Tender killing battery

[cdogg556]

After installing my ESC almost 4 years ago I have never used a tender since, it sat for 3 weeks one time and it started! It barely started, but it did, I usually fire it up every week even if I'm not gonna ride just to keep everything good.

 

[Mr. Wright]

So you say the tender and Big Dog are collaborating to suck the juice out of the battery

you sure that tender is actually charging? Or does disconnecting the battery just prevent EHC from milking your juice

I believe keeping a battery on a trickle charger is hard on a battery.

 

[Jwooky]

I do agree a constant trickle charge would not be good for a battery

However, a tender does not just trickle charge the battery. It monitors the voltage of the battery and only charges it when it gets below a set voltage. It will "Float".

Most if not all battery manufactures recommend their usage. Running a battery down to low and recharging is the worst thing you can do to them. Heat is their worst enemy.

The original EHC had a bad parasitic ignition off current draw. You pretty much have to keep them on a tender. Otherwise it would either be too low to start or you would be constantly draining and recharging which is brutal on a battery.

 

[mleach72]

So you say the tender and Big Dog are collaborating to suck the juice out of the battery you sure that tender is actually charging? Or does disconnecting the battery just prevent EHC from milking your juice

I don't know. That's why I was asking if anyone knew what the reason was that it was happening. The supersmart has a yellow light when charging, blinking when over 80 percent, and turns green when fully charged. At this point the manual says it is "monitoring charged battery"

 

[TapioK]

I believe keeping a battery on a trickle charger is hard on a battery.

Some are better, some worse.. I have kept my batteries on charger when I’ve been in Europe. Thant means months. I get years from cheap batteries... on all bikes and cars. Both sides of the pond.

 

[mleach72]

When I was keeping the tender on it with the battery hooked up, the tender would say the battery was fully charged, but it would get weaker and weaker until no start.

 

[TapioK]

When I was keeping the tender on it with the battery hooked up, the tender would say the battery was fully charged, but it would get weaker and weaker until no start.

If the charger works and it pushes constant 3-4 amps as it does for empty battery, I would expect the battery being somewhat hot after a while. If the battery has a shorted cell, it may confuse the charger to see a good voltage thus not charging but disconnecting the battery from the bike wouldn’t fix the battery...
I must admit I think with left kidney after the unfortunate brain-explosion while reading an other thread...