Battery Tender Plus Review

[Sinbad]

I have the single and the 4 bank Tenders and they have worked flawlessly. My wife's 04 R1 still has the original battery in it and starts every time. All of our vehicles that sit for any length of time have the quick connectors on the batteries and get plugged in as soon as they are parked.

[oldmodman]

I spotted an auction for a "case" of them on E-bay so I grabbed them. How can you go wrong for a per unit price of $22.00
I have them on everything I own. Plus, I use them to keep my UPS batteries in top notch condition.
I have never had any of them fail. And some have been in use for seven years now.

[MarkD51]

While I have privately PM'd our great forum member David about some really great news, I also wanted to share this news with all you folks, so this information was made public, and will reside here for a long time to come, just in case some future member can possibly benefit from such information down the road.

I did this morning as David had suggested, I again hooked up my Battery Tender, the positive Alligator Clip to the Positive Terminal of my Optima Red Top Battery, and hooked the Negative Alligator Clip to a Bolt on the Exhaust Manifold.

All works flawlessly now, no more tripping of my Viper 5701 Alarm while it is armed. Thus, I can now leave the Battery Tender hooked up indefinitely, without the PITA need of unhooking the Battery from the Truck to charge.

Bravo David, and again, a great big thanks! I am one very happy man right now!

Now, I got another little problem with my Tahoe. Seems my 1 month old Covercraft NOAH Cover is turning into a pissing-spraying post, and a scratching post for the neighborhood Cats.

I just cleaned-wiped the cover with a solution of Woolite, and warm water, and am going to go around the cover with a little Febreeze.

I'm also going to check the local Petsmart for what they have, to perhaps spray a repellent product around the ground perimeter.

If that doesn't work, next plan of attack, I'll spray gasoline around the ground of the truck, and if that fails, out comes the Browning .22 Rifle as a last resort! LOL

No, not really, just kidding, too big an animal lover I'm afraid,but I just cannot continue to tolerate these cats slowly destroying this expensive Car Cover. Last resort might be calling animal control here. Mark

Here's an update. Sadly, I ultimately got no joy from the Battery Tender, and my Viper 5701 Alarm living together.

The Battery Tender (Mine is called the Power Tender, more money than the Plus Unit) will not be able to remain hooked to my Tahoe to maintain a maintainence charge while the Alarm is activated-armed.

I discovered a few days ago, a dead Optima Red Top Battery, as I went to open the hood, disconnect the Charger, start the truck, and nothing.

This ongoing problem is apparently uncurable. Neither Viper, or Deltran has an answer.

A 2-1/2 year old Red Top Optima is essentially shot, before the 3 year warrantee is up, and I cannot find the bill for it.

Went and bought a brand new Optima Yellow Top Battery yesterday, fully charged it off the Truck with the Power Tender, all went fine, after 8 hours it went from absorbtion mode, to float, installed it back in the truck, armed the Alarm, and again the same BS with the Alarm tripping.

So, I basically have one of two choices. I either arm the Alarm, don't use the Battery Tender, and again wind up with a dead Battery every 2-3 weeks, and kick the total #### out of yet another $200 Battery, or leave the Alarm in a permanent Valet Mode while I keep the Battery Tender on the Vehicle.

I see no other alternatives. No matter how I hooled the Battery Tender on the vehicle, this problem will exist. Mark

[Mirror Finish]

I see no other alternatives. No matter how I hooled the Battery Tender on the vehicle, this problem will exist. Mark

Mark, I can't see what one has to do with the other.

Why not connect the charging harness that usually comes with a charger/maintainer to the battery directly.

Next, monitor the battery voltage with a Digital Multimeter. What is causing your battery to drain? Do you have faulty alternator with a bad diode?

Why is your alarm tripping. Does it monitor battery voltage and look for voltage spikes? If so, what is the battery tender doing ripple-wise?

Measure your current drains with and without the alarm.

[Drunken Yak inc]

My Battery Tender Jr. and Viper 3303 with Smart Start are also at odds with each other... When the charger finishes charging and goes into its maintenance mode it causes my alarm to go off... Very annoying to say the least

[bikeride4fun]

Been using 'em for years...Best thing since sliced-bread!

(Well...almost.)



Bob

These things are great....have them on everything that has a battery....

[MarkD51]

Mark, I can't see what one has to do with the other.

Why not connect the charging harness that usually comes with a charger/maintainer to the battery directly.

Next, monitor the battery voltage with a Digital Multimeter. What is causing your battery to drain? Do you have faulty alternator with a bad diode?

Why is your alarm tripping. Does it monitor battery voltage and look for voltage spikes? If so, what is the battery tender doing ripple-wise?

Measure your current drains with and without the alarm.

Hi, I'm very sorry to not know you had personally responded to me on this thread, and topic, forgive me.

Alternator is good. The particular Battery Tenders (2) I have are specifically called (Power Tenders), actually a more expensive model than the Battery Tender Plus, and when I bought them, both actually came with Ring Terminals, and I simply snipped these, and installed Alligator Clips, thus making them a bit more versatile.

I suspect without the Alarm, there would of course be less parasitic draw from the Battery. The problems are, the major Alarm Components of this Viper 5701 Alarm-Remote Start reside buried inside the Dashboard.

The Viper Dealer did state that without driving the vehicle, and thus charging the battery in the process, one can expect 2-3 weeks, and full discharge of the battery will occur, no matter the brand-capacity.

In any case, defeating, or disabling the Alarm in any manner sort of defeats its purpose of having one.

Again, the Alarm was professionally installed by a authorized Viper Dealer, and they did an impeccable, and totally professional installation, the Alarm works perfectly in every regard.

As a side note, my earlier Clifford Concept 20 Alarm did the exact same thing in regards to not being compatible with these Deltran Power Tenders, or the Battery Tender Plus. (I've tried the Tender Plus with both Alarms, to no avail)

I suspect these Alarms may have some sensing circuitry, in that if voltage suddenly varies, the Alarm system perhaps triggers as a safeguard, that thr Vehicle is being tampered with. I know some Alarms would trigger when voltage drops too low, as many thieves used to Ice Pick a Battery, draining the Battery, and thus disabling the Alarm.

I understand this was once a common prodecure-tactic with some Corvettes, that Thieves would Ice Pick the Battery, and thus, there were aftermarket Steel Battery Cases-Guards that would prevent this.

I'm guessing that with the Battery Tender in the mix, that vehicle system Voltage is changing, and gong up, the exact opposite of Voltage dropping.

The funny thing is, that when the Viper Alarm trips after a moment for itself to arm the Code on the Blue Valet Light indicates that a shaker-vibration sensor is the cause. And that's wierd.

One day I will get into the Viper Dealer again, and see of they can either lessen the sensitivity of this Sensor, or perhaps disconnect-disable it from the main computer brain of the Alarm?
Mark

[UltimateDetail]

Good to know! I just got my grandfather two of these for his boat batteries. Was a bit iffy about it, but you corrected all my worries.. Great review !

[MarkD51]

My Battery Tender Jr. and Viper 3303 with Smart Start are also at odds with each other... When the charger finishes charging and goes into its maintenance mode it causes my alarm to go off... Very annoying to say the least

At some point in the near future I will be getting my vehicle to the Viper Alarm Dealer, and let them have a look see, and see if they can find resolution to these issues.

If I come up with some answers, I will of course post them here.

If you should learn anything, please do notify myself and the group as well.
Thank you. Mark