the flyin' scotsman

I have used a variety of battery chargers over the years but all are for individual units.

As I now have 3 12v batteries (2 auto and 1 marine) to maintain over our long winter Im interested in a modern approach of maintain all 3 together.

Appreicate comments

hacker-pschorr

I'm in the same boat with 6+ batteries on the shelf every winter. I may just buy one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende.../dp/B000CIPHUI

the flyin' scotsman

I saw this item:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0068EV26I/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

dr bob

I played with using a single maintainer on four 18AH batteries from water toys, all batteries in parallel with the single maintainer. It worked so long as all the batteries were good. As soon as one was different/lower capacity, it screwed with the other batteries until they too were deteriorated. As all the batteries were stored together on a shelf, I ended up with two maintainers and swapped them every week or so during the non-yachting season. That worked out the best considering.

Premium maintainers can be >$100, so I'm not inclined to invest in one unless the battery it's maintaining is somewhere around the same cost or more. Lesser batteries get lesser maintainers, like the Battery Tender or the Schumacher. These are really fine for virtually any 928 maintenance task so long as, if you have much parasitic load at all you have the battery is disconnected from the car.

The multi-Battery Tenders seem like a good idea, so long as all your batteries are next to each other. Cost savings are not there for the multi units vs the singles, when you consider limited location flexibility IMO.

911 Crazy

Are you lost?

docmirror

I bought six of these a few years back.

https://www.amazon.com/Decker-BC2WBD...battery+tender

Still in service on various batts. Two are hard wired into the batt and the connector stays with the vessel. I like them.

GT6ixer

Not sure if they offer a multi battery charger but here is a modern solution you may want to check out.

http://smartercharger.com

marine928

I have been using these for years with great results on my commercial truck fleet, motorcycles, and cars.

Go to the charger section and see the variety of chargers available. Amazon, Ebay and others have them.

www.m.motobatt.com

mnotz

I just grabbed 6 of these while they were 50% off (West Marine) and so far they seem to work very nice. I like that they are able to handle different cell types, and Marinco is definitely a company with solid products and reputation. Mounted them all on a board in the back of the shelf I winter store the batteries on and wired them into a box to a single plug. Worked out well and I like the indicators.

http://www.marincopowerproducts.com/en/27101

dr bob

The Go-To smart charger maintainer I've been using lately is the CTEK 7002US. Has actual charging capabilities that the Schumacher 2.5's in the drawer don't have. It supports several different modes including voltage-maintenance when you need to keep the car's memories happy while changing a battery. I'm very satisfied with it at 2+ years in the garage.

Find it here on Amazon: CTEK Multi 7002US

davek9

I've found that some of the "Smart" tenders won't automatically restart if there has been a power outage.
That's OK if they are not being used at a storage facility where you don't frequently visit, just an FYI.

Adamant1971

This is on sale at CT. $200 usd taxes in and it does 6v and 12 v. Maybe you can buy on-line. If they don't ship to the US PM me.

dr bob

This "feature" drove me to the CTEK over the similar Bosch. Greg, Mark, and Rob shared how happy they were with the Bosch. User reviews in several places were critical of the need for a manual restart following a power glitch, not the best for winter-storage maintainer.

The inexpensive Schumacher 2.5 maintainers only have one mode and nothing to restart. The last couple I bought came from WalMart for under $30. They are fine for stored batteries that are disconnected from any loads. I --suspect-- that they were causing some issues when connected to the 928 battery while it was still connected in my S4. The car has very low parasitic drain, but there's enough to make the maintainer cycle a lot. FWIW, it will do the same with a tired battery, one that has a problem maintaining full charge even when disconnected. Test the specific gravity of the electrolyte before storing the battery for the winter, as a battery that's already weak will only get worse in storage; replace it in the spring, waste no time or effort trying to "save" it in winter storage.

GlennD

Malcolm,

Would one of these address your needs:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/no...1930p.html#srp

Seems to have some nice features. I cannot provide any use experience with these as I have not used - I have been/am using Ctek units (four of them).

•Perfect for organized and carefree storage of up to 4 batteries over the offseason, and easily mounts to the wall
•Keeps batteries in motorcycles, ATVs, jet skis, snowmobiles, cars, trucks, RVs, boats and tractors at peak charge without harm, so they are ready to start the next season
•4 independent banks allow different battery sizes, voltages (6V or 12V), and chemistries to be charged or maintained at the same time safely and efficiently, all from a single device
•Revolutionary 7-step VOSFX smart processor utilizes sophisticated levels of intelligence to alter the charge process based on feedback from the battery
•Safely charges wet, gel, maintenance free and AGM chemistry batteries
•Includes safety features such as reverse polarity, short circuit, open circuit, spark proof, overheat, overcurrent and overcharge protection
•Recovers deeply discharged and sulphated batteries with pulse charging
•Auto-memory returns to last selected mode when restarted
•Includes battery clamp leads (2), eyelet connector leads (2) and 10' extension cables (4) allowing you to charge the battery in the vehicle if desired


Available at your local store just down the road from where you are Malcolm - nothing to order in.

Cheers
Glenn