Battery Tender
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FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: 3rd Rock
Battery Tender
I have 2005 F350 6oh..with 26K on it...(stored a bit) had to put new batteries in it and curious which one if any when you hook a battery tender up to it...will charge both?
I know I am probably in the wrong forum....
..should be inSD
I know I am probably in the wrong forum....
..should be inSD
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,169
Likes: 3
From: SW Florida
The one I use simply maintains the battery, desulfates, and adjusts the charge based on ambient temp. It only will charge up to 1.5 amps....so it's only a "maintainer" actually. I pretty much keep the BatteryMinder on my batteries whenever The truck is not being driven.
Here's what I use...It can be found at Amazon too, check the reviews...
BatteryMINDer 1500 | 12 Volt Maintenance Charger Desulfator
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 7,460
Likes: 85
From: Kent Station, WA
Battery tenders are designed to constantly run keeping the charge of the battery. They have indicators on them explaining what the state is with the flashing lights. If you want to keep the battery keep the tender plugged in. If not and storing anything at least disconnect the negative cable. Memory and sitting will kill batteries.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
The tenders are designed to maintain a full charge. Above about 80F batteries lose or self-discharge quickly, eventually ruining the battery prematurely. The tenders provide a "float" charge, slightly above the resting open circuit voltage of a fully charged battery. This means they can be left connected indefinitely, without boiling a battery dry.
Dual batteries are electrically a single battery and always charged as a single unit. A tender is a good choice provided they are already fully charged, what dual battery setups really need is a slight overcharge or periodic equalization charge. Some chargers do this, some don't. Given the expense of replacing batteries before their time, especially in pairs, a good charger will pay for itself.
Dual batteries are electrically a single battery and always charged as a single unit. A tender is a good choice provided they are already fully charged, what dual battery setups really need is a slight overcharge or periodic equalization charge. Some chargers do this, some don't. Given the expense of replacing batteries before their time, especially in pairs, a good charger will pay for itself.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,950
Likes: 510
From: Foothills, CA
I have both Battery Tenders and BatteryMinders. I try to cycle my BatteryMinders around to each battery in my fleet of stuff that needs to be kept charged, since they are the only ones that do the desulfate phase.
I haven't been able to get an exact equal charge on the two battery in parallel set up on my 6.0, just by hooking up to one, so I pull the neg off the driver's side batt and run two BatteryMinders, one on each. They do have a sweet little plug you can permanently fix to the batteries to make plugging in a snap -- I've bought a bunch of these on eBay and they work with a lot of the mini-chargers.
I haven't been able to get an exact equal charge on the two battery in parallel set up on my 6.0, just by hooking up to one, so I pull the neg off the driver's side batt and run two BatteryMinders, one on each. They do have a sweet little plug you can permanently fix to the batteries to make plugging in a snap -- I've bought a bunch of these on eBay and they work with a lot of the mini-chargers.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
No, a tender will choke on large batteries or dual setups. There isn't anything wrong with the chargers or the batteries, the tenders are too small to provide the current necessary to fully charge in paralell in a reasonable amount of time. That's why they are for "maintaining."
When you take a standard battery charger sized for auto use and measure the voltages (like a Schumacher dual) you can tell they figured it out a long time ago, the curve follows the generic battery manufacturers just about perfectly. The only thing is, if somebody forgets to shut it off.
You probably want to buy a bigger charger capable of providing about 20 percent of the AH rating involved here, in paralell that is quite a lot. The idea is to bring up the pair together to the gassing stage in a reasonable amount of time, tenders and smaller chargers can't do this.
When you take a standard battery charger sized for auto use and measure the voltages (like a Schumacher dual) you can tell they figured it out a long time ago, the curve follows the generic battery manufacturers just about perfectly. The only thing is, if somebody forgets to shut it off.
You probably want to buy a bigger charger capable of providing about 20 percent of the AH rating involved here, in paralell that is quite a lot. The idea is to bring up the pair together to the gassing stage in a reasonable amount of time, tenders and smaller chargers can't do this.
Former Vendor
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,803
Likes: 4
We carry the Battery Minder line of desulphating chargers. $45 for the 1.3 amp version handles both batteries nicely and without worry! I just plug mine into to one battery or the other (doesn't matter which) whenever I get a chance. The result is batteries that last for years upon years. 
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FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 161,999
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From: 3rd Rock
As long as I have been on this site ..you ALL never cease to amaze me at the level of intelligence that a question is reviewed and receives...this is great info...for all not just me...... thank you ...keep it coming 
Lead Driver
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 5,420
Likes: 16
From: Ouray, CO
We carry the Battery Minder line of desulphating chargers. $45 for the 1.3 amp version handles both batteries nicely and without worry! I just plug mine into to one battery or the other (doesn't matter which) whenever I get a chance. The result is batteries that last for years upon years.
6.0 Power Rally! I can't wait to try mine out..
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