Your Hound and the Battery Tender.

Energy One

Battery Tender Usage


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TapioK

Well-Known Member
Been away a lot and had both dogs standing on garage with no charger for about 1.5 months. Put the chargers on today to see what they say, both said 75% full batteries. Have no idea how old the other battery is, the other is from last spring - cheap crap from the fist battery shop I happened to see, less than $100.
 

bearman

Active Member
http://www.yuasabatteries.com/pdfs/TechManual_2014.pdf

Page 15, where it says:
To find the recommended charger current output in amps for a specific battery, divide the battery amp hour rating by 10. For example a
14 AH battery should be charged at 1.4 amps (14 AH ÷ 10hr = 1. 4) amp current).
Thank you.

VERY good information in that Technical Manual. I saved it to my stash of scooter stuff. I am also a fan of YUASA Batteries, I still have two (of the original four) YUASA start batteries in my '06 model boat (this March will be 9 years).

The info that came with my old scooter battery said to charge between 2 and 10 amps. I assumed that it was not supposed to be charged at less than 2 amps so I did not use a tender on it (my tender is 1.5 Amp), just charged it every couple months in the winter (with an automatic smart charger starting at 10 Amps) and never in the summer. That battery lasted about two years.
The new one I replaced it with last spring says to charge at 1.8 amps for 5 to 10 hours.
The following are some paraphrased quotes (that I found informative), from the Technical Manual that Sven provided;

....While AGM batteries dramatically reduce the need for maintenance, they do need periodic charging...... use the correct charging method and battery charger.

..... When considering upgrading to an AGM battery that was not original equipment on a vehicle, check to make sure the charging system has a regulated output between 14.0 and 14.8 volts. In general, older vehicles have a charging rate that produces lower voltages and a Conventional battery will be the only battery option for these vehicles.

.... Applying a charging current to a battery, without overheating it, is called the “natural absorption charge rate.”

.... Because of their smaller size, when compared to automotive types of batteries, powersports batteries are more sensitive to how much current they can safely absorb. When Charging a motorcycle or other small battery, the battery charger should not exceed 3 amps.

.... For the correct "natural absorption charge rate" a rule of thumb is to divide the battery’s amp hour rating by 10. For example a 14 AH battery should be charged at 1.4 amps (14AH ÷ 10 = 1.4 amps).

....a "Trickle charger" (not to be confused with a "Battery Tender") is not safe to leave connected for long periods of time on any battery, because it never turns off.

....a "Taper charger" (not to be confused with a "Battery Tender" or "Smart Charger") is not recommended because it never changes voltage.

..... A "Smart Charger" (also known as a "Battery Tender") uses constant-current (with increasing voltage) to initially charge the battery; then the charger automatically switches to a constant voltage mode (with decreasing current) to fully charge the battery then shuts charging off and starts to monitor the battery’s state-of-charge and will automatically start charging when the battery falls below a specific voltage.

.....Smart chargers can be left on an AGM battery indefinitely, but cannot be left for extended periods of time on a Conventional battery without checking water levels.

.... If battery voltage drops below 9.5 volts (at 70° F) while the engine is cranking over, the battery needs to be replaced.

....To load test, apply a load of three times the ampere-hour rating. After 10 seconds check the battery voltage with the load still applied. A good 12-volt battery will not drop below 9.5 volts (ambient temperature of 70° F).
 
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