Installing Battery Tender Jr. Connector

[RobsST]

Alright, I'll admit it, my mechanical abilities are extremely minimal (that's why I bought a Honda), but I've been reading this forum for a couple months and have been very impressed with both the collegiality and knowledge of the folks here. With that disclaimer, I'll ask for help installing the Battery Tender Jr. connector on my '91 ST1100. I tried to install the connector this evening. I was happy to get off the left side cover panel, successfully connected the negative lead, felt like I was on a roll, and promptly got stuck with the positive lead. The battery post was on the left side of the battery. On the battery itself, there were plastic 'walls' on the right side and bottom boxing off the post. I know there must be a way to connect it, but between the battery itself, the connector from the bike, and the cable from the tender, I couldn't get it connected. (I apologize for not being able to post pictures -- no digital camera at the moment.)

Help.

Thanks in advance,

Rob.

 

[Blrfl]

First things first: For safety's sake, disconnect both lines from the battery (negative first, then positive) while you're working. When you're done, reconnect them in the reverse order. (If you're working on anything other than a connection to the battery, it's safe to disconnect just the negative.)

It should just be a case of installing the ring terminal at the end of the Battery Tender cable between the screw head and the terminal on the end of the main wires that feed the rest of the bike. Don't sandwich it between the bike wire and the battery terminal -- you want direct, uninterrupted contact between the battery and the main wire so the starter can draw all of the juice it needs.

The 11 and 13 have very similar batteries; you'll find a picture of what I did on my 1300 attached. It can be a little bit of work to get the wire and terminal threaded into the boot that goes over the positive terminal, but it's worth it and you get a bit of extra protection from moisture and crud buildup. A bit of dialectric grease wouldn't hurt, either.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the fray.

--Mark

 

[RobsST]

Thanks

Mark,

Thanks for your help. I was trying to put the battery tender wire between the post and the bike wire. It worked much better putting it just under the screw. Very good advice about disconnecting both wires from the battery. I didn't do that last night. I read your post and thought, DOH!

Thanks again,

Rob.

 

[Tarheel_Rider]

This is great. Just ordered one (battery tender jr) and was hoping it would be self-explanatory when I got it. Even better to get a first hand description of how to put it on. Thanks for posting the question and the reply. Never had a problem starting the bike, but this seems like a reasonable thing to add to make sure it does start, particularly now that it sits for a couple of weeks at a time depending on the weather. Hate to get all mentally excited about a ride only to find out you're going to spend the day trying to get the battery charged.

 

[STeve1300]

Dang, I wish I wouldn't have sliced the positive terminals' boot when I installed mine. Good job. Also compliments on your clean bike.

 

[CaST]

I have a BMW style powerlet plug and cut off the end of the Junior's extra cable and added a powerlet male BMW plug and now I just plug it into the powerlet plug and its no hassle.

 

[Blrfl]

I have a BMW style powerlet plug and cut off the end of the Junior's extra cable and added a powerlet male BMW plug and now I just plug it into the powerlet plug and its no hassle.

I do that too. The wires in the picture actually run to a Blue Sea fuse panel in the rear which feeds the dual Powerlet kit.

STeve: Thanks for the compliment. The innards have accumulated another year's worth of dust and crud since those pictures were taken.

--Mark

 

[MDS_ST1300]

Connect Battery Tender to BOTH terminals?

Confused...

I have been reading my battery tender Jr. (BT) installation instructions for installing a battery in a vehicle and it says to hook up the BT to the positve terminal and then connect the negative clip (of the BT) to the "vehicle chassis or engine block away from the battery." This is the case for a negative grounded vehicle.

The second part of the instructions discusses attaching the BT to both battery terminals when the battery is outside the vehicle (I assume this to mean disconnected from the bike).

I assume most people are attaching the BT to both the positive and negative terminals while the battery is installed in the bike. Is this correct? Am I readding too much into the instructions?

This probably sounds quite silly but I thought I should ask first .

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Tor]

Michael,

You would typically install the pigtail that comes with the BT directly to + and - terminal on the battery, preferably over a fuse on your pigtail. Better yet, use (if you have it) a Powerlet Outlet on your bike, purchase a Powerlet male power plug, and connect this plug to the BT. That way, the only thing you have to do to hook up the tender is to hook it up to your Powerlet outlet. You would eliminate the pigtail in to the battery all together.

 

[Blrfl]

I have the BT and powerlets on the left side. How can I connect up through those?

If it's the standard unswitched Powerlet kit, a SAE-to-Powerlet cord (Powerlet part number PAC-008-x , where x is 6/12/18/24/30 for cable length) will do the trick.

--Mark