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if it has a battery disconnect try using that first , if your batterys stop discharging you have a electrical drain somewhere on the machine. A voltmeter could be used also using the amp setting and putting it in line at the battery with the machine off to look for drain. reason I say to do this first is you put on a maintainer and have a electrical fault ,that might be setting you up for a fire.
brdgbldr
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2012
- Messages
- 1,195
I use "BatteryMINDer" trickle chargers. They come in a variety of amps and they also desulfate the battery. They also have a temperature sensor so they adjust to the climate. In my experience they actually have made the batteries last longer then they would normally.
The battery in my truck is 12 years old and is still good when load tested. It only gets driven once or twice a month for just a few miles…. Retirement is awesome.
I use a battery tender JR model on mine, that also sits most of the yr, as it mostly only used for snow plowing and odds and ends a few times a yr in other seasons at a vacaion property! I have!
I also have a battery disconnect that I have on same machine, as , I find its worth having than on a machine, , in case someone maybe shows up with ill intentions and doesn't know about the battery disconnect
these older machines(and many new ones) all have pretty universal keys, that any idiot or crook can have and use to start your machine and take it
SO< adding a battery disconnect is never a BAD idea, on that alone, and almost ALL machines have some battery drain when parked,
the more modern, a machine, and the more electrical gadgets they have , the more so
same with all our modern vehicles we drive, there over loaded with things that drain batteries when parked for extended periods of time
I also have a battery disconnect that I have on same machine, as , I find its worth having than on a machine, , in case someone maybe shows up with ill intentions and doesn't know about the battery disconnect
these older machines(and many new ones) all have pretty universal keys, that any idiot or crook can have and use to start your machine and take it
SO< adding a battery disconnect is never a BAD idea, on that alone, and almost ALL machines have some battery drain when parked,
the more modern, a machine, and the more electrical gadgets they have , the more so
same with all our modern vehicles we drive, there over loaded with things that drain batteries when parked for extended periods of time
I use battery tender brand on all my equipment. Costco usually has them for a good price. I put the quick connector on everything with a battery so if it's going to sit it gets hooked up. I am getting at least double the expected life out of the battery. Cheap insurance with the cost of batteries today.
Thank you for the response.
I am checking out the BatteryMINDer now.
I agree on the retirement. It IS awesome!
Brian
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2023
- Messages
- 54
Battery Tender works well. But really, any 1.5A -2A automatic charger will do. They're cheap and available nearly everywhere.
as for battery disconnect switch, I use one mad by Flaming River, called the big switch, its NOT cheap, but its water proof, and from my experience, with cheaper one's is they don't last as long!
www.flamingriver.com
there are tons of others that make like battery disconnects, from cheap one's on EBay and Amazon, from about 10 bucks up, , just watch what AMP there rated for and use appropriate size, ,( most all I seen are all made in china or likes??)
Many OEM"s also sell them,(cat Volvo, and so on) rebranded I gather, or carry them in stock , as so many modern machines come with them these days, so you can many times just go to your regular equipment dealer and buy one, they all pretty much work the same!
and some more info for battery maintainers, some are waterproof and can handle elements , some cannot, so keep that ion mind pending where you plan to use it(indoors or outdoors)
Mine Battery tender JR uses a basic 2 SAE plug, so I plug in easy after using machine, and I ALWAYS unplug when starting machine too, you have to watch on this , as some tenders might NOT be able to be plugged in while you start machine
on the BETTER tenders that claim to do so many things to keep batteries life longer and such<
MAYBE they do, maybe they don't, lots of Hype on many things, IMO
I know folks that been using Battery tender products for 20 yrs or maybe more now, with there basic design \pretty much the same on many models and they had great luck with the old tech getting extremely long life out of there battery's they had them on
can newer designs and with all the special features be better, ??? maybe I guess, but honestly , IMO< after you get past the 5-6 yr mark on a battery, your already entering the water where things go bad, and replacement is getting to be expected, will a tender get you PAST this, MOST times yes, from my experience
But I also, know, if I get to 6 yrs or more, I am just happy and if not, I also, know its not the end of the world either!
I Just keep my toys and equipment with batteries on tenders, to make sure they are always fully charged and didn;t go down while parked for extended periods of time(and also keep in mind, some tenders can be used on multiple batteries, so if you have several things you want charged, lawn mowers, atv's equipment, buying one that can charge/maintain several battery's can be easier than having lots of single units, just do the math first, as multi unit charges tend to cost more)
I will also note here that tenders can FAIL
I had two of them once fail less than a few months old, brand name maker too( Schumacher) and ended up costing me a bunch of money to repair all the damage that happened when things got WAY over charged
I contacted the company that made the charger as were under warranty, who, at first stated they were going to pay for the damages due to failure of there product, started a claim with me to correct damage and then they stopped communicating with me, wouldn;t take my calls, or reply to further emails, SO< sorry to anyone that has there product and likes this company, but I will never use there stuff again, I have to use for a company that doesn't stand by BOTH there word or there product, and straight up screws there customers , as they did me! ALL company's have bad product from time to time get out the door, but better company's stand by there product and follow up with the help they claimed they would give for the bad product getting out, Schumacher didn't , they just said they would, then refused further contact from me!
