Battery Tender

[Bronco Maniac]

Anyone use a battery tender on their Bronco? I keep my motorcycle connected to one all the time and they say it prolongs battery life. I drive my Bronco about once a week, just running around town. I run a Optima red top.

Your thoughts and experience.

 

[.94 OR]

I bought one for the Bronco. When it sits for 6 months over winter the battery would bleed down so I went with small tender unit that looks like the one for my dual sport.

 

[Yeller]

I use them with my yellow tops. Have have some over 10 years old.

 

[bmc69]

Yep..I run battery tenders on several of my trucks as well as both motorcycles..and my boat, none of which get run very often. Batteries do last a long time when kept on a tender.

 

[56f100bbw]

Deltron battery tender

use this one on everything back up generator my bronco, trailers with batteries Home Depot was the cheapest price , one from Walmart but just my opinion they were junk

 

[blubuckaroo]

I have a couple of the Schumacher brand I use for the Bronco and deep cycle RV battery.
They work great.
A bit of advice though... Check the electrolyte level every couple months.

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...V1iCtBh0Q-w9uEAQYASABEgJXXfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[68ford]

Have one of these set ups permanently mounted and wired to the batteries. Plug in cord and walk away.

https://www.batterymart.com/p-gen2-noco-genius-battery-charger.html

https://www.batterystuff.com/batter...co-ac-port-plug-with-extension-cord-gcp1.html

 

[No Hay]

I've used 6-8 Battery Tenders at a time since 1990. Motorcycles, cars, trucks, boats and riding lawn mowers.

Also used a solar powered one in a friends F250 that sat outside at my house (in gray skied/rainy Portland) for 5 years that never let him down.

Cheers to Optima though. The Bronco has a yellow top, and it sat in my neighbors garage this summer for 2 1/2 months, in 105* heat, w/o it's Battery Tender, and when we got back from vacation, it fired up instantly.

 

[blubuckaroo]

I just wired my battery tender to plug from an old spotlight. I just plug it into the cigar lighter outlet. Don't even need to open the hood.

 

[Bronco4x4]

My Diehard platinum in my 69EB never needed an external charge since I installed it in 2010. I do use a battery cut off so their is no drain over time. The only draw-back is radio memory but I don’t mind. I only use a battery tender on smaller batteries like a lawn tractor. I mentioned in another post >> My classic car insurance company sent an E-mail suggesting to not leave the battery tender plugged in full time. They suggested to unplug when fully charged. If the vehicle sits for a while then plug it in. They stated they have seen alot of classic car/garage fires from the tenders when a 110v power outage or surge occurs.

 

[Bronco Maniac]

Thanks for the comments. I think I will try to put one on mine.

 

[blubuckaroo]

My Diehard platinum in my 69EB never needed an external charge since I installed it in 2010. I do use a battery cut off so their is no drain over time. The only draw-back is radio memory but I don’t mind. I only use a battery tender on smaller batteries like a lawn tractor. I mencharger.tioned in another post >> My classic car insurance company sent an E-mail suggesting to not leave the battery tender plugged in full time. They suggested to unplug when fully charged. If the vehicle sits for a while then plug it in. They stated they have seen alot of classic car/garage fires from the tenders when a 110v power outage or surge occurs.

If your insurance company made that suggestion, you better comply. Otherwise they have grounds to dismiss a claim they find was caused by the charger.
For me, I haven't received a warning like that. I'll use the charger.

 

[Bronco4x4]

It was more of an FYI from them in a message to all.

 

[69_Sport]

Tenders are designed to be left plugged in all the time. That's the whole point of using one. Batteries start to slowly discharge the moment you take them off the charger. Install the harness that comes with it and run the plug so it's convenient and you can get to it without opening the hood. That way you'll use it all the time.
I recommend the Battery Tender brand. I've used them for decades on all my collector cars and can document 7-10 years of life on all my batteries, whether lead/acid or AGM types. Tenders more than pay for themselves.

 

[ep67bro]

They work great. My dad has had one on his 07 Vette since it sits in a garage for about 5 months. I think he just changed the original battery in 2018. I use it on my boat battery and have one that I use at work for my fork lift and bronco. I have the Battery Tender brand the wiring harness that you can just plug in is a nice option.

 

[pbwcr]

BTW, I have countless rigs seldom used an all have a battery maintainer.
I used to prefer Schumacher 1.5 A units and I always monitor them when in first use to verify they operate properly. They are the usuals 3 stage units. One day I started the EB with one connected and promptly ruing the maintainer. No big deal I got on Amazon and bought a schumaker replacement. When I monitored it I found 16.8 volts and climbing. What happened without changing the part number they went from old school transformer + chip to chip only and they have it all messed up.
What did was went to battery tender and all is well. BT sells 1.5, 3A and higher for sale and I bought a 1.5 and 3 as a backup. The BT are the usual 3 stage units. BT come with a fuse to prevent the high amp surge cause by starting the rig with it connected to the house power.
So there you go with my experience
PaulW

 

[Bronco Maniac]

I bought the Battery Tender Junior. Thanks.

 

[Justafordguy]

Have one of these set ups permanently mounted and wired to the batteries. Plug in cord and walk away.

https://www.batterymart.com/p-gen2-noco-genius-battery-charger.html

https://www.batterystuff.com/batter...co-ac-port-plug-with-extension-cord-gcp1.html

I have 4 different Noco chargers and love em. Been working great for years.

 

[68ford]

I have 4 different Noco chargers and love em. Been working great for years.

Nice! Mine's relatively new I just like the idea of being able to plug extension cord in and walk away. And it's nice that it's a battery tender but considerably more amperage then most battery tenders almost like a charger.

 

[nvrstuk]

I run 4 Battery Tender Jr.s. for several decades... Bronco doesn't need one because it gets used all the time...