Battery tender question | GTAMotorcycle.com

Battery tender question

T

Tjf

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So I took my battery out for the winter. I'm a little confused as to what I do now. Do I charge it every few weeks or what? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
 
What exactly type of charger are you using? There are a few that people seem to think are tenders, but are not. If it IS a tender, you just hook it up and forget about it. If it's a just trickle charger that does not have a float mode, you'd hook it up for a day or two about once a month or whatever.
 
I just let mine sit unattended,in the spring through it in the bike if it needs a boost then i put a trickle charge on it.
 
nearace said:
I just let mine sit unattended,in the spring through it in the bike if it needs a boost then i put a trickle charge on it.
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If your (conventional) battery needs a boost, it means it got completely discharged over the winter, and it will never be able to get charged to 100% again. You can try to desulfate it, but it still will not be 100%. Usually a good battery should last winter with no charging, so your battery is most likely old/crappy.

OP, if you buy a BATTERY TENDER, then connect tender to the battery and leave it connected. If you have a basic charger, then connect that charger to your battery once a month or whenever you feel like connecting just to top it up.
 
CTek computerized battery chargers, are on sale at Princess Auto this week. The 0.8A suitable for bike batteries is $39.99, cheaper than when I bought mine a couple of years ago. They are great chargers. Just connect, power on and walk away until spring.
 
Tjf said:
battery charger = battery tender?
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Normally no, but after looking at the manufacturer's website, it appears that in this case it does work as a tender
 
Fyi, C-Tek 3300 is both a tender and a charger -- I have two of them and use them on the bike and the car.
 
I bought that Noco Genius G1100 when it was at an even deeper discount this summer. It managed to revive a Crappy Tire battery that had sat unused in my buddy's bike for over a year and a half. Took a full day for the process to complete but AFAIK the battery is still going strong.
 
You know you can just hook up a tender to the battery on your bike and leave it for good right? I don't recall my battery tender, but it has an automatic setting where itl'l charge and cycle the batter for you.
 
Called a battery tender jr (automatic). I've revived partially drained batteries with it, but super drained of check it with a multimeter as you might have damaged it. On a bike that's very sensitive to to this like my old Honda CB its a headache maker.
 
ViperZ said:
If your (conventional) battery needs a boost, it means it got completely discharged over the winter, and it will never be able to get charged to 100% again. You can try to desulfate it, but it still will not be 100%. Usually a good battery should last winter with no charging, so your battery is most likely old/crappy.
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Does what you wrote apply only to old batteries or new ones too? Because I completely discharged my battery by forgetting the lights on one day, charged it up with my charger that night and it's been good as new ever since.
 
I thought to all acid batteries regardless or age, but I'd love for somebody to prove me wrong as this is just what I've heard over the years.
 
danp said:
Does what you wrote apply only to old batteries or new ones too? Because I completely discharged my battery by forgetting the lights on one day, charged it up with my charger that night and it's been good as new ever since.
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The less time the battery spends fully discharged, the less sulfation it will develop. One day wont do nearly as much damage as a few months.
A healthy battery should hold most of it's charge during storage, as long it's disconnected.

I typically put a tender on mine once a month. I think most batteries live a short life due to neglect, rather than poor quality.
 
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danp said:
Does what you wrote apply only to old batteries or new ones too? Because I completely discharged my battery by forgetting the lights on one day, charged it up with my charger that night and it's been good as new ever since.
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Constantly draining completely and charging a battery that's not meant for that purpose will kill it faster than keeping the charge up on it, maybe not if you do it once or twice...but it will reduce the life of the battery.
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