Sorry about rant,
but felt I would add so you can maybe stay away from this brand maintainer!
FR1003 - The Big Switch
Top racers realize that using a low amp switch creates resistance and actually reduces power. Flaming River's heavy duty battery disconnect switch is top of the line designed for complex electrical systems and 16 Volt batteries. Rated at 250 am
www.flamingriver.com
Many OEM"s also sell them,(cat Volvo, and so on) rebranded I gather, or carry them in stock , as so many modern machines come with them these days, so you can many times just go to your regular equipment dealer and buy one, they all pretty much work the same!
and some more info for battery maintainers, some are waterproof and can handle elements , some cannot, so keep that ion mind pending where you plan to use it(indoors or outdoors)
Mine Battery tender JR uses a basic 2 SAE plug, so I plug in easy after using machine, and I ALWAYS unplug when starting machine too, you have to watch on this , as some tenders might NOT be able to be plugged in while you start machine
on the BETTER tenders that claim to do so many things to keep batteries life longer and such<
MAYBE they do, maybe they don't, lots of Hype on many things, IMO
I know folks that been using Battery tender products for 20 yrs or maybe more now, with there basic design \pretty much the same on many models and they had great luck with the old tech getting extremely long life out of there battery's they had them on
can newer designs and with all the special features be better, ??? maybe I guess, but honestly , IMO< after you get past the 5-6 yr mark on a battery, your already entering the water where things go bad, and replacement is getting to be expected, will a tender get you PAST this, MOST times yes, from my experience
But I also, know, if I get to 6 yrs or more, I am just happy and if not, I also, know its not the end of the world either!
I Just keep my toys and equipment with batteries on tenders, to make sure they are always fully charged and didn;t go down while parked for extended periods of time(and also keep in mind, some tenders can be used on multiple batteries, so if you have several things you want charged, lawn mowers, atv's equipment, buying one that can charge/maintain several battery's can be easier than having lots of single units, just do the math first, as multi unit charges tend to cost more)
I will also note here that tenders can FAIL
I had two of them once fail less than a few months old, brand name maker too( Schumacher) and ended up costing me a bunch of money to repair all the damage that happened when things got WAY over charged
I contacted the company that made the charger as were under warranty, who, at first stated they were going to pay for the damages due to failure of there product, started a claim with me to correct damage and then they stopped communicating with me, wouldn;t take my calls, or reply to further emails, SO< sorry to anyone that has there product and likes this company, but I will never use there stuff again, I have to use for a company that doesn't stand by BOTH there word or there product, and straight up screws there customers , as they did me! ALL company's have bad product from time to time get out the door, but better company's stand by there product and follow up with the help they claimed they would give for the bad product getting out, Schumacher didn't , they just said they would, then refused further contact from me!
Sorry about rant,
but felt I would add so you can maybe stay away from this brand maintainer!
Hey, I looked that up and BOUGHT one. THOSE look great. Way more expensive than I normally would have considered but sure looks worth it with the capabilities it has. I bought one with base cost of $77.
So, thanks, great suggetion!
Great post and thanks for the heads up. Yes, Schumacher IS the big name in the business. 60 years ago my Dad sold their products at his tire and battery store. It is a shame.as for battery disconnect switch, I use one mad by Flaming River, called the big switch, its NOT cheap, but its water proof, and from my experience, with cheaper one's is they don't last as long!
there are tons of others that make like battery disconnects, from cheap one's on EBay and Amazon, from about 10 bucks up, , just watch what AMP there rated for and use appropriate size, ,( most all I seen are all made in china or likes??)FR1003 - The Big Switch
Top racers realize that using a low amp switch creates resistance and actually reduces power. Flaming River's heavy duty battery disconnect switch is top of the line designed for complex electrical systems and 16 Volt batteries. Rated at 250 am
Many OEM"s also sell them,(cat Volvo, and so on) rebranded I gather, or carry them in stock , as so many modern machines come with them these days, so you can many times just go to your regular equipment dealer and buy one, they all pretty much work the same!
and some more info for battery maintainers, some are waterproof and can handle elements , some cannot, so keep that ion mind pending where you plan to use it(indoors or outdoors)
Mine Battery tender JR uses a basic 2 SAE plug, so I plug in easy after using machine, and I ALWAYS unplug when starting machine too, you have to watch on this , as some tenders might NOT be able to be plugged in while you start machine
on the BETTER tenders that claim to do so many things to keep batteries life longer and such<
MAYBE they do, maybe they don't, lots of Hype on many things, IMO
I know folks that been using Battery tender products for 20 yrs or maybe more now, with there basic design \pretty much the same on many models and they had great luck with the old tech getting extremely long life out of there battery's they had them on
can newer designs and with all the special features be better, ??? maybe I guess, but honestly , IMO< after you get past the 5-6 yr mark on a battery, your already entering the water where things go bad, and replacement is getting to be expected, will a tender get you PAST this, MOST times yes, from my experience
But I also, know, if I get to 6 yrs or more, I am just happy and if not, I also, know its not the end of the world either!
