Battery tenders

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Bill Barber

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What can you tell me about them?

Stang sits for more than 10 days and the batt is toast, very common problem with them.
 
I just picked up a CTEK unit and the thing is awesome. I have a project RX7 that will sit for the winter and I had issues with it killing a battery. So I picked up one of these and a new Yellow Top.
 
I'm thinking of getting this solar-powered tender for my RV while it's in winter storage. Plug it into a 12V port and leave it on the dash.
 
Bill,



Can the Mongolian power grid support a battery tender? If not, then a solar-powered tender might be the way for you to go also.:D
 
Rather then a tender ,how about a disconnect switch.....



IF there is a common issue how about fixing the drain causing a dead batt...



Found on line the stereo is a common cause.... Turn off the stereo manually and not by allowing when you open the door to do it...







Todd Z
 
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Batteries can drain themselves with a small internal short. Over time the particles that carry the charge from one plate to the other when discharging and back again when charging can build up in some places and be very thin in others. They never seem to go back evenly! Over time they can build up enough to bridge the distance between plates, creating a small short. A sudden jolt can dislodge a large area of particles, which can jam between plates and cause a large short.



A small short will discharge the battery over time. A large short will kill it almost immediately!
 
Bill, What I did for my stang. It was also not a daily driver. The alarm system would drain it.

I bought a $5 float charger from harbor freight. I took a short lamp cord type extension cord and cut it. Mounted the female end in grill area wired to the batery. I took the male end and wired it to the float charger. When garaged I could plug it in without poping the hood.

Ran another light duty extension cord and hung the float charger from the garage ceiling. Had a line switch on the charger and the plug for the stang hung down in front. Pluged it in and fliped the switch..:D



Edit; the AZ gold batterry lasted 8 yrs this way.
 
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Just bought a deltronics tender, picked up a new batt under fords warranty.

001 cannot keep a trickle charger on the batt 24/7

Tender as Eddie said sences full charge and shuts off and on.
 
001trac, a tricle is always on at over 12vdc. Even at 1/2 amp it is not good for the battery. A float charger monitors battery voltage. It will drop below 12vdc when needed. It wont fry a battery over long periods of charging.
 
You may want to check the vehicle for current draw first. If you have access to a multimeter that can measure amperage it's very simple.



Disconnect the positive terminal of the battery, run the positive lead from the multimeter to the battery and the negative to the vehicle (battery connection on the vehicle) and set the meter to current draw.



keep the door open but throw the door latch manual so the vehicle thinks the doors closed (keys out of the ignition). Wait about 15 minutes so the car goes to sleep (the amperage should drop). Make sure you still have access to the fuse panel of the vehicle.



now you want to pull fuses and replace individual until you see a substantial drop in amperage on the multimeter. This will help you narrow down where the draw is coming from. Start with any after market accessories.



Could be a relay stuck open or something like that, should help you narrow down the search.
 
Bill,



That is not Normal.... Sorry, but 35K+ for a car and the battery dies.... LOL



Want to buy a bridge ???



Todd Z
 
45K

And it is very common with S197 stangs, 50% of the batts fail after two yrs if the car is not a DD, mine sat for two weeks.

Got a new batt under warranty.

When they ran the diagnostics for the warranty claim, the batt had two dead cells.
 

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