RKC could sit for up to a month when I was out on travel.. One thing I'd check fer sure is that the light goes green on the typical tender.. That pretty much means it went to float.. Also make sure the tender is will do AGMs as the absorb and float voltages are slightly less then flooded cell.. At least from what I've read.

 

OK, thanks all. Always help to get others OPINION as I sure thought the "REP" musta been smoking something hee hee (before ne body chimes in, Not Legal in TX), LMAO

 

Ive been using tenders for years and have never had a problem. The rep is FOS

 

The rep may not be the idiot he's made out to be here. He probably "thought" you meant trickle charger. I've used original Del Tran Battery Tenders for years on airplanes and weekend cars. They will not hurt your battery if left on indefinitely but rather will save your battery and extend the life of it. Once your battery drops below a certain point, it will never have the capacity that it had when new.

 

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BINGO!!!!

Your right on the money ,i was monitoring the guys posting in the Raodstar site i belonged to with my other bike for the past few yrs when they posted a good quality AGM battery went bad in 1.5-2 or evenb 3 yrs when they typically last 5-6yts on avg and had a theory when it cam the the newer maint chargers on the market along with my 4+ decades 1st hand exp dealing with car/motorcycle batteries wrenching them too.

Well what i found over past few yrs monitoring the guys posting there AGM batteries went belly up premature was when i asked them if they were by any chance using a maint/float type charger and most of the time they said yes 24/7 or they said i use one most of the time.

I have also run into the same issue in the classic car circle too with std lead acid and or newer gen AGM batteries too.

So what i do is in season where i ride the bike at least 1x or more every 1.5-2wks long enough to ensure bikes charging system can give it a decent charge i dont put any the manit charger on it.

But in off season for winter storage i put the manit charger on the battery 1x every 2-3wks for approx 24 hrs to top of the batteries charge and then remove it.

Doing that is more then enough to keep a battery in decent cond from falling too low on voltage leading to premature sulfation ,same goes for the classic car i have owned since 1978 too.

Here are some examples of me doing that type battery maint for many yrs.

* Last battery my Kawi 1000 had was a cheap lead acid walmart battery that lasted 7.5yrs.

* The 06 silverado i bought 10/2009 has a deka AGM that i dont know when was installed thats still going strong approx 5.5yrs later not counting the months or yr it had on it prior to me buying it used 10/2009.

* I bought my 69 chevelle ss 396 in 1978 and bought a new sears diehard for it,using my batt maint rec that battery lasted 13yrs before needing replacement.

I then installed a 2nd sears diehard that lasted just under 12yrs before needing replacement.

But i also ensured the terminals and batteries in general were always clean & topped off with distilled water (not tap water with minerals and or salt in it thats bad for batteries) ensuring plates were always coverd too.

Then i replaced that battery with a new repop lead acid trype Delco Remy R59 battery that lasted 8.5 yrs.

Then i replaced that battery with a new gen repop Delco R59 battery thats got a smalled hi power AGM battery in it to save wt thats approx 4yrs old and still going strong.

* When i replaced the battery(Excide) in my daily drive 98 maxima last yr it had just turned 10yrd old when it crapped out.

* Just replaced the autozone battery in my stepsons 98 olds ,it was 8.5yrs.

I also ensured the terminals and batteries in both those cars were always clean & topped off with distilled water (not tap water with minerals and or salt in it thats bad for batteries) ensuring plates were always covered too.

I look at it this way,if i got longer then normal srv'c life out of 1 or 2 batteries over the yrs it could maybe just be luck,but the fact that i consistantly get much longer srv'c life out of all the batteries in my vehicles over the past 30+ yrs inc old school lead acid batteries too and new gen AGM batteries ,thats says something esp when talking motorcycles and my classic car that sit for long periods of no use esp in winter storage where i only put them on the maint charger for 24hrs or so & remove it as to not over do it 1x every 2-3wks.

I have a feeling that in some cases depending on design/quality lvl of maint charger that in some cases eitther the point where by design its supposed to cut back to flaot charge is a bit too high that over time damages/over charges the battery.

In some cases i think what could be happening is the float /maint charger may be set too high that in short term use isnt an issue but when talking it being on a battery 24/7 for months or a yrs at a time is an issue significantly redcuing its srv'c life which may be why just about every time i asked guys with permature battery failure if they used maint/float chargers they said yes 24/7 or i use one most of the time with a maint/float charger being the common theme 99% of the time when i investigate/ask about the premature battery failure they had.

And this is coming from me diging into this subject on the RSC site,team chevelle and locally too at car cruises over quite a few yrs too.

So have a lot of 1st hand feedback from guys with failed batteries telling me they in fact were using maint /float chargers to go on when it comes to the maint charger question and i am not just going by experience i had with 1 or 2 batteries or from what i heard someplace from only 1 or 2 people,its a lot more feedback then that over quite a few yrs.

Thats just my $.02 on the subject with something behind what stated.

Scott

 

HD Smart Charger here, I alternate it out with other rides and the mower. No problemo...

 

I have my battery on this:

http://www.harley-davidson.com/store...-south-america

24/7/365. Whenever I'm not riding it.

Battery is always at full charge ready to go whenever I want it. The use of a good battery tender will greatly extend the life of your battery.