My Battery Maintainer

[metman]

After searching old posts and some trial and error, here's my solution to using a battery maintainer:

I bought my first "battery maintainer" from Cycle Gear down in Nashville and hooked it up to a two-conductor SAE style plug that I mounted under the seat on my 2012 RT-S. I figured one of these days I could use that same plug for heated gear, but....

That $24 unit lasted about a year, then I went looking for a "Battery Tender" brand maintainer at Wal-Mart. My plan was to find something small enough that I could hard wire in the Spyder's trunk. That way it would always be where it was supposed to be and all I had to do was find a drop cord and plug it up.

The two units that my Wal-Mart carried were the "Jr" @ about $40 and the "Plus" at about $70. Neither one suited my needs as the "Jr" was much larger than it looks in the package and it had to plug directly into a 110 outlet. And the "Plus" was way too big to fit in the trunk.

A walk down the aisle to the Boat/Marine section and I found a small $30 dollar unit that looked about the size I figured I needed. Well it didn't even last a week, but at least I was able to get my $30 back.

Then a visit to Advance Auto Parts and I found just what I thought I was looking for, a "Battery Tender Waterproof 800". A little over $50, but small enough to fit right into a recess/pocket just inside the trunk on the left hand side.

I shortened the 110 AC cord to about 12" and then drilled a hole in the side of the trunk for the 12 VDC cord to pass through with a strain relief bushing. Then I ran the DC cord up to the back side of the 12 VDC socket in the back left part of the trunk. I tied those leads into the leads going to that socket using a couple 3M Scotchlok run & tap connectors.

Then I mounted an old reel-up extension cord just above where I park the Spyder in the garage. Now all I have to do is open the trunk, unwrap the AC cord from around the battery maintainer, pull down some cord from the reel, plug the two together and walk away. At least this way I don't have to go find the unit and I don't have to worry about tripping over a 110 AC cord on the floor.

Now if this Deltran Battery Tender unit doesn't work out, the little CETK US 0.8 would be my next choice. And in my opinion, those of you who are using trickle chargers or junk from Harbor Freight, you need to do your battery a favor and throw that stuff away.

Mike in KY
PS. This is my first attempt at adding attachments. Hope it worked out like I planned.

[SPYD3R]

GE RETIREE HERE.....
THAT 'YELLOW' THING IN THE LAST PIX....?????
I DIDN'T KNOW WE (GE) BUILT LAWN TRACTORS...??????? :yikes:
DAN P
SPYD3R

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

:yikes:.....Well that beats all.....................I'm going right down to the Spydercave and tell my $ 20 Schumacher Battery Maintainer that I bought at Wally World 5 yrs ago that your really just a piece of JUNK and should just skidaddle on out of here :( :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflb lack::roflblack:.......Mike :thumbup:

[unclegeezer]

Nice job. Always have your tender with your Spyder.

[SNOOPY]

I have 4 of the battery tender brand maintainers around here for different things and they have always worked awesome. Thanks for all the info.

[SNOOPY]

GE RETIREE HERE.....
THAT 'YELLOW' THING IN THE LAST PIX....?????
I DIDN'T KNOW WE (GE) BUILT LAWN TRACTORS...??????? :yikes:
DAN P
SPYD3R


Ive never seen an electric lawn tractor.



http://www.myelec-traks.com



.

[metman]

Dan,

Not a GE retiree, I just got hooked on these things back in the early 70's. That's my General Electric E10m Elec-Trak riding lawn tractor that I bought new in 1973 and I'm still using it. It runs off six 6 volt golf cart batteries. As long as I can keep her running, I'll never go back to an ICE unit.

Altogether, GE had about 10 different models of electric units starting back around 1968 before they sold out their Outdoor Power Equipment Division to Wheel Horse around 1974. Over the years I've probably had a dozen or so different Elec-Trak tractors and a couple were Wheel Horse units. New Idea even had their version of a couple models and I had one of them too. Wheel Horse took leftover parts of just three of GE's models, painted them red and put WH stickers on them. Then they just let it die, IMHO.

Check out www.elec-trak.com (http://www.elec-trak.com) for more info.

Mike in KY




GE RETIREE HERE.....
THAT 'YELLOW' THING IN THE LAST PIX....?????
I DIDN'T KNOW WE (GE) BUILT LAWN TRACTORS...??????? :yikes:
DAN P
SPYD3R

[metman]

Mike,

Go ahead and keep your Schumacher unit. I definitely would not put that brand in the same category as Harbor Freight stuff.

It's just hard for me to accept that some guys spend $25K on a Spyder and then $10 on a HB battery maintainer. Just my opinion and we all know about them.

Mike in KY



:yikes:.....Well that beats all.....................I'm going right down to the Spydercave and tell my $ 20 Schumacher Battery Maintainer that I bought at Wally World 5 yrs ago that your really just a piece of JUNK and should just skidaddle on out of here :( :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflb lack::roflblack:.......Mike :thumbup:

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike,

Go ahead and keep your Schumacher unit. I definitely would not put that brand in the same category as Harbor Freight stuff.

