Battery Tender Problem?

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FloydV

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I have a Battery Tender that is about 5 years old. Now it seems to be acting odd.

I bought a new battery about two months ago. It turns the engine over really fast and the bike always starts in about 3 seconds.

When I put the tender on after a ride, it goes to red for a few seconds and then to flashing green for about 10 hours, when it finally turns solid green. If I unplug the tender just long enough for the LEDs to die, and then plug it back in again, it starts this whole cycle over flashing green for about ten hours. There is no way that a battery could lose any charge in 10 seconds, so I'm puzzled.

When I shut the bike off, the battery measures 13.5 volts. I will have to wait till it turns solid green to get a voltage then. I'm worried that the tender is overcharging the battery. What are your thoughts?
 
dont know but mine seems to be doing the same thing and its of the same vintage. I just got a new gel battery and it has 13.5v off the tender (bike still wont start dang it) but does the same as yours. I think I'm going to just get a new one, got a few things in the garage that need a tender so have been looking at the multi device ones they have out now.
 
Residual voltage keeps it higher than 12.6V for some time. That's why I don't like and never had any tenders - just a simple and cheap charger, and the V-meter I installed on the bike. If it's a bit low, I will connect the charger overnight, and be done with it.

Trusting a silly box with a few preset lights to maintain a battery over a long period of time just makes no sense.
 
IG. said:
Residual voltage keeps it higher than 12.6V for some time. That's why I don't like and never had any tenders - just a simple and cheap charger, and the V-meter I installed on the bike. If it's a bit low, I will connect the charger overnight, and be done with it.

Trusting a silly box with a few preset lights to maintain a battery over a long period of time just makes no sense.
Click to expand...

Using the tender I have gave me a OEM battery life of 6 years. About 6 months before the old one died, the tender started acting like this, but I thought it was probably the dying battery (it was beginning to turn the engine over really slow).

I was surprised when it acted the same way with a new, obviously functional one. I'm giving serious thought to just letting the bike keep it charged. I have a 1 amp regular charger if it gets low for some reason. I have a 10 amp charger that I think would be to much for a small Busa battery.
 
My Tender (Deltran version) is easily 7 years old now and still works fine. The red light always comes on for a few seconds when I first plug it in, then goes to solid green.
Leave it hooked up and on for several months at a time every winter. 4th year on the OEM battery in the Busa. Need to get a new battery soon as 4 years has to be getting toward the end of it's lifespan. And Sunday afternoon, 100+ miles from the house, and a dead battery, would be a really bad scene.
 
HillbillyTom said:
My Tender (Deltran version) is easily 7 years old now and still works fine. The red light always comes on for a few seconds when I first plug it in, then goes to solid green.
Leave it hooked up and on for several months at a time every winter. 4th year on the OEM battery in the Busa. Need to get a new battery soon as 4 years has to be getting toward the end of it's lifespan. And Sunday afternoon, 100+ miles from the house, and a dead battery, would be a really bad scene.
Click to expand...

That makes me think of another question. If your battery died, do you think you could take the seat off and use jumper cables connected to a car bat to get it started?

I'm going to drill out the rivets on the tender, and see what the circuit board looks like. Can't be a very complicated board.
 
FloydV said:
That makes me think of another question. If your battery died, do you think you could take the seat off and use jumper cables connected to a car bat to get it started?
Click to expand...

Yes, but the car's motor MUST BE OFF. Just battery to battery is fine, but the extra voltage of the working car alternator will usually fry your bike's voltage regulator.
 
FloydV said:
Using the tender I have gave me a OEM battery life of 6 years. About 6 months before the old one died, the tender started acting like this, but I thought it was probably the dying battery (it was beginning to turn the engine over really slow).

I was surprised when it acted the same way with a new, obviously functional one. I'm giving serious thought to just letting the bike keep it charged. I have a 1 amp regular charger if it gets low for some reason. I have a 10 amp charger that I think would be to much for a small Busa battery.
Click to expand...

Tenders don't prolong lifes of normally maintained batteries. This is a myth created by the sellers. Their base is an absolutely abused battery, and yes in this case the tender would prolong the battery life. But so will any normal use (and not abuse) of a battery.

As part of preventive maintenance, I replaced my 5-year old battery which has seen no tenders, but was not abused. It was still in normal working order, and I am sure it would continue to perform another year or two.

I use one of the old batteries as a source of electricity to power the 12V light in my shed, while charging it from a small solar panel. One winter night, I forgot to turn the light off, and a couple of days later discovered a completely discharged battery while the outdoor temperature was below freezing. I was pretty sure the battery was gone, but I brought the battery indoors and decided to try charging it with my simple AC adaptor style charger. After a couple of days of charging, the battery recovered and is still fully functioning in my shed. That's how good the batteries are these days.

