Anyone using harbor freight battery tender?
12-29-2011, 01:15 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Anyone using harbor freight battery tender?
Was reading through the instructions and it said battery must be fully charged before using..and it also says battery must be removed from the vehicle while using..just wondering if I actually need to jump my car and charge my battery..and take it out to use this thing..any help is much appreciated, thanks!
12-29-2011, 02:17 PM
#3
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A battery TENDER supplies a very low amperage charge, and will take a while to fully charge a battery because of this. That's why it says it has to be fully charged. Battery tenders aka trickle chargers are meant to keep a battery charged, not charge a dead one. If it's a battery charger, not a "tender", then just disconnect the positive cable and you're good to go.
12-29-2011, 02:22 PM
#4
Thread Starter
It is in fact a tender..id hate to have to start my car just to charge the battery though..so will the tender only keep the battery charged to its current charge level? As in..am I going to absolutely have to start my car in order to keep my battery properly charged..or wi ll I be ok hooking it up for the next three months?
12-29-2011, 04:23 PM
#5
I use them(5) on my bikes(3) and my boat(2). On my bikes I just hook them up and forget about them, on my boat, it has two battery's so I separate the two battery's and put one charger on each battery(I leave all the battery's in the vehicles). If the battery is dead, like you left the lights on I don't know if it will charge it back up but if its just low it will bring it back up to a full charge and keep it there.
Two of the bikes are dirt bikes and they stay outside all winter with a tarp over them and in the spring or whenever I go riding in the winter the bikes start right up.
The charger puts out well under 1 amp so I have never had a problem with a battery going dry because of over charging. Makes my battery's last a lot longer.
ROD
p.s. I forgot about the H/F charger on the lawnmower battery.
Two of the bikes are dirt bikes and they stay outside all winter with a tarp over them and in the spring or whenever I go riding in the winter the bikes start right up.
The charger puts out well under 1 amp so I have never had a problem with a battery going dry because of over charging. Makes my battery's last a lot longer.
ROD
p.s. I forgot about the H/F charger on the lawnmower battery.
12-29-2011, 04:52 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Thanks..much appreciated! This is what I wanted to hear..sounds like I can just hook it up, plug it in and forget about it till spring...which is awesome..still cant believe the thing was only $10!