It's just hard for me to accept that some guys spend $25K on a Spyder and then $10 on a HB battery maintainer. Just my opinion and we all know about them.

Mike in KY
:popcorn:.......To Mike from Mike ....I learned a long time ago to never confuse Money with Quality.......ie. Honda exhaust gaskets ( way cheaper , way better ) VS. BRP exhaust gaskets ( way more expensive , very poor quality )

[CruiseRT]

Just a thought, you might want to check that the maintainer does not put a drain on the battery when not in use......

[Ben Burped]

I must just be an old guy in my own protected, isolated world. I've been using battery tender juniors for about 4 years now on my RT, my boat, and on our spare car without any problem. On the RT, I installed the pigtail and raise the seat to plug in the tender. I run an extension cord to plug the transformer into. On the boat and car, I use the clip on pigtail to connect directly to the battery. These are all plugged in unless I'm using the vehicle. All of this has worked so far.

[cyclekid58]

I must just be an old guy in my own protected, isolated world. I've been using battery tender juniors for about 4 years now on my RT, my boat, and on our spare car without any problem. On the RT, I installed the pigtail and raise the seat to plug in the tender. I run an extension cord to plug the transformer into. On the boat and car, I use the clip on pigtail to connect directly to the battery. These are all plugged in unless I'm using the vehicle. All of this has worked so far.


I use a battery Tender Jr. with the lighter plug adapter I got from Amazon, moved the fuse from #6 to #7 spot in the panel. Plugs in the rear 12v outlet, takes seconds and didn't have to worry about wiring to the battery. Why make things more complicated than need be. :thumbup:

[GreenDragon]

:thumbup: Works for me.
I use a battery Tender Jr. with the lighter plug adapter I got from Amazon, moved the fuse from #6 to #7 spot in the panel. Plugs in the rear 12v outlet, takes seconds and didn't have to worry about wiring to the battery. Why make things more complicated than need be. :thumbup:

[Highwayman2013]

I use a Harbor Freight charger on my 2 wheeler for 5 years. No problems and got it on sale for $5. Used one on our Spyder for 2 years when it failed I got a Deltran jr and plug it into the pigtail that was already under the seat. I was just walking around my local H. F. and see they have a battery maintainer now. May try one for my 2 wheeler when the $5 one goes out.

[R FUN]

I have 3-Harbour Freight $5.00 chargers hooked up 24/7 to my snowmobile and atv batterys and the batterys are 7 years old and still good. The chargers are about 10 years old and non failed yet. I use a Schumacher maintainer on my Spyder and checked the battery after 2 months in storage and it showed 12.1V. The charger quit working but the lites indicated it was charged and working. Replaced the charger with another Schumacher maintainer and the battery is now 13.1V. Can not always trust the chargers.
Roger

[AeroPilot]

I have 3-Harbour Freight $5.00 chargers hooked up 24/7 to my snowmobile and atv batterys and the batterys are 7 years old and still good. The chargers are about 10 years old and non failed yet. I use a Schumacher maintainer on my Spyder and checked the battery after 2 months in storage and it showed 12.1V. The charger quit working but the lites indicated it was charged and working. Replaced the charger with another Schumacher maintainer and the battery is now 13.1V. Can not always trust the chargers.
Roger

as a famous fella once said... or repeated: Trust, but Verify.

[ARtraveler]

Have the Battery Tender Jr. models hooked up to my two :ani29:'s. Both are over five years old now. Hooked up from October through March. The :spyder2:'s usually start on the first try.

[napper39]

my jr tender is 7 years old and works grate i also got the cig plug and hook it up to the cig plug in the trunk works grate.:thumbup:

[whiteyron]

Ok I admit I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I interpret this correctly, if I have the cig lighter adapter and my battery tender and hook it up to my spyder that it will keep the battery charged by itself, in other words battery runs tender to charge battery??:pray:

[bluestratos]

If i understand correctly, no that will not work. And, if it did it would run the battery down before it would charge it, lol.

I use a Ctek Charger, it is a smart charter and constantly monitors the battery to determine when to charge. I had a couple cheap trickle chartgers but did not do a good job, in fact one of them failed and cooked my battery.

I keep a maintainer on at alltimes when am not riding daily. Regular batteries hate to be left in a discharged state and this will shorten the life. While very small, the parasitic draw from the computer, and alarm system if you have one, constantley drags the battery down. This is why they offer deep cycle batters, they are designed to take the draw down but they go this at a cost to the amp hours.

Our batteries like to be kept in a constant state of full charge to get maximum life out to them. I have had my motorcycle batteries last 9 years without problems when I discovered this back in the early 90's. (I sold that bike with out every needing to change the battery.