My point is that simplicity wins most of the time.
 
IG. said:
Tenders don't prolong lifes of normally maintained batteries. This is a myth created by the sellers. Their base is an absolutely abused battery, and yes in this case the tender would prolong the battery life. But so will any normal use (and not abuse) of a battery.

As part of preventive maintenance, I replaced my 5-year old battery which has seen no tenders, but was not abused. It was still in normal working order, and I am sure it would continue to perform another year or two.

I use one of the old batteries as a source of electricity to power the 12V light in my shed, while charging it from a small solar panel. One winter night, I forgot to turn the light off, and a couple of days later discovered a completely discharged battery while the outdoor temperature was below freezing. I was pretty sure the battery was gone, but I brought the battery indoors and decided to try charging it with my simple AC adaptor style charger. After a couple of days of charging, the battery recovered and is still fully functioning in my shed. That's how good the batteries are these days.

My point is that simplicity wins most of the time.
Click to expand...

I understand brother, bought one years ago and have never plugged it in. I ride year round ............ some people don't
 
I too ride year around, but sometimes it's not much due to weather and other factors, so the battery doesn't get enough charge for certain periods. My permanently installed V-meter clearly shows me when the battery needs charging (when it shows less than 12.6V), and only then I would charge it overnight or for a few hours.

Modern batteries are so good these days, that a fully charged battery may still have a pretty good charge after a few months (assuming nothing is connected to it). So, I see no good reason to have it connected for months to any tender. Even if a fully charged battery is left indoors for a full year, I don't believe it will incurr any damage. Just charge it and use.
 
IG. said:
I too ride year around, but sometimes it's not much due to weather and other factors, so the battery doesn't get enough charge for certain periods. My permanently installed V-meter clearly shows me when the battery needs charging (when it shows less than 12.6V), and only then I would charge it overnight or for a few hours.

Modern batteries are so good these days, that a fully charged battery may still have a pretty good charge after a few months (assuming nothing is connected to it). So, I see no good reason to have it connected for months to any tender. Even if a fully charged battery is left indoors for a full year, I don't believe it will incurr any damage. Just charge it and use.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's a good idea to let a battery, even a gel cell sit for extended periods of time without maintaining a charge. A year would definitely be a deep discharge situation, other killers are cold temps, vibration, on and on. Don't place one on a concrete floor and walk away for months.
 
I`m going to share an observation about batteries and tender/charger; the last three small batteries I have dealt with, replacements for Quad, for HD, and the new bike; when these small batteries are new (meaning the first few months of use) the battery tenders will show them taking a charge after a ride, even longer distances. The HD and the quad battery did this at first then after a couple of months when I plugged them in they showed fully charged almost immediately. The new bike is charging right now.
I was pondering why is this??? Maybe these smaller batteries take awhile to become fully activated?
I will check out that link later dadofthree.thanks.
 
the plug that I have my tender plugged into is controlled by a light switch. What I noticed is, if I just unplug the tender from the bike after a full charge, go ridding and come back. note: (I usually don't turn the tender off after i detach it from the bike). now when I come back and just plug the bike back up, the tender does what your describing, it will still be blinking in the morning, but if i come back and plug the bike up, and then turn off the light switch, and then turn the switch back on, it resets itself and charges until solid green. I hope I explained this in a clear way as to how mine acts.
 
IG. said:
Residual voltage keeps it higher than 12.6V for some time. That's why I don't like and never had any tenders - just a simple and cheap charger, and the V-meter I installed on the bike. If it's a bit low, I will connect the charger overnight, and be done with it.

Trusting a silly box with a few preset lights to maintain a battery over a long period of time just makes no sense.
Click to expand...
I only ride part of the year, brutal winters here, but I've had my 03 busa plugged into a tender constantly since I bought it new in 03. My bike fires up instantly after 5-6 months of storage no problem, and has ever since 03. Same with my other bikes. The battery is still as strong as ever and will run my alarm all night when needed, and still start the bike instantly on a cold morning parked outside if I'm away from home. Before I started using a tender I would get less than half that life on my bike batteries. I've extended the life of all my recreational batteries a tremendous amount now with tenders...has saved me a TON of money :thumbsup:
I was hesitant to trust them as well, but if you get good ones they're much better than a charge here and there through the winter months with a traditional charger. And lead acid bike batteries last MUCH longer continually full than cycled up and down. So do most other standard lead acid types.
Overall they've worked VERY well for me :beerchug:
 
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