Which Battery Tender?

[NYSport]

I have searched and read threads about battery tenders. Seems like a "no-brainer", so which one do you use? I'm looking at the Battery Tender Jr and the Battery Tender Plus, any experience with either?

I don't have any particular need for small size but I don't want more than the bike battery needs.

Thanks Tom

[MongoWERA]

I like the Optimate better than Battery Tender but the BT is still good. I've got two of those and a BT Plus which works great on bikes/cars/whatever.

[bahwolf]

I've got several BT Juniors, a BT Plus and several of the Yuasa tenders (look just like the BT Jr). They all seem to do about the same job.

[totnac]

i'm using BT plus

[Dallara]

I'll probably be in the minority here, but I doubt I will ever purchase a Deltran product again... At least not on purpose - i.e. one came with a Deltran straight from the manufacturer with one of the bikes I recently purchased, but that's another story.

A couple of years ago I purchased one Battery Tender and it worked fine for a while so when I needed another charger I purchased a second Battery Tender. Not too long after that the first one failed, and that's where the problems started...

Even though the unit was less than one year old I had not kept the receipt from buying it. When I contacted Deltran they said I had to send the unit back at my own expense and only then could they determine if the unit would be warrantied or not since I had no proof of when I bought it. I started to pull the piece apart myself to troubleshoot it myself but instead thought, no, I'll let them fix it... After all it's supposed to have "Up to a 10 Year Warranty", right? Look for yourself, that's what it says, even right on their website (http://batterytender.com/ - BTW, see if you can find ANY other warranty info on their website...).

Well, I sent it back and waited, and waited, and then waited some more... Two or three weeks after I had sent it in (with a tracking number, thank goodness) I called to check on the status. At first they couldn't find it, then they said it hadn't been repaired yet and they still didn't know if it would be warrantied or not. Then another week went by and no news, so I called again. This time they said it was repaired but that I would have to pay for the repair and for the return shipping. The repair cost was over half of what a new replacement charger would have cost, BTW, so I argued long and hard about it. After a lot of heated discussion they finally agreed to pick up the cost of repair but not the return shipping, nor would they tell me what exactly had failed or what they had repaired. I finally gave in and said to ship it...

When it finally got back to me it was more than obvious the returned unit was NOT the one I had sent to them as the serial numbers were different... Hmmmm, so they didn't repair mine after all, just sent me another one. Wonder why that took over a month?

Though I should have I didn't bother to call and ask about this anomaly... That is until this replacement unit failed less than six weeks after it's arrival.

When I contacted Deltran they went through the same song and dance - send it back, at my expense, and they would determine if it was a warranty issue or not - and this from the replacement unit that by their own records was sent back me only six weeks before!!! Oh, and they never could explain why the serial numbers were different other than to say my original one must have been so fried they just decided to replace it... They ignored my questions as to where the fictional "repair cost" had come from when they had tried to soak me for that.

I then decided it wasn't worth even the shipping to go through that again, so I bought a different charger from these folks:

http://www.batterymart.com/

I got one of these:

http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery...y-charger.html

It's made by this outfit:

http://www.thebatteryminder.com/

Notice the clear, very easy to find, warranty information at:

http://www.thebatteryminder.com/a_warranty.php

Nearly five years since I bought that little puppy and it still works fine, and has been used almost every day since its purchase...

And the Deltran story isn't over...

Less than a year after the Deltran warranty fiasco occurred the other Battery Tender I had bought initially failed. I didn't even bother to contact them and tossed the big, ugly, cheaply made out of sheetmetal, POS Deltran Battery Tender in the trash, where it belonged...

Because at the time I also needed a couple more chargers, and bigger ones capable of some other tasks, I went with the recommendation of a friend and bought a couple of Schumacher's:

http://www.schumacherproducts.com/

Specifically this one:

http://store.schumachermart.com/sc-1200a.html

And another similar, more powerful version of the same they don't make any longer. Four or so years later both of these are still going strong, and both get used around our shop quite a bit.

Last but not least, recently I wanted to get a smaller charger to carry onboard a bike on longer trips, just in case, and another for in the toolbox on our race trailer and decided to try some from these people:

http://www.ctek.com/EN-US/Default.aspx

The chargers are quite nice, very well made, and easy to operate. I have only had them about two weeks so I cannot comment as yet on their reliability. Still, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, along with others, have chosen them as their OEM charger so hopefully they will be okay...

I should also mention I have three friends who have all had there Deltran products fail and each has had similar experiences to mine with their warranty coverage.

I'm sure there will be lots of others who have owned Battery Tenders without any problems or issues. I have a few friends that have had them and never had a hiccup. I only know I won't ever take a chance on another Deltran product ever again.

Just FYI... YMMV.

Hope it helps.

Dallara

[NYSport]

Thanks for all the opinions. I really don't what to run into any warranty issues. I checked the CTEK site (thanks Dallara) and I think that is the way to go for my intended use. One for the car, 3300 and an 800 for the bike. Thanks again for all the help. Tom

[Caidly]

Although I continue to buy Deltran Battery Tenders (because you can find them on ebay for less than $20 shipped), every one I have owned (except the one I have now) has failed within 3 years.

My Yuasa charger lasted 7 until I ran it over.

YMMV (at least I won't need to charge the Hyper this winter... )

[NYSport]

CTarna, way to look at the silver lining

[Dallara]

I think you made a great choice, NYSport...

As I said, I have only had the CTEK chargers about two weeks, but they seem very well made, super easy to operate, and all the connectors, etc. are of very high quality. I got a 3300 to carry on the long distance bike and a 7000 to carry in the toolbox on the race trailer.

I have tried both of the CTEK's and one thing I neglected to mention about them - they are FAST when it comes to charging, yet they don't seem to produce any adverse, excessive heat in the battery nor do they got hot themselves... The lack of heat production aleviates a lot of worries, and their speed in bringing a battery up to full charge has to be considered an asset.

I should mention that the Schumacher's charge fast, too, though the big one can get a motorcycle battery pretty hot if it is set too high. The only other drawback to the Schumacher's is they both have fans that can make their operation pretty loud. Other than that they are wonderful.

The BatteryMinder is neat, too, though it can take quite a while for it to charge a depleted battery. It doesn't get hot, though, nor does it seem to heat up the battery.

One great thing about the CTEK people...

They shipped fast, and the items were well packaged. They also have been terrific with follow-up. However, it should be noted they had the chargers (and the accessories I ordered with them) shipped from their nearest dealer/distributor, who is only 200 miles away, and it has been this dealer/distributor that has done the follow-up... Still, that follow-up has been one phone call to tell me the order shipped, an e-mail doing the same, and an e-mail later thanking me for the purchase and telling me if I had any problems to please let them know. There was also a nice, handwritten note saying essentially the same inside the package when the order arrived.

Just for the record that CTEK dealer/distributor is:

http://www.paschalperformance.com/

And the phone call, e-mails, and note all came from Clifford Paschal.

Just FYI... Hope it helps!

Dallara

[AXE]

Originally Posted by MongoWERA

I like the Optimate better than Battery Tender but the BT is still good. I've got two of those and a BT Plus which works great on bikes/cars/whatever.

I have been using an Optimate for the last 6 years and it works like a champ. You can feel when you pick it up that it is heavy duty. I will stick with this brand for the money. I like it because it has a desulfate mode, which if you read up on why batteries fail it is primarily due to sulfating of the lead plates. Most batteries can be revived assuming its not too late by desulfating them. They have a newer version now the Optimate 4, I have the earlier version.

http://www.accumate.co.uk/cg010001.htm

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/motor...er/optimate-3/

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...y-Charger.aspx

Out!