Battery Tender killied my battery...

[Jim Saraceno]

Hmmmm.... for some reason I decided to get one of those Deltran Battery Tenders. Right from the get-go I thought something was not right. It seemed take about two weeks before it went into maintaine mode.

After that everything seemed fine but now my battery seems to be dead. Looking into the cells, the plates look corroded.

Anyone else ever have that problem?

[TodFitch]

Interesting. I have long considered getting one of those just because they seem like a good idea. But being cheap I haven't bothered yet.

The battery that is in my 1933 was purchased in July of 2002 and still seems to be going strong. And it was the cheapest one I could get at the local auto supply. I guess I can afford a new battery every 7 years and so I can live with out a battery tender.

[BobT-47P15]

I've been thinking about a tender, too.

My battery in the convert is now at the going dead pretty

quickly stage. It's not totally ancient, but not sure how

long it's been there.

Guess I need to take it out and drop it on the ground a couple

times to knock off some scale from the plates......as discussed

in a thread not long ago.

I've also been told that you can essentially "fry" the scale off by

using a 12V charger on high for a period of time.

[Norm's Coupe]

Jim,

How old was your battery to begin with, before using the battery tender? If your battery was a year or more old, maybe it had already started to corrode the cells before you hooked up the tender. I just started using one when I bought a new battery the first of January. Naturally being winter I haven't driven the car since, but I did start it up a few times. When I first put the tender on right after installing the battery the light was red. Next day when I looked, it was green indicating a full charge. I have started the car and let it run a few times without a problem. So........the real test will come soon when I remove the tender and use the car on a more regular basis. I know people who use a regular charger with auto shutoff that keeps them hooked up all winter without a problem too. That's why I questioned how old is your battery.

My tender is a Deltran too. So........if I do have a problem I'll take my new battery back along with the tender, since the battery is only about 4 months old. I bought them both from the Remy shop at the same time. I wouldn't think they wouldn't sell those tenders if they had to replace too many batteries due to them messing up a new battery. It does say in the instructions to make sure your battery acid level is up while using the tender. It's just like running the car all the time. Have to check the level of acid in the battery because it's always being warmed up.

[greg g]

You may have also bridged some plates, essentially shorting them out. Remove the battery, lift it straight up about 2 inches and drop it onto thel level floor once or twice. This may breakdown any bridging of stuff between the plates or the plates and the battey case.

then give it a good charge and see what happens. If not OK call those folks.

Had a friend who used one on his Motorcycle. He had the sme battery in his BMW for about 8 years. Which is unheard of for MC batteries. SO he swore by it. Still uses it on his newer bike haven't heard of him having any difficulties.

[Jim Saraceno]

The battery is a few years old. It said manufactured on '03 but I don't think I had it that long.

Anyway, I brought the battery to Autozone, they put it on their tester and the tester said there was not enough voltage to test it. They put it on a charger and said they would test it again.

I already put a charger on it but it wouldn't take a charge so I'm guessing it is dead. I also came home and tested the Battery Tender to see what kind of voltage it was putting out. It had no voltage output.

I'm thinking I either had a battery starting to go bad that killed the Tender or a bad Tender that killed the battery.

It's just been one of those days. Everything I touch today turns to poop. I'm thinking popping a beer and watching the baseball game may be my best next move.

[Young Ed]

Don't push the buttons on the remote too hard and break that too

[Plymouthy Adams]

IF you are sure than when you placed your battery on the tender circuit the acid level was indeed well above the plate and yet just below the fill ring..then the tender itself is outputting too much current and has boiled the acid off the battery...this suflation is not good..odds are you can try to (flush) refill and slow charge the battery with a standard charger and get rid of the miner...its auto circuit either failed or was non-existant to begin with...a minder need to sense the charge condition in order to work properly and is variable in its output...

[Norm's Coupe]

If your battery was two years old and you seldom drove the car, there is a good chance it was bad when you put the tender on it. I've had batteries go in just two years or so myself before I started driving the coupe and moving it around the driveway, etc. They go fast when not used much.

[Jim Saraceno]

Well, the final result is the battery is dead and the Tender is dead.

It was definitely more than two years old so it may have been on it's way out. Like I said before... the Tender may have killed the battery or the battery may have killed the Tender... in any case I have a new battery and a new charger. The new one is by Schumaker.

As I re-read the Battery Tender instructions, the LED never functioned the way the instructions said they would so I may have been defective right out of the box.

Don't push the buttons on the remote too hard and break that too

Good call Ed, I didn't break the remote, I didn't spill my beer, Albert Pujols hit two dingers and the Cards swept the Pond Scums... er.. I mean the Mets. Plus now I have a new battery and Bluebelle is up and running again. The afternoon was definitely better than the morning:)

[Norm's Coupe]

Jim,

That light should have came on regardless if you had a dead battery or not. Should have been green or red the minute you plugged it in. It is possible the tender had a short in it when you bought it. Even if you hooked it up backwards by accident it's supposed to have reverse polarity protection for safety. I just looked at the instructions for my Deltran Battery Tender Junior. (actually just the card that was in the blister pack). Says 5 year warranty right on it. So........I'd contact them.

[Bill Ford]

Jim, I have a Battery Minder and have had it for 5 or more years. I had a question just recently and called their 800 number. I was told the battery had to be at full charge for the green light to work. It does not charge a battery but maintains it.

[grey beard]

Put a new group II Interstate battery in my PH in late 1955, but then the restoration began and the truck sat for over three years. Yup, the battery's now totally toast, in just three years. Course, it may have been a year or two old when I bought it off the shelf.

Seems like batteries really begin to sulfate as soon as electrolyte is introduced to the plates - even just sitting in stock, on the shelves. I'm old enough to remember dry-charged batteries, where they poured the drink into them when you bought 'em, right there on the spot.

East Penn Mfg. Co, makers of Deka batteries, is just 45 minutes north of me, and is where I went for my new one. They claim to be the largest independant battery maker in North America. The counter guy said that most of the old battery cores they take in trade there are less than three years old. Now ain't that a sorry story? Imagine batteries failing that fast! He also said that battery tenders will double the life of a battery in anything that sits a lot, and I believe him. Ordered a new one for myself from Pacific Battery.com.

There are two things that cause battery sulfation - sitting around unused and recharging. The faster the charge rate or the deeper the discharge/recharge cycle, the quicker the sulfation rate, according to Delco Remy.

I once car pooled with a gent who had bought a new Accord EIGHT years ago, when his battery finally died. Died dead at 50 mph, on the highway, not while cranking, either. This is the longest I have ever known a lead acid storage battery to last in service.

Back in 1975, I went to work as maintenance supt. for a trucking company in Logansport, IN. Inside the rear shop door, right next to the tire cage, was a stack of more than fifty group IV six volt truck batteries. These group 4's are used in sets of 4 for heavy duty diesel cranking in cold weather. Anyhoo, we began taking these old batteries, two at a time, cleaned them up and filled them with distilled water, then put 'em on the show charger for 24 hours. Over half of them came up, held a good charge, and passed a capacity load test, so they lived to fight another day, as it were. The rest were well and truly shot, and we moved 'em out.

Thus endeth my late-night/early-morning-I-can't-sleep-anyhoo battery rant.