Yeah, just thinking ahead a little. Being in the NE US, I'll be a seasonal rider. So for the months that the bikes will be sitting I don't want to come back to a dead battery. Plus I'll have a scooter as well. So even during riding season one of them will be sitting.
Battery Tender, which one?
- Thread starter Uncle Brian
- Start date
ReSTored
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I used a BT Jr. for 18 years on my ST, worked well, batteries lasted 8 - 9 years, spend 4 - 5 months in storage every season. Typically the tender was plugged in whenever the bike was not being used, plugged in all storage season as well. Included it with ST when sold last year. Got an Optimate 1 Duo for the Tracer, it seems to work as well as the Jr. did. If you have a second bike buy an extra harness to make switching the tender between bikes dead simple.
optimate1.com
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NobodySpecial
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I've had three of the brands mentioned here: Battery Tender (numerous models; purchased, inherited, or given to me), Optimate (I had an Optimate III that lasted a long time but eventually crapped out), and these days all I buy is Battery Minder products (oh, and one Motobatt charger for the fancy new "Hybrid" AGM/Lithium-Ion battery I just bought).
I did not need to buy the Motobatt charger but decided to anyway.
Observations:
Now. Some anecdotes:
I used the wall-wort battery minder (which desulfates but doesn't have temperature compensation) on a car battery. I got 8.5 years out of it (in Wisconsin, that's remarkable) before it just started showing signs of going soft.
Last year, I needed a new battery to replace the DEKA that lasted 3 years. I was in a hurry and bought a Batteries Plus battery. I've had "ok" luck with these. A friend bought an identical battery the same day from the same place for his Super Tenere. Neither lasted a year. An even more desperate purchase of a Super Start (normally a good car battery) from O'Reilly lasted less than a year for me. In all cases if the bike sits for more than a few days it goes on the charger. The batteries in my other bikes have lasted up to 9 years with the exact same charger (Battery Minder) and charging policy, but different battery brands. I replaced the battery this spring with a Motobatt Hybrid.
Do I think the charger makes a difference? Yes.
I have a Battery Minder 12117 (wall wort), Battery Minder 2012 (my favorite, with temperature compensation), and as I noted a Motobatt MBRC1.
I gave away everything else, and it was nearly a decade after I gave away the Optimate III that it died. It was probably .... 15-20 years old then.
I did not need to buy the Motobatt charger but decided to anyway.
Observations:
- The battery tender stuff is... fine. It's fine. It's not great, it's not terrible. It'll do the job.
- The battery tender stuff charges to the lowest resting voltage.
- The battery minder stuff is superior IMO.
- Desulfating.
- For the 2012 model (and some others):
- Temperature compensation (in the nicer models); less voltage in hot weather, more voltage in colder weather, with safety params, etc.
- Phased charging; bulk charge to a higher voltage and then resting voltage is a bit lower for absorption. It also detects bad cells, a periodic load, and has other fanciness. This is the best charger I've ever used.
- At this moment the wall-wort model (12117; no fancy temperature compensation) is holding 13.6
- The optimate stuff is also fine, probably a bit fancier than battery tender but not fancy enough to justify the price hike.
- The motobatt charger I got will do "regular" batteries, AGM, Gel, and Lithium Ion.
- The motomatt seems to charge to a highest resting voltage (14.2-ish)
- I think it's a bit high but <shrug>... motobatt battery, motobatt charger.
Now. Some anecdotes:
I used the wall-wort battery minder (which desulfates but doesn't have temperature compensation) on a car battery. I got 8.5 years out of it (in Wisconsin, that's remarkable) before it just started showing signs of going soft.
Last year, I needed a new battery to replace the DEKA that lasted 3 years. I was in a hurry and bought a Batteries Plus battery. I've had "ok" luck with these. A friend bought an identical battery the same day from the same place for his Super Tenere. Neither lasted a year. An even more desperate purchase of a Super Start (normally a good car battery) from O'Reilly lasted less than a year for me. In all cases if the bike sits for more than a few days it goes on the charger. The batteries in my other bikes have lasted up to 9 years with the exact same charger (Battery Minder) and charging policy, but different battery brands. I replaced the battery this spring with a Motobatt Hybrid.
Do I think the charger makes a difference? Yes.
I have a Battery Minder 12117 (wall wort), Battery Minder 2012 (my favorite, with temperature compensation), and as I noted a Motobatt MBRC1.
I gave away everything else, and it was nearly a decade after I gave away the Optimate III that it died. It was probably .... 15-20 years old then.
That's about a mile down the road from where I work.
I've used a Battery Tender Jr. for many years and have had only lead-acid batteries. Sometime back I got a 5A BT model because if a battery is flat (including my car battery) it takes awhile to charge it from the Jr. So the bike stays on the Jr and the 5A is a just in case. I've got higher capacity chargers that I've used on my car over the years but the 5A BT is more convenient and an Li jumpstarted have made the big boys unnecessary.