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View Full Version : Battery Tender Jr--Good/Gimmick/Bad?



Matt Meiser
08-30-2012, 8:50 AM
Now that I'm not using my tractor to mow my lawn I'm finding that the battery can run down to where it doesn't want to start after several weeks. I'd previously noted this in the winter but had figured it was the cold weather. Apparently there's something on there that puts a little draw on the relatively small battery (what I don't know--I'll have to ask my dealer about that one.) Previously the local battery shop had recommended that I get a Battery Tender Jr. for our Kawasaki mule which usually sits unused much of the winter but I never got around to it. I'm thinking one for each could be a good idea as well as for my zero turn which obviously won't see any winter use at all. Are these things as advertised? A gimmick? Actually bad for batteries?

I looked and they sell multi-output systems. I can buy 3 Jr's and a power strip for less!

David Weaver
08-30-2012, 8:55 AM
How hard is it to disconnect from the terminal on the battery?

Low use is a constant problem with farmers on machines that get used once a year or only a couple of times a year, batteries last less long than they do with heavy use. But I've never seen anyone mention a battery tender.

In theory, it should be a pretty simple problem and should work well, though, right? Just a trickle charger that will stop the trickle when the battery is fully charged, and it sure doesn't cost much.

Matt Meiser
08-30-2012, 8:59 AM
On the tractor, very. The battery is down low in front of the radiator, under the headlights. The grill normally tilts away for easier access--unless you have the guard for the loader installed, then you can't tilt the grill. If the battery is dead, you can't start the tractor to remove the loader so you can remove the guard so you can get to the battery! Its about all I can do to get the large clamps from a normal charger on there. Small clamps might be OK, but the Battery Tender comes with a short harness you can leave attached to the battery and just plug/unplug as needed.

I could probably mount a disconnect switch somewhere and route cables but it'd cost more in parts and time than a Battery Tender Jr. ($25)

The Mule we do use once in a while in the winter. Sometimes I pull my daughter around on a sled, and if we get a sudden thaw our dirt road can become nearly impassible to cars so sometimes my wife will park at the church at the corner and I'll run down to get her. I don't want to have to mess with the battery for that. For the ZTR, I could probably just disconnect it.

David Weaver
08-30-2012, 9:06 AM
If I had a machine the terminals were hard to get to, I'd give it a shot. Worst it can do is ruin a battery that's already going to have a short life from not being cycled. I doubt it would do that.

The amazon reviews on it are great, and there's 790 of them, so they're not great from lack of exposure.

On all of these machines that draw current, it'd be nice to have a "cold off" switch that completely stopped the draw.

Myk Rian
08-30-2012, 10:00 AM
Install a battery cutoff switch. HF has one for 9 bucks.
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-battery-cutoff-switch-66789.html

Steve Meliza
08-30-2012, 12:10 PM
Lead acid batteries self-discharge about 5% per month so a disconnect won't save you from that. A battery tender however will keep it topped off which is what you need to prevent premature battery failure with lead-acid batteries.

Matt Meiser
08-30-2012, 12:19 PM
Yeah, but by the time I add some long cables because there's no where decent to mount something up front where it won't get killed brush hogging I'd be way over the price of the Battery Tender Jr. There is a style battery cutoff that goes right on the terminal but these are smaller than automotive terminals--probably some Japanese standard since that's where John Deere builds compact tractors.

Scott T Smith
08-30-2012, 1:17 PM
Matt, I don't use the Battery Tender brand, but I do use Battery Minders on all of my farm equipment. I probably have 10 or more of them across the farm, and I've been using them for around 12 years.

The ones with the desulphanation mode work best. Once the batter is charged they go into a "pulse" mode that helps to prevent sulfites from developing on the battery plates, w/o overcharging the battery.

They have a small, two conductor pigtail that you can attach to the battery for ease of use. That way you don't have to slave the charger to the equipment, especially if it is stored outside.

Northern Tool sells them.

Mike Henderson
08-30-2012, 1:19 PM
What I did one time was get some welding connectors and mount them on the vehicle. They were connected to the battery. Then I had a cable that would plug into the jacks. I could hook up a charger to the cable or jumper cables. Get one red and one black.

If you want to save money and time, and if you have a negative ground, you only need one jack connected to the positive line. Just use a clamp to hook to the chassis for the negative.

Mike

Jim Koepke
08-30-2012, 1:28 PM
Disconnecting the batter will not always stop the discharge.

If there is even a little dirt (or other contamination) on the battery, it will discharge itself over time.

If something is drawing current while the machine is inoperative, it should be corrected if possible. Without a good meter and knowledge of your electrical system, this is difficult to find or even describe the method of troubleshooting to find the culprit.

jtk

Matt Meiser
08-30-2012, 2:02 PM
That's a good point. Being in front of the radiator the fan pulls all sort of who-knows-what across it. I pressure wash the whole tractor in the spring and fall, but keeping it clean isn't happening.

There is an electronic module at the firewall which may well draw enough to discharge the smallish battery after a while. I know when we had our camper, just the gas detector installed in it was enough to run down a 2-cycle battery after about 2 months.

Paul Murphy
08-30-2012, 2:11 PM
I use a similar clone unit (from Yuasa) on my motorcycles, there are several to chose from, and the good ones absolutely do the job. If you don't mind rotating a single tender among many batteries, you can buy many quick-connect leads. I did this with my motorcycles, it was great to only have to access the battery once to permanantly wire the quick-connect. I more than doubled the life of my batteries by keeping them properly charged.
http://batterytender.com/products/accessories/ring-terminal-harness.html

One of many clones:
http://www.lectriclimited.com/battery-butler_mainpage.htm (cheapest)

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/chargers.php (the one that I use)

Brian Elfert
08-30-2012, 2:16 PM
I have a 24 volt Battery Tender Plus connected to the batteries in my motorhome and it works great. Batteries are only charged when they need charging.

