Battery Tender Usage

[Jeff D.]

I've been using battery tenders on my powersports equipment for years. When I'm done riding the bikes or snowmobile they get plugged in. I don't take the batteries out in off season, either. They stay plugged in. I just changed the battery in my 2014 Tri Glide last fall. It was original and lasted 9 years. My 2014 Softail still has the original battery in it.

I also store my mothers Subaru in our garage. She's in her 80's and rarely drives, but I always keep it plugged in to the tender, and it's always ready when she wants to use her car.

So, with all the talk I read on battery issues with the BMS and both EB's and Hybrids, I'm seriously leaning towards plugging my Maverick in overnight when I'm done driving it. I have a 4.5 amp battery tender/charger that has more capacity than the jr's I use on the other vehicles.

Is there a reason not to do this, other than it's a slight inconvienience plugging and unplugging? I'd run the wires out somehwere so I don't have to open the hood. I'd run the postive to the batteries post and the negative to the body or a good ground that's not the negative battery post, so the BMS can read any current put into the battery from the charger.

Am I missing something that would make this a bad idea?

I haven't received my Maverick yet, so haven't done anything so far. Thanks for any feedback.

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[Jeff D.]

I should've added, my job is 1.1 miles from our home and I come home for lunch each day, so that's 4 short trips each day 5 days a week. That also makes me think that if anyone had battery issuses, it would be me.

I haven't had battery issues with any other vehicles though, so???

 

[RonFLA]

It's mostly the hybrid that has the 12v battery issue, not aware of any reason why running the engine on those short trips wouldn't keep the battery charged. I wouldn't worry about it until it's a legitimate issue that requires a solution.

 

[Bob The Builder]

I drive very little and battery checked 11.97V this morning. Put it on the tender for a couple of hours or so and back up to 12.65V. 12.65V is around 80 SOC which is what the BMS cutoff is from the factory. Letting the truck idle for 30 minutes will do the same thing but no way I am doing that on on regular basis. Once as an experiment was fine.

Not sure what the parasitic drain is on the EB. At least 0.2 I am sure if not a bit more, maybe. I'm sure the hybrids is right up there.

So yes, if you drive very little like I do I would suggest a tender. NOCO 5 seems popular here so that translates usually well.

There are a few threads here about the EB and low battery readings that seem to defy the norm. May want to touch base with them to stay up to speed.

 

[BradnChristine]

I use lttle 1000ma Foval maintainers ($15-$20 on Amazon) on the vehicles I am not using over winter, or that sit a while. I put it on my Maverick Hybrid with no issues. I've used this brand for several years, and just bought 2 more on Black Friday for about $32. Don't buy the 2000ma version, as it also has dual voltage (6-12volts) and in case of a power interruption, it needs to be manually reset.

 

[GPSMan]

It's mostly the hybrid that has the 12v battery issue, not aware of any reason why running the engine on those short trips wouldn't keep the battery charged. I wouldn't worry about it until it's a legitimate issue that requires a solution.

This:

Say there is a constant 0.1 Ah draw all day and all night. Then you have the key "on" so it can "recharge" 1 hour per 24 hours.

That's 2.3 Ah of power taken out of the battery in 23 hours.

Then, running the truck one hour only puts 2 Ah of charge back in, because for whatever reason these trucks only trickle charge.

Each 24 hour "day" you'd have a net loss.

 

[SLINGSHOT]

I have four .750 amp Battery Tender Jrs. One on my RAV4, one on my Slingshot, one on my Yamaha scooter and one on the Maverick. For the Maverick, I put a ring terminal on the positive under hood jump post I have a 5/8 18 nut (yup SAE . . I would have thought metric, but that's what I used) below and above the ring so it is tight. I just used the clamp on the negative jump post. I did have to buy a double end sae cable from ebay to get the plug in sticking out the front of the hood. Have fun with that red terminal cover. PITA.
Everything is plugged in when they are not running. Most batteries last two to three times their normal life.

 

[Jeff D.]

Slingshot, do you remember how long that sae to sae extension cable was?

Disregard, my battery will be under the hood and yours inside the truck, correct? So different length.

 

[SLINGSHOT]

Slingshot, do you remember how long that sae to sae extension cable was?

Disregard, my battery will be under the hood and yours inside the truck, correct? So different length.

I think it was around 3 feet. You only need about a foot.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I have four .750 amp Battery Tender Jrs. One on my RAV4, one on my Slingshot, one on my Yamaha scooter and one on the Maverick. For the Maverick, I put a ring terminal on the positive under hood jump post I have a 5/8 18 nut (yup SAE . . I would have thought metric, but that's what I used) below and above the ring so it is tight. I just used the clamp on the negative jump post. I did have to buy a double end sae cable from ebay to get the plug in sticking out the front of the hood. Have fun with that red terminal cover. PITA.
Everything is plugged in when they are not running. Most batteries last two to three times their normal life.

My expectation on the Underhood charge/maintain .750 amp is that while the maverick is drawing current whether it be full time or intermittent the maintainer would be helping the battery resulting in the 12v battery not discharging as fast as it would without the 0.75 amp. I believe my noco 5 will detect the 12v soc reduced by the draw and charge based on that reduced voltage and can furnish up to 5amp (or less based on voltage for whatever battery type has been selected, the noco will remember the selected settings and pickup where it left off after a 120 ac power failure). The question I have with the hybrid is with the noco under the hood and not adjacent to the battery under the seat a temperature reading could result in erroneous charging since it can adjust for temp. Will not be significant for flooded type but AGM's sensitivity to any amount of over charge is not healthy.

 

[SLJ]

I used a battery tender on my Bronco Sport in the Winter. It was always making noise and buzzing when I wasn't near it. These things never shut off. I'm using a Harley battery tender on the Mav also when it gets real cold out or if I'm not driving it for a couple of days. If you do a lot of short trips turn of the auto stop/start. It's a battery killer.

 

[Packer Bill]

I use my NOCO once a week to charge/tender my 2.0 Mav. I like to use the auto stop/start feature...it saves me 1-2 mpg.

 

[MavTime]

Is there a reason not to do this, other than it's a slight inconvenience plugging and unplugging?

I have been doing it on my Hybrid with a NOCO 1, but turns out I had been doing it wrong. You can connect directly to the positive terminal on the battery, but be sure to connect the ground past the little sensor box/block on the negative terminal, so either on top of it or to the body ground point. That way the charging current will be picked up by the sensor. I recently bought a 2A NOCO GENIUS2D which is an on-board charger I can just leave in the Maverick, it was $30 on sale.

 

[Jeff D.]

Thanks, everyone for the responses so far. No one has shared any concerns about using a battery tender and the BMS. That was my biggest worry. That using it might throw off the BMS's calibration somehow.

Sounds like if I'm hooking it up as outlined, that shouldn't be a worry.

 

[SLINGSHOT]

Slingshot, do you remember how long that sae to sae extension cable was?

Disregard, my battery will be under the hood and yours inside the truck, correct? So different length.

Yes

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