Battery Tender Jr. 12V Battery Maintainer for $19.99 w/Free store pickup

Do they sell anything to maintain the maintainer?

I have two of these tenders. Keep them on my harleys over the winter. One battery is going on 8 years now. I think thats good for a motorcycle battery stored in a unheated garage.

Bought another one to keep as a spare. Thanks op

My warranty experience was pretty positive. The plug case separated when I was pulling it from the wall. I emailed and they shipped me a new case for free. IIRC I could have shipped it back on my dime and they would have sent me a repaired or refurbished unit, but no other fees.

Edit to say CS was quick and friendly and the charger works great for my motorcycles and cars.

Quote from thebigdog : I got something like that from Harbor Freight with a coupon for $4.99. http://www.harborfreight.com/auto...42292.html They put coupons out for this a lot.

Yea definitely not the same thing.

I've used generic crap like that and had car batteries die no matter what. Since I switched to Battery Tender Jr.'s have never had a problem with my car batteries.

See thread here where others have had mixed results (poor) with the generic (cen-tech) battery charger, vs battery tender: http://www.expeditionportal.com/f...ery-Tender

The generics will cost you more in failed batteries. Go with a proven brand.

**********Comprehensive battery and charger info here:
http://www.batterystuff.com/batte...g1100.html
These guys are great to deal with. Oregon, no tax. The Noco 1100 has more than twice the effective power. Advanced switch mode smart charger. 85vac-130vac input, Starts w/batt voltage as low as 2vdc, Chargers, conditions most car and mc batteries 6-12vdc, maintains any battery. Low noise, high efficiency. Coupon brings the price down to $34 no brainer compared to the old school.B Tnder.
http://www.batterystuff.com/batte...12151.html
This Battery Minder is $45. full time de-sulfation, chage, maintain. Rave reviews around the net.[/QUOTE]*******************

I liked your rec of Battery minder, repped (if I could on this mobile site, will try to remember later). I did some reading on desulfuration and it sounds worthwhile for a seldom used car that my wife leaves with something or other turned on 50% of the time she uses it, draining the battery. So it's been drained and left for a week or more several times, so the battery is likely pretty messed up/sulfated or whatever one is supposed to call it. This sounds like a good idea, if I can get her to plug it in; if not, at least when I do it may help rejuvenate the battery.
42.49 shipped at Amazon, much cheaper than your batterystuff dudes, which is 45+7.50shipping=52.50shipped
http://www.amazon.com/BatteryMIND...B000P23HZS

Quote from thebigdog : I got something like that from Harbor Freight with a coupon for $4.99. http://www.harborfreight.com/auto...42292.html They put coupons out for this a lot.

I have a HF one.. works great to keep Vette charged for weekend driving..

These are great if you have batteries that sit for long periods, especially if the vehicle places a bit of parasitic drain on the battery to run electronics. The Battery Tenders are the real deal and do a great job of charging just enough but not too much, and then monitoring battery status after it's full.

That being said, the Battery Tender Plus was a much better choice for me because I have a few toys that use AGM batteries. When you buy an AGM battery it often comes with the electrolyte separate, which you add and then provide a proper initial charge. The initial charge is critical, and the BT-Plus can do it, but the Jr. can not (doesn't have high enough charging current). Desulfating was mentioned also, neither BT model desulfates.

So if you buy the Jr. model and then find you need a new AGM battery, you'll be buying another charger, definitely not slick.

I have one of these connected to a vehicle that gets driven ~1K miles a year. The car is almost seven years old and the battery basically went dead after 4 years. The car has some parasitic load from the fob system and alarm. I own a Schumacher/80/30/12/2 Amp speed charger [amazon.com]that wasn't able to bring the battery back (it would give me 1 start out of the battery). After keeping it on this thing, I have been able to eek out the past few years. I have recently kept the car off the charger for about a month and the battery is still good (although, I can tell it is weak). I would highly recommend this charger for the $. A new battery for the car runs $120+ so it has paid for itself.

Pretty sure these are just a few dollars at harbor freight?

BTW getting a 5 watt solar panel will keep your car battery nicely topped off.

Quote from avalon : Pretty sure these are just a few dollars at harbor freight? BTW getting a 5 watt solar panel will keep your car battery nicely topped off.

May be a few dollars at HF but I would rather not have a product plugged in 24/7 year round with something that has been frequently returned because it melted. You stand to loose a lot more that acouple of dollars on a HF deal.

It shows for $37.99 on the site for me. Deal dead?

Quote from TheSpatulaOfLuv : It shows for $37.99 on the site for me. Deal dead?

ditto, even in the cart

I have been buying the 10$ tender from harbor frieght. i own 4-5 of them and they work well during the winter or while im out of the country.. been using them for 3+ years. you can get them for 6$ if your a part of their inside club membership.