Battery Tender ?

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Dec 18, 2010 | 03:00 PM

#61

robbie52

Road Warrior

Joined: Sep 2007

Posts: 1,954

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From: Augusta, GA

Sorry Port Dog but when I ride the battery is being charged. If you only do short trips it will not be effective, but it is being recharged.

Dec 18, 2010 | 03:33 PM

#62

sparky_mo

Club Member

Joined: Nov 2005

Posts: 955

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From: Missouri

When not riding I plug it in. I have the Battery Tender +. Battery is 4 yrs. old and still going strong after 37000 miles. Red light: charging, Blinking green light: 80% charged, Solid green light 100% charged. Each time I plug it in after a ride tender will start out red, then blink green for a while and then stay green. I don't know if battery loses some of it's charge each time it is started up and ridden or the tender just goes through these steps each time it is plugged in.

Dec 18, 2010 | 03:38 PM

#63

Port Dawg

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Joined: Jul 2010

Posts: 1,816

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From: New Hampshire

Quote:

Originally Posted by robbie52

Sorry Port Dog but when I ride the battery is being charged. If you only do short trips it will not be effective, but it is being recharged.

Wasn't me who said that Robbie!

Dec 18, 2010 | 04:12 PM

#64

bubba455

Cruiser

Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 122

Likes: 1

You cannot "fry" a battery tender. I have 9 bikes in my garage and have used tenders continuously for over 10 years and have never had a problem. Also, I rarely have to buy new batteries. The tender will extend the battery of your bike a very long time.. My bikes are always plugged in, year round.

Dec 18, 2010 | 05:20 PM

#65

Morris9982

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Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 583

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From: Eaton, OH

Quote:

Originally Posted by watercop

I leave mine on all winter. Wish HD could have found a better locataion for the on board pigtail. Mine has rubbed on the hot pipes a few times. Also wondering how long a battery tender is good for and how do you know when its no good any more?

HD did not install the pigtail. Most likely your dealer did if it was on there when the bike was purchased new. A lot of dealers including mine install them on new bikes probably so they can periodically charge the new bikes sitting on the floor. If the bikes sit there for a month without being charged or ridden the batteries will get weak. Usually when I go to my local dealer they will have several on the charger.

If the pigtail is not located where you want it, you can move it. If they used wire ties to position the pigtail just cut them and put it where you want it. I have mine tied to the frame tube just in front of the right side cover.

I have one of the original Deltran 1.25 amp Battery Tenders, before they came out with the Plus version. It still works fine though it lacks the three step process in the Plus version. I use it on my car. The only way I would know to tell if the maintainer you have no longer works would be if the lights no longer function properly or if the battery has a low charge when you go to start the vehicle.

Hope this helps.

Dec 18, 2010 | 05:25 PM

#66

Morris9982

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Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 583

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From: Eaton, OH

Quote:

Originally Posted by lionsm13

...You may think that when you go ridin' that you charge up your battery, but you don't.

When you bring it back to your domicile and plug it in to your tender you will see that you expended some of your battery's juice, as when you plug it in it will be red...

Mine does that too and I wondered why. I read Deltran's web site (the company that markets the Battery Tender brand maintainers) and read that their product actually takes the voltage up to something like 14.2 or 14.3 volts as part of their charging process, possibly as part of the desulfation process, I'm not sure. After it reaches that voltage, it switches over to the next mode.

I am pretty sure the bike's charging system only takes it up to about 13.5 volts or so.

Dec 18, 2010 | 09:45 PM

#67

WoodyHD

Thread Starter

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Joined: Feb 2006

Posts: 1,531

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From: Taylorsville, KY

Well, put a pigtail on my wife's Sporty and plugged mine in based on your all's advise. Thanks!

Dec 19, 2010 | 02:47 PM

#68

djkolp

Road Captain

Joined: Oct 2006

Posts: 658

Likes: 23

From: South Florida

Quote:

Originally Posted by lionsm13

Funny how this topic comes up every 2-3 weeks.
You may think that when you go ridin' that you charge up your battery, but you don't.
When you bring it back to your domicile and plug it in to your tender you will see that you expended some of your battery's juice, as when you plug it in it will be red.

When I bring my bike back to my "domicile" it is fully charged. The alternator does 2 things: It powers your electrical system and charges your battery. Provided you haven't overloaded your bike with electrical accessories that exceed the capability of the charging system, it will maintain your battery's charge just fine. Inactivity is the only reason to use a tender.

Last edited by djkolp; Dec 19, 2010 at 02:53 PM.