R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > R-pod Discussion Forums > Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: Battery maintainer
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedBattery maintainer
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
  Share Topic Share Topic  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
2McPods View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2014
Location: Pittsburgh,PA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 67 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Battery maintainer
    Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 9:57am
Hello, any thoughts on battery tricklers/maintainers? Good,better,best brands? Thanks
Everything Happens 4 A Reason

Pat & Viki McCartney
2015 171 {2McPods}
2014 F150
Pittsburgh, Pa
Back to Top
johnmaci View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 17 Jun 2014
Location: MD
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 202 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 10:25am
I have three Deltran battery Tender Jr's, and they work great for my three marine batteries. Very inexpensive too.
If the battery state is low, it will stay red for a few days bringing up, then will turn and stay green in trickle.
Back to Top
furpod View Drop Down
Moderator Group - pHp
Moderator Group - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 2:00pm
The pod has a pretty good built in system, if you can park/store within reach of an outlet.
Back to Top
Sleepless View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Jun 2013
Location: Titusville, FL
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 556 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 5:34pm
If you need to recondition a deep cycle battery, members of the 2 shrimping and fishing clubs I belong to here in east central Florida swear by the Battery Minder.  This is not a "battery tender" but a unit that will actually extend the life of an old or neglected 12 volt deep cycle battery.  I have been using mine for about 12 years and can normally keep these batteries for about 6 years. 
http://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-Charger-Maintainer-Desulfator-System/dp/B00D7HZ6FC
2014 R-Pod 178 (OUR POD)
2009 Chevrolet Avalanche
Back to Top
freezingalaskan View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 34 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 7:24pm
For winter I take the battery out of the pod and have it in my garage together with motorcycle/generator maintaining purposes. I use this Optima device and switch between the batteries periodically. More expensive than the Battery Tender, but "more fun to look at".

http://www.amazon.com/Optima-150-40008-Battery-Charger/dp/B00DHGPVKI/ref=sr_1_57?ie=UTF8&qid=1409786567&sr=8-57&keywords=battery+maintainer

freezingalaskan
Volvo XC90 '13
rPod 179 '16
Back to Top
techntrek View Drop Down
Admin Group - pHp
Admin Group - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Location: MD
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9062 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Sep 2014 at 8:05pm
Originally posted by johnmaci

I have three Deltran battery Tender Jr's, and they work great for my three marine batteries. Very inexpensive too.
If the battery state is low, it will stay red for a few days bringing up, then will turn and stay green in trickle.

Sounds like a situation where the batts should be topped off with a charger first, usually the battery tenders only output 1-2 amps.  On older batteries especially, that would barely keep up with the self-discharge rate, let alone put a charge on them.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
Back to Top
WillThrill View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 04 Jul 2014
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 298 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2014 at 9:16pm
Originally posted by techntrek


Originally posted by johnmaci

I have three Deltran battery Tender Jr's, and they work great for my three marine batteries. Very inexpensive too.
If the battery state is low, it will stay red for a few days bringing up, then will turn and stay green in trickle.
Sounds like a situation where the batts should be topped off with a charger first, usually the battery tenders only output 1-2 amps.  On older batteries especially, that would barely keep up with the self-discharge rate, let alone put a charge on them.


That's a great point. 'Trickle' chargers often don't have sufficient amperage to charge up batteries. On top of that, they output a constant voltage/amperage, no matter what. You NEVER want that. You want a charger/maintainer that is 'smart' and adjusts its output according to the state of your batteries.

Like others, I have had great success with my Battery Minder #1500. It takes the ambient temperature into account, which is a great plus. However, battery maintainers like this should only be used AFTER the batteries are fully charged or nearly so.
"Not all those who wander are lost." Tolkien

2014 Hood River 177
2005 GMC Envoy XL
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz