Question about battery tenders

[Joe Flanagan]

I was just looking at a battery tender and while it says "for 12 volts only" it also says it can be used for lawn mowers, motorcycles, jet skis, and a lot of other things that I thought used 6 volt batteries. Do I have to buy a tender that is specifically for 6 volt batteries?

[Oldguy48]

Joe,

Take a look at the Battery Tender website. It provides an answer to your question.

Wayne

http://batterytender.com/resources/frequently-asked-questions/

[Joe Flanagan]

Thanks, Wayne.

[wallytoo]

i'm sure they have one for 6-volt available.

if not, try battery butler, by lectric-limited. i bought one last year for the tractor 6-volt, and it works nicely. price was decent, too, at around $20.00

[Merle Coggins]

I have a battery charger/maintainer that can be switched to 6 volt or 12 volt. I believe it is a Schumacher brand. It works well. I keep it connected to my truck through the winter months.

Merle

[busycoupe]

I've had a 6V Delran Battery tender for 3 or 4 years. It works great.

Dave

[DCurrent]

Sears has a maintainer, charger on sale now for 6v and 12v batteries. It has a 3 year warranty and is good for other sizes of batteries other than just motorcycle and lawn tractors. I bought 5 of them for gifts and myself. It seems to work real well. Watch what you buy! There are a lot of them out there and many state that they are only good for small batteries such as lawn tractors and motorcycles. Also be sure to hook up the cables before you plug any charger in. Especially these small ones. Many of them do not have a circuit breaker if they are plugged in with nothing to charge and will burn up in a Milli-second.

Darren

[Joe Flanagan]

There's a Sears near me so I'll check there tomorrow. Thanks.

[DCurrent]

Joe, Did you make it to sears? If you did buy one of those chargers be sure to copy the receipt and put it in the box it came in. Keep the box and store it where you'll remember putting it! I know I know!! LOL Well at least try. It has a 3 year warranty and if it fails for whatever reason take it back.

Darren

[thrashingcows]

Joe, Did you make it to sears? If you did buy one of those chargers be sure to copy the receipt and put it in the box it came in. Keep the box and store it where you'll remember putting it! I know I know!! LOL Well at least try. It has a 3 year warranty and if it fails for whatever reason take it back.

Darren

That's good advice on photo coping the reciept. The original reciept will usually fade long before the 3 years is up.

[Joe Flanagan]

I didn't have a chance to get out there yet but thanks for the advice. I've got a new battery for my Plymouth. Just need to get a break on some of these house chores so I can get out there and start working again. I don't have any idea where to pick up. I left off working on it over a year ago.

[Scruffy49]

Motorcycle versions work fine on car batteries. We use them on diesel John Deeres here. You can also get dual voltage chargers/tenders at West Marine, Cycle Gear, most auto parts stores, Bass Pro Shops and related with boating sections, Wal-mart...

If they sell batteries they have or can order tenders.

I have (and still use) a Sears battery charger (dual voltage) from the early 1960s. The only Sears product I still own.

[Rodney Bullock]

I didn't have a chance to get out there yet but thanks for the advice. I've got a new battery for my Plymouth. Just need to get a break on some of these house chores so I can get out there and start working again. I don't have any idea where to pick up. I left off working on it over a year ago.

Hey Joe, Just start working on it. look at it and just dive in. You have not worked on your car in so long your battery died? WOW, That's some real neglect;)How is the chevy running. I knoiw it's perfect. I have to get over and see it. I suffer from the same thing. I just got my running boards about a week ago and still have not gotten around to it. I have been knee deep in this Studebaker. I was just going to replace the wheel clylinder in the rear. I ened up replacing all the shoes, wheel clylinders and hoses. I don't know what happened:eek: it snowballed.

[RobertKB]

I don't have any idea where to pick up. I left off working on it over a year ago.

Joe, just dive in anywhere and it will all start to come back. You will have a plan in your head before long. The big part is just getting started again.

I have been knee deep in this Studebaker. I was just going to replace the wheel clylinder in the rear. I ened up replacing all the shoes, wheel clylinders and hoses. I don't know what happened:eek: it snowballed.

Rodney, as you know, this is so typical of old cars. I once went to fix a squealing brake on my '48 Dodge and figured I would rebuild/replace one cylinder and clean the lining with Brakecleen as it hadn't been leaking for long. I ended up replacing all four front wheel cylinders, all shoes, and replacing the king pins after noticing the thrust bearing on one of them was broken. A short, cheap job ended up taking much longer and costing much more.

I am pretty sure anyone on this forum who has worked on his old car will have a similar story or stories!

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As for the original topic, battery tenders, I have never had one but always intended on getting one or more. I will follow this thread to see what was finally bought and used.

Edited December 11, 2012 by RobertKB

[Niel Hoback]

OK, once again from the cheap seats, I have been using cast off battery eliminators from small electronic devices for a long time. Just find one for something that used four dry cell batteries and you have a 6 volt tender. The bigger the better, but even a smallone will keep your battery charged.

[Young Ed]

OK, once again from the cheap seats, I have been using cast off battery eliminators from small electronic devices for a long time. Just find one for something that used four dry cell batteries and you have a 6 volt tender. The bigger the better, but even a smallone will keep your battery charged.

I just do nothing its even cheaper. My batteries sit unhooked but installed from nov to april. Start them up and drive all summer. I get about 5 years a piece from my 34.99 fleet farm batteries.

[Joe Flanagan]

I think the next thing I was going to do was install the access panel in the floor, then I was going to install all the glass. Ah, yes. That was it.

Rodney, the Chevy is running great. I took it on a 1,000-mile road trip in early October. Runs like a sewing machine, everything works, and it's a lot of fun to drive. It needs some minor rust repair and a paint job but that will be much later. Someone mentioned West Marine in an earlier post. There's one very close to me, so I might check there for a tender.