Bruce Page
08-30-2012, 2:49 PM
I don’t remember which model I used on my motorcycle but it did a good job. I was buying a new battery about once a year prior to using it.

Tom Giles
08-30-2012, 3:15 PM
I have a Battery Tender Plus hooked to my two boat batteries. Been using it for 2 years and it works great.

Jay Maiers
08-30-2012, 5:26 PM
Matt, I don't use the Battery Tender brand, but I do use Battery Minders on all of my farm equipment. I probably have 10 or more of them across the farm.
The ones with the desulphanation mode work best. Once the batter is charged they go into a "pulse" mode that helps to prevent sulfites from developing on the battery plates, w/o overcharging the battery.
They have a small, two conductor pigtail that you can attach to the battery for ease of use. That way you don't have to slave the charger to the equipment, especially if it is stored outside.
Northern Tool sells them.

+1 for the Battery Minder.
I bought one to keep our dive lights charged (SLA). I've got (4) 12v packs daisy chained together; the battery minder does a great job keeping them charged. I also use it when we go diving to recharge the 4.5ah packs; it'll usually do the job in 4 or so hours.
I bought a second Battery Minder to split between my motorcycle battery and my truck. I've made a set of leads that are attached to the battery post and disconnect the 2-prong trailer style plug when I don't need it. Additional trailer plugs are available at the auto store for 2.99 each or so, so it's easy to make your own leads for anything that needs a trickle / float charger.

For your purposes, I'd say either one should do the trick.

Chris Damm
08-31-2012, 10:04 AM
I've got a BT jr. on my lawn mower, boat and El Camino. I've had them for over 4 years now with zero problem with a dead battery!. The lawn mower battery is 4 years old, when did I ever have one last that long? The boat battery needed replacing this year. It was 8 years old but I only had the BT for half of that. The El Camino battery is 12 years old and had the BT for 8 of that. The quick disconects make them real easy to use. The clock used to run down the battery after sitting for 2-3 months, now no problem after sitting fo 6!

Rick Potter
08-31-2012, 12:23 PM
I have a double battery tender hooked to two cars I don't drive much, sometimes months at a time. Get in and crank 'em up. Absolute problem solver.

Rick Potter

Bob Rufener
08-31-2012, 6:19 PM
Matt,

I bought 2 battery tenders about a year ago. I put them on 2 motorcycles we store in the basement over winter. They both worked very well and the batteries were fully charged and ready to go this past spring. They will not over charge the batteries and are not terribly expensive. I think I paid about $25 for each.

Rick Moyer
09-01-2012, 7:45 PM
Late to the party but I had one (Battery Tender Jr.) on my motorcycle for years (after letting the original battery die cause I didn't have one on it!). I would highly recommend one. I now use mine on the garden tractor battery.

Matt Meiser
09-01-2012, 9:10 PM
It arrived from Amazon today, now to get it installed...

Dick Strauss
09-02-2012, 10:00 AM
Matt,
I know you already received at least one Tender Jr.

How about checking the current draw across the fuses on the other mowers, tractors, etc? If a fuse has a draw with the keys off, disconnect the fuse (assuming it is easier to get at the fuses than the battery).

Dave Lehnert
09-02-2012, 10:09 AM
Anyone ever use the Harbor Freight model? I have one or two sitting in the garage I purchased cheap but kind afraid to keep one hooked up unattended in the garage (any brand charger)

http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html

Matt Meiser
09-02-2012, 10:14 AM
Yeah, its slightly easier to get at the fuses on the tractor than the battery. Only have to pop the hood and remove the side cover but at least you can do it with the loader installed. :)

Dave, I've been tempted in the past by those but you can get the Battery Tender Jr from Amazon for $25 and it comes with a longer cord, a harness for permanant connection, and just looks better made.

Rick Potter
09-02-2012, 6:11 PM
Dave,

I don't think those shut off. I bought two and then returned them. The whole idea of the Battery Tender is that it keeps the battery charged without frying it like a trickle charger will eventually.

Rick P

Ole Anderson
09-03-2012, 2:24 PM
Matt, I have to presume that you have a quality battery? Many cheap small tractor batteries have a life of a year or two, for a couple of bucks extra, you can step up to battery that should last you 4 or 5 years. I can't imagine a parasitic electrical load on something as simple as a small tractor, but I could be wrong.

Rick Potter
09-03-2012, 4:53 PM
Coincidently, I just got my '56 Ford off the rack this morning, because I needed the lift to work on my Jeepster. The Ford has been on the Battery Tender well over six months, and it fired right up. Prior to getting the BT, even unhooking the battery, which by the way is about 6 years old, it would go flat in about a month.

I just bought another BT for other cars I don't start much, probably should get one for my travel trailer too.

Rick P

Matt Meiser
09-03-2012, 5:25 PM
Matt, I have to presume that you have a quality battery? Many cheap small tractor batteries have a life of a year or two, for a couple of bucks extra, you can step up to battery that should last you 4 or 5 years. I can't imagine a parasitic electrical load on something as simple as a small tractor, but I could be wrong.

Its a diesel compact tractor and there are an electronic module. Not sure exactly what for because I don't believe its electronic injection. The battery is the one John Deere recommends. They had load tested the original when I had it in for some work about 2-1/2 years ago and it was going so I let them replace it. No idea who makes it but JD doesn't usually do "cheap."

When the battery gets low, the tractor doesn't want to start--just cranks. I put the charger on for a few and it starts right up. Except in the winter after the first snow in a couple weeks, then it doesn't really want to crank. Always been that way and I never really questioned it.