T.J. Posted June 4, 2007 Share #1 Posted June 4, 2007 The wife heard on the radio the other day from the "car guys" WJR here in Michigan. That putting a battery tender on your battery all winter long will take away or ruin your battery. If this is the case why do they make battery tenders? Besides to make money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted June 4, 2007 Share #2 Posted June 4, 2007 I don't know about that but all I can say is that I keep mine on a Battery Tender pretty much all the time and my Odyssey battery is going on 4 years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J. Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted June 4, 2007 My bike is an 04 with the original battery and I have always kept the battery tender on it all winter. Just wondering if anyone has heard of this before. I always thought it keep your battery in the best of shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6m459 Posted June 4, 2007 Share #4 Posted June 4, 2007 I keep my battery on a tender all winter too. I used to take it off the bike and inside the house to 'tend' it over the winter, but now I just leave it on the bike and plug in the tender. Still going strong in the battery's third season and two winters out. Canadian winters that is! Hope this is of interest. Brian H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ken8143 Posted June 4, 2007 Share #5 Posted June 4, 2007 For some reason, this I had my battery tender on as usual, and my battery cooked almost dry. First time for this. Any ideas what happened here? The trickle must have malfunctioned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
venturejockey Posted June 4, 2007 Share #6 Posted June 4, 2007 I leave my battery tender on all winter. The first battery lasted 4 years I'm on my second one now. One of the things about a battery tender, if it gets unplugged but remains attached to your battery it will kill the battery. Thats happened to me twice. Family members unplugging the battery tender from the wall in order to use the outlet and then forgetting to replug the BT back in when finished. A way to prevent this is to attach the BT to the wall with a bracket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Ice Posted June 4, 2007 Share #7 Posted June 4, 2007 Sounds to me like they used the wrong terminology. Said Battery Tender when they were meaning trickle charger would cook your battery if left on cause it will. I've had my bike on a Battery Tender for almost 2 full seasons. Just plug it in after a ride and its on all winter. Original battery and almost 32,000 miles and still strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoutman Posted June 4, 2007 Share #8 Posted June 4, 2007 I go boating with a trial lawyer now and then. He told me he will never use an automatic charger on any of his equipment. He claims they can malfunction and cause fires. He sites many cases where his friends have sued and won. He uses a solar battery charger on his boat to keep it charged during the off season. He claims there is no way for it to malfunction and provide to much power and boil out the acid or cause other harm, so he feels safe with it. If it fails he will only have a dead battery, not a fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted June 4, 2007 Share #9 Posted June 4, 2007 I've been in boating for over 40years, and there's nothing wrong with leaving a smart charger plugged into the dock to keep you batts topped off. There's also nothing wrong with leaving a 12.9vdc batt tender plugged in all winter. It's when the tender puts out 13.5+vdc that batteries will go dry on you. At 12.9 there is no way a battery tender will destroy a battery. Sounds like the WJR Car Guys know what the 'H' they are talking about......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CJVenture Posted June 4, 2007 Share #10 Posted June 4, 2007 In my experience "car guys" type shows can be useful re: hints and tips, how-to's announcing new products, etc. But in the end what you hear is just the opinion of one or two people, and not necessarily gospel. Kinda like this web site in a way... lots of good into, great people, but when someone says this is better than that, or do this, not that, it is usually someone's OPINION. Just my :stirthepot: Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J. Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share #11 Posted June 4, 2007 Thanks for all the good input. I shall continue to use the battery tender all winter long as that is what it was designed for. Thanks again for all input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted June 4, 2007 Share #12 Posted June 4, 2007 You're welcome T. J. Didn't get chance to throw my 2 cents worth in that one but you are welcome and I'm going to use my Tender!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dandy1 Posted July 9, 2007 Share #13 Posted July 9, 2007 I got 5 years out of a battery in my Honda Valkyrie. and 4 years out of a battery on my lawn mower and 3 years so far on my battery in my 4 wheeler. I keep them all on Battery Tenders in the winter, you can't go wrong as far as I'm conserned. Remember in the winter when you are storing your bike that a dead battery will freeze and bust and one fully charged will not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddle_Bag Posted July 9, 2007 Share #14 Posted July 9, 2007 I think the story was started by people who make and sell batteries. I have used my batterytender for a long time and has saved a lot of money on replacement batteries. joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now