A better way???

[Bubba1235]

I think I need to sit down and design a better / different battery charger /maintainer.

Winter is right around the corner and I'm winterizing things and one of those things is putting batteries on a maintainer. Problem is I just counted them up, three boat batteries, motorcycle battery, riding mower battery and one tractor battery (may have to be in service at some point during the winter).

That's five / six separate maintainer / chargers servicing very different types of batteries. There has to be a better way.

 

[avenger79]

Re: A better way???

honestly in 30 years of riding street bikes and more recently atv's with elec start, I have never put any batteries on tenders. Never lost one yet at less than 6 years of age. boat batteries same thing.
with the boat I disconnect the wires, bikes and atv's I don't even do that. As long as their at full charge going into winter they seem to be fine coming into spring.

 

[jkust]

Re: A better way???

I have lost a lot of batteries using the above method. The powersport batteries seem to be affected the worst by just charging them and letting them sit. I am in need of two tenders and a charger at the moment as my charger seems to be putting out zero volts and the amp gauge is stuck suddenly.
My Batteryless snowmobiles are a great if for no other reason I don't have to deal with batteries as compared to my sleds with electric start and batteries. I am right there with you.

 

[rbh]

Re: A better way???

If they are the same style battery hook them up parallel, basically trickle charge more than one battery.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: A better way???

ive seen a device that claimed to be a multi-bank charger. It was based on one charger then this device split it to 3 chargers (well 3 sets of crocodile clips) and it worked by changing the output every 20 or so minutes to a different battery so really only one battery is being charged at a time. I thought it was a junk idea but for maintaining batteries the idea could be made to work

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: A better way???

If they are the same style battery hook them up parallel, basically trickle charge more than one battery.

No....... One dead cell/shorted cell and they ALL can die. If one will only accept 11 volts it will limit all of them to 11 volts. That is why they make the ones that rotate charging.

Bubba..... we are in similar battery situations. I lay them out on a piece of wood and just move the maintainer/charger from battery to battery........ the old fashion way.....manually

Multi bank chargers are more expensive then the individual maintainer chargers..... so a simple solution might be multiple chargers on a power strip plugged into a timer or just bite the bullet and leave them plugged in. Since we are not using the mower, tractor, motorcycle, boat, atv, camper trailer, and other batteries ......consider the fuel savings and just re-direct that money into electricity use.

It's the price we pay for luxury items and toys when we live in a geographical region that requires storage. It is a battery warming 19 degrees F here right now.

 

[Vintin]

Re: A better way???

I use a trickle charger and move it battery to battery ever few weeks during the winter. Seems to work well. One for each battery would be better. http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SE...words=trickle+battery+chargers#productDetails

 

[angus63]

Re: A better way???

There is a method to have one power source and have individual bank rectifiers. The rectifiers create isolated banks. Individual battery regulation and overcharge protection is another issue.

For the component cost adding up and risk involved making a homemade, I would consider the purchase of inexpensive individual chargers. Identical batteries can be paralleled and share a charger. In your case, 4 chargers is $40 and covers all your needs. If you can make one for considerably less than $40 that will supply and regulate 4 different battery types, we gotta talk about setting up shop and marketing those babies!!

Battery Float Charger, Automatic

Good luck!

I now realize this is very similar to Bob's reply...Should read the whole thread before replying...sorry.

 

[jkust]

Re: A better way???

That has been my experience too. The newer equipment (tractor and even the boats) have electronics that will drain a battery given enough time and cold temps. The deep cycle I always disconnect and I lost one last winter. Actually cracked the case when it froze.

Yep, last season in order to bring the boat into my garage for the winter, I need to flip the battery switch to on in order to trim it up. Well I also pulled the face plate off the stereo so the display wouldn't freeze and crack. No problem but I forgot to shut the battery switch back to off and when you pull the face plate off, a little LED blinks. That led killed my ultra expensive battery and it froze and bowed the sides out. It charged back up in the spring but it was original with the boat and I didn't want to take the chance that the battery fails while out on the water. Thinking it would've lasted a lot longer but I just couldn't take the chance.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: A better way???

Yep, pain for sure. (as above) If the batteries are the same you can charge individually then maintain them hooked together. That will help with the numbers. The rest have to rotated. :grumpy:

iboats has a host of options.

one more:
CTEK Battery Chargers - The World's Smarter Battery Charger

huts

 

[greenbush future]

Re: A better way???

I'm not aware of any way to just use one system to keep all 7 of my batteries charged, but then you can buy these tenders for very cheap, if you watch the sales.


One thing I did learn when I purchased my 7 battery tenders last year

I did research before buying them, the biggest issue some folks had was that if they didn't first charge all the batteries 100% before leaving them to the tender over winter, some batteries were actually killed because of this. These things only keep a fully charged batter fully charged, they are not designed to recharge a battery. I guess there is big difference between a charger and a maintainer?? Hope this helps.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: A better way???

Have any of you guys looked at the battery chargers made for RC toys? Its amazing how far behind 12 volt chargers are. You can buy an automatic charger charging three different types of batteries at the same time for 20 bucks. And give you a readout of time, capacity and charge state.

 

[thompson80]

Re: A better way???

honestly in 30 years of riding street bikes and more recently atv's with elec start, I have never put any batteries on tenders. Never lost one yet at less than 6 years of age. boat batteries same thing.
with the boat I disconnect the wires, bikes and atv's I don't even do that. As long as their at full charge going into winter they seem to be fine coming into spring.

The two good batteries in my travel trailer froze last winter while it was set up, unattended in an RV park. Vowing not to let that happen again to the 2 new Interstate batteries, and wanting to get the most lifespan out of them, I recently read up some on battery care. Allowing a lead acid type to sit and lose its charge over a winter, or even more than a month, cuts it's lifespan. What I found was that fully charging every two weeks, or at the VERY least once a month, helps to get the longest life from lead acid batteries. Or, use a battery maintainer, as being discussed here. In my trailer, there is a battery cut-off switch. Pull it out, and the batteries get charged. I do that every 2-3 weeks, then push it in/off (it's a 2003 - I don't think it's a "smart" charger). For the boat, I'm using a maintainer when it sits unused longer than 2 or 3 weeks. And before each use, I fully charge up the batteries.

A battery maintainer will fully charge a battery if its down some, say after a lot of cranking, but it takes a whole day or two to do it.

Interstate claims their polypropylene cases are better at insulating the batteries from unwanted discharging to say, a concrete floor, than the old hard rubber cases. That was a major problem in the past, but I also still put my stored batteries on linoleum or wood, not directly on concrete. Also from Interstate: a stored battery will lose 4% to 8% of its charge a month, possibly more if it's not clean between the terminals. If the case is dirty, the terminals probably will be "talking" to eachother. So keep those cases clean, both in use, and in storage.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: A better way???

I leave the batteries in the boat all winter and just run an extention cord to the onboard charger once a month in the winter. Let it charge until its full green light and there good to go. Lets me keep my portable charger for other equipment.