Battery maintainer question

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I was replacing the battery on my ATV every year. The last time I replaced the battery, I purchased a Die Hard battery maintainer. I am now on my third year with this battery. Unfortunately, the ATV has sat all summer and I did not keep it on the maintainer like I should have. There appear to be visible signs of sulfates in the battery case. The light on the maintainer is green (charged) but grows really bright then dim, fluctuating between bright and dim green. Is this a sign the battery is probably shot or close to it, even though the maintainer says "charged"? The ATV will only be started when I need to push snow. Otherwise, it will be kept on the maintainer. I'm hoping to get through the winter with this battery if possible.
 
I also have a Die Hard battery maintainer and it's been a blessing. Mine has never shown a bright and dim green for charged. It sounds like maybe your maintainer is not solidly attached to the vehicle. If possible ground the negative lead to the chassis. Clean the battery off and check the voltage and make sure it's properly filled with distilled water.

Whimsey
 
Remember many battery maintainers do not temp compensate and of those that do, most do not compensate in both hot and cold weather. So your battery may not be staying as fully charged as you think.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yeah, check out the maintainer i have it's temp compensated and does many things.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3868720/1


I second this recommendation. I bought one myself after reading the linked thread, and its amazing- it resuscitated a lawn tractor battery that had to be jumpstarted every week, even right after a regular charger finished with it. I left it on the ProLogix for about 2 weeks, and got another year out of that battery without ever putting it on a charger again.

I put it on my two classic cars for about a week at a time every few months and let it run its cycles.
 
Originally Posted By: cat843
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yeah, check out the maintainer i have it's temp compensated and does many things.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3868720/1


I could not determine if its both high and low temp compensated. I did not see it in the owners manual.

But its kind of overkill as a battery maintainer.


It doesn't need to be temperature compensated for low temperatures because the batteries handle a lot more voltage at lower temperatures, and the charging algorithm on these is superb you don't have to worry about it.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yeah, check out the maintainer i have it's temp compensated and does many things.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3868720/1


I second this recommendation. I bought one myself after reading the linked thread, and its amazing- it resuscitated a lawn tractor battery that had to be jumpstarted every week, even right after a regular charger finished with it. I left it on the ProLogix for about 2 weeks, and got another year out of that battery without ever putting it on a charger again.

I put it on my two classic cars for about a week at a time every few months and let it run its cycles.



It's awesome charger, the only gripe I have is the feet are falling off from the glue wearing out. Keep track of them and get someone good glue!
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Originally Posted By: cat843
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yeah, check out the maintainer i have it's temp compensated and does many things.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3868720/1
I could not determine if its both high and low temp compensated. I did not see it in the owners manual.

But its kind of overkill as a battery maintainer.
It doesn't need to be temperature compensated for low temperatures because the batteries handle a lot more voltage at lower temperatures, and the charging algorithm on these is superb you don't have to worry about it.

I agree with cat843, this excellent battery charger/maintainer is a little overkill for maintenance.

I have Schumacher SC-7500A for about 12-15 years, it is a good charger and it's also a good maintainer to keep the batter at 13.2-13.3V. The problem is it consumes too much power even in maintainer mode, at around 140-150W for larger battery BCI goup size 49.

I bought a tiny cheap battery charger/maintainer from a seller on Amazon for $7-8, it consumes only 6-8 watts in maintainer mode.

In charge mode its output to battery is 13.8-14.0V with 0.5-0.6 A, in maintainer mode the voltage is 14.5-14.6V with 0.2 A.

If the Schumacher SC-7500A is ever dies I will buy Pro-Logix to use as charger, not maintainer.
 
Update, read the instructions on the top of the maintainer. The charger pulses green when battery is charged. Problem solved.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

I agree with cat843, this excellent battery charger/maintainer is a little overkill for maintenance.
.


It might be overkill in the sense that it can do so much more, but IMO the way it does "maintenance" is one of its strengths. It continually (over the course of several days) goes through a repeated cycle that prevents gradual loss of capacity- the bane of the usual "maintainer." It even puts a small discharge load on the battery for a portion of the cycle (about 1.5 amps judging from the graph in the manual at http://www.cloreautomotive.com/uploaded_files/sku/490_842-460-000.pdf) to combat capacity loss. Its the only charger/maintainer I've seen that I would actually leave on a battery for months at a time and expect the battery to come out of it virtually as good as it went in.
 
My Neon battery is almost 6 years old. It's had a Battery Tender Jr on it since about spring 2011. Just had the battery tested this week at AAP and it tested fine.

I'd say the tender did it's job. And it only costs about $25 and is easy to conceal under the hood (away from the battery of course) if storing the vehicle in an outdoor situation.
 
I emailed clore about the issue I experienced with my charger feet and they promptly replied that the issue was already discovered and addressed, pretty cool.
 
I'm very sure Pro-Logix is a great charger/maintainer(after reading 901Memphis' review).

The concern I have is it may consume excessive power in maintainer mode, the tiny maintainer I have uses less than 10W(about 6-8W) in maintainer mode.

I don't drive my S2000 everyday, on the days it sits in garage I hook up the tiny maintainer and turn it on 2-3 hours in the evening. It consumes less than 30-40W for that 2-3 hours of use.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm very sure Pro-Logix is a great charger/maintainer(after reading 901Memphis' review).

The concern I have is it may consume excessive power in maintainer mode, the tiny maintainer I have uses less than 10W(about 6-8W) in maintainer mode.

I don't drive my S2000 everyday, on the days it sits in garage I hook up the tiny maintainer and turn it on 2-3 hours in the evening. It consumes less than 30-40W for that 2-3 hours of use.


Are you using a smart charger and if so is that all it takes to top off the battery? The amount of power you are putting in is tiny. I don't see much point.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I just ordered this puppy:

http://www.cloreautomotive.com/sku.php?id=516

Based on the other thread. Hope to keep the Charger's battery good this winter without having to disconnect it.


Don't know what kind of deal you got on that but a few dollars more gets you the 10 amp version.
 
I have the optima 4amp charger/maintainer... real nice deal... was free with blue top purchase.. bunch of chargers in the garage but this only one I use.... I do not leave batteries hooked up for long term... once charged they are all set..
may go out in the garage and charge a battery if family is over... staring at a battery charger much better than a house full of people... bring a cooler...
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm very sure Pro-Logix is a great charger/maintainer(after reading 901Memphis' review).

The concern I have is it may consume excessive power in maintainer mode, the tiny maintainer I have uses less than 10W(about 6-8W) in maintainer mode.

I don't drive my S2000 everyday, on the days it sits in garage I hook up the tiny maintainer and turn it on 2-3 hours in the evening. It consumes less than 30-40W for that 2-3 hours of use.



Didn't we discuss this already? My Prologix charger only uses 5 watts in maintainer mode
 
Originally Posted By: Benito
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I just ordered this puppy:

http://www.cloreautomotive.com/sku.php?id=516

Based on the other thread. Hope to keep the Charger's battery good this winter without having to disconnect it.


Don't know what kind of deal you got on that but a few dollars more gets you the 10 amp version.


$50.00 on Amazon. I don't need the 10-amp version, this device's sole purpose will be to keep the Charger's battery good over the winter. I have a larger charger for regular recharging.
 
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