I Just keep my toys and equipment with batteries on tenders, to make sure they are always fully charged and didn;t go down while parked for extended periods of time(and also keep in mind, some tenders can be used on multiple batteries, so if you have several things you want charged, lawn mowers, atv's equipment, buying one that can charge/maintain several battery's can be easier than having lots of single units, just do the math first, as multi unit charges tend to cost more)
I will also note here that tenders can FAIL
I had two of them once fail less than a few months old, brand name maker too( Schumacher) and ended up costing me a bunch of money to repair all the damage that happened when things got WAY over charged
I contacted the company that made the charger as were under warranty, who, at first stated they were going to pay for the damages due to failure of there product, started a claim with me to correct damage and then they stopped communicating with me, wouldn;t take my calls, or reply to further emails, SO< sorry to anyone that has there product and likes this company, but I will never use there stuff again, I have to use for a company that doesn't stand by BOTH there word or there product, and straight up screws there customers , as they did me! ALL company's have bad product from time to time get out the door, but better company's stand by there product and follow up with the help they claimed they would give for the bad product getting out, Schumacher didn't , they just said they would, then refused further contact from me!
Sorry about rant,
but felt I would add so you can maybe stay away from this brand maintainer!
Just guessing but:
-- likely their stuff, like most others, comes out of China.
-- The person's manager saw what was offered by the underling and said, "No way, there will be an avalanche of claims once we start this. Tough luck for him, stop communicating!"
I have been using a cheap battery tender and connecting it directly to my installed battery on my 2003 ASV track loader with no apparent damage for a few years. Please tell me what the concern is here when failing to use a battery disconnect switch. thanks!
Thanks for your post. Do I understand correctly?
-- use a battery disconnect switch, mainly to prevent theft of unit; but also,
-- to prevent battery drain from other on board sources?
thanks.
yes the advantage of using a battery disconnect is, it will stop any discharge from add on's and electronics in the machine when parked, modern machines(vehicles) have so much gadgets that eat power when parked any more, so having a disconnect helps keep the battery charged longer in them
and as stated, adds a layer of theft protection
ALSO< as to adding a battery maintainer directly to your battery, I HOPE you have an inline fuse between things, to help prevent things in case of an over charge or surge
most all tenders I know of come with one when bought new to have inline, but if not, they can be found cheap online and again just add a layer of protection to things
Thanks!
No, my old crappy maintainers do NOT have the fuse, but will install one NOW! I just now ordered a good one that DOES have that.
My 2003 ASV track loader has no added on electronics, pretty much every accessary is OFF when ignition is off, no special sensors or screens, toggle switches for all accessories and the logic is such that power is stopped with ignition OFF. Same with my JD garden tractor. I have the track loader in a shed and live in a pretty dead end area, hard to effect burglary. ONe way in / out. So, not much reason for the big switch it seems.
this made me think a bit more about "modern" systems.
Wouldn't you think the manufacturers had thought of this battery drain issue and have preventative logic / electrical logic in place to stop this happening? This concept of battery drain doesn't ring quite true. . .
NO the OEM's don't care about parasitic drain, due to the simple fact customer, want more gadgets than ever before and don;'t care about the added drain on the battery
the average buyer today wants creature comforts, excessive amounts of gadgets and options, and what it all more than long term reliability IMO !
were living in a disposable mind set era, where folks want NEW all the time and and throw out the basically NEW to get it, and keep making payments to get it
SO< there is no priority on having a solution to battery drain, minus, the battery disconnect switch, that again, MANY OEM's have on there equipment already or have as an option!
as for thrift protection, don't kid yourself, these days crime hit every where
I also live rural on a dead end road, a town with 36 homes only
and we have crime here, never used too, but its here now, like every where else
and more food for thought, having a battery disconnect can also add a lawyer of security to things, MICE as we all know like to chew things like insulation on wires?
having power off to things past the battery, can lower risks of fire or?? from mice chewing on hot wire!
won't stop them from chewing and doing damage, but lowers the fire risks
I'm not pushing you to install one,
just giving you some thoughts on the pro's to having one over not
all things in life have pro's and con's, that we tend to pick what we feel we want or not as well!