Ok I admit I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I interpret this correctly, if I have the cig lighter adapter and my battery tender and hook it up to my spyder that it will keep the battery charged by itself, in other words battery runs tender to charge battery??:pray:

[SNOOPY]

Ok I admit I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I interpret this correctly, if I have the cig lighter adapter and my battery tender and hook it up to my spyder that it will keep the battery charged by itself, in other words battery runs tender to charge battery??:pray:


Um, yeah that'll work :shocked:



:roflblack:

[ursamajor35126]

Ok I admit I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I interpret this correctly, if I have the cig lighter adapter and my battery tender and hook it up to my spyder that it will keep the battery charged by itself, in other words battery runs tender to charge battery??:pray:

It's the perpetual electricity machine.....:yes::yes: DAMN why didn't I think of this??:banghead:........:hun: What??? :opps:

[Mr. White]

Ok I admit I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I interpret this correctly, if I have the cig lighter adapter and my battery tender and hook it up to my spyder that it will keep the battery charged by itself, in other words battery runs tender to charge battery??:pray:

Yes, works great. However if you have a 2014/15, but not on 2010-13, ya gotta change the fuses out or it will run your battery down. See earlier posts on the fuse numbers....I think you change 6 to 7 or something like that. I have several Battery Tenders, paid $35 each when on sale years ago...have them on my Gold Wing Trike, two four wheelers, motorhome, and on the cars every month or two to bring the battery charges up to 100%.

No one agrees, but I change out my trike batteries every three years, good or bad. If the battery goes south in some west Texas areas I ride, I would be in serious trouble....no cell service in most of those areas and it does get warm. I spend $80+/- on each every three years....cheap insurance for me....

:spyder2:

[Cruzr Joe]

Ok I admit I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do I interpret this correctly, if I have the cig lighter adapter and my battery tender and hook it up to my spyder that it will keep the battery charged by itself, in other words battery runs tender to charge battery??:pray:




​NO. Battery tender must be plugged into wall socket.

[Deanna777]

Mike in KY:

I have a Deltran Battery Tender Jr. ( 12 Volt 750mA) 5 year warranty " the World's Most Advanced Battery Charger! Switches Automatically from Charge to Float! Paid$ 33.95 at local dealership 3 years ago no problems with it.
101743 101743 Deanna

[Mazo EMS2]

It's the perpetual electricity machine.....:yes::yes: DAMN why didn't I think of this??:banghead:........:hun: What??? :opps:

Oh my.....LOL. This would be awesome

[rob-airborne]

I like this thread. I had a stroke a few years ago (and after 3 separations from my 1st wife) but I bought my 2012 RT after I got out of the hospital.
I received a Schumacher XM1-5 maintainer from a Rolling Thunder raffle before the stroke. Do I connect both leads to the battery or do I connect the negative lead to ground somewhere?
I moved from Jax, Fl to Michigan near Notre Dame Univ last year so it gets a little chilly up here
Thanks

[jaherbst]

Way too much work Guys. I have multiple motorcycles, Spyder, generators, Polaris ranger etc. Whenever I buy a new toy I hook the electric riding gear pigtail directly to the battery. Have a conversion from Amazon that connects the pigtail to the battery through the heated gear plug. Heated gear plug is routed up through steering column. Very handy.

Batterie Tenders should not be left plugged in for an extended period of time unless you have a sealed battery. If battery is unsealed it will dry out the battery and you must keep checking water level. I only use the tenders for 1-2 days and then unplug and reuse after 2-3 weeks if vehicle is not ridden. Newer Tenders will float and not continue to trickle so this is not as important. I have both.

Jack

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Here's a review of a Harbor Freight charger. Consensus - you run a high risk of destroying a bike battery if use a HF charger.

http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=24973

[M109Dreamer]

I like this thread. I had a stroke a few years ago (and after 3 separations from my 1st wife) but I bought my 2012 RT after I got out of the hospital.
I received a Schumacher XM1-5 maintainer from a Rolling Thunder raffle before the stroke. Do I connect both leads to the battery or do I connect the negative lead to ground somewhere?
I moved from Jax, Fl to Michigan near Notre Dame Univ last year so it gets a little chilly up here
Thanks
Just looked up the specs and really doesnt show if the clamps have a quick connection or not? You can you your aligator clips and just hook the up to the jump posts under the seat.

If you clamps have a quick disconnect, like battery tenders do just puchase the cigarette adapter and plug it into the receptical in your trunck. Ill see if I can find my link to the one I bought.

Similar to this one. You can pick them up at Cycle Gear, WalMart, EBay, Amazon

https://www.google.com/search?q=battery+tender+cigarette+lighter+adapter&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=Kr30VKrXOcbkoATL94DoCg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=360&bih=592#spd=417088408727861507

[rays hell]

I have a Schumacher SCHSP-3 I purchased from an auto parts store for about $42,

It comes with alligator clips and a cigarette lighter plug and has a digital readout.

[PMK]

Picked up tonight a Battery Minder 1500 and the cigarette lighter adapter. Connected via the trunk 12v outlet. No mods except the fuse swap. The Battery Minder brand also desulfates the battery. I've used the Battery Minders for aircraft batteries on those type batteries. Worked very well there and I have no doubt the technology process will work on the Spyder.

PK

http://www.batteryminders.com/12-volt-maintenance-charger-desfulator-1500