NiATE

It's about the time of year where those of us in less ideal climates need to start thinking about what's going to happen to the batteries in our cars as they sit quietly while we drive cars more suited for salty, sandy, snowy, slushy streets. A car battery really should last 5-10 years. But letting them run completely flat can take years off the life of your battery every time it happens. That's where a "battery tender" comes in really handy. Motorcyclists have known about these for a long time, but those who stick to four wheels might not be as familiar with the benefits of a battery tender. You simply hook them up to a battery, either in, or removed from your vehicle, and walk away. They'll keep the battery in ideal condition for many months.

We are offering these miraculous devices (or at least very handy ones) as a group buy. And we are offering the best of them too. When you think cotton swabs you think Q-Tip, when you think of battery tenders, you think Battery Tender. Their standard model is the Battery Tender Plus that retails for $59.95 plus shipping. Our group buy offer for this is $50 delivered. We need at least 10 people to get in on this to make it work. These would make an
excellent holiday gift as well, so buy a couple!

Just email or call me to get on the list (info is in the signature). We're offering this group buy until December 4th to make sure those of you who purchase them as gifts get them in time.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

(Could I get a moderator to make this sticky until 12/4? Thanks!)

deputydog95

I use the battery tender brand charger on my bike. Great product. I'm getting two waterproof ones for the boat. Only problem with the porsche application is that you need to open the hood and get at the battery to use it. With the hood popped, doesn't the trunk light stay on? The cord is kind of thick and I would think it would not be a good idea to close the hood on it. I went with the porsche one that plugs into the cigarette lighter instead. Too much of a hassle to get at the porsche battery, even with the quick connect plug they supply.

bet

You can fool the light by closing the latch with the hood up or just take out the bulb.

Of course the best solution IMO is forget the battery tender and get some snow tires and drive the car. It is much more fun than letting the car sit in the garage (I know because I did this with my 993). What we need is a group buy on some Blizzak LM-25's or Dunlop Wintersport M3's

polver

I hope this isn't too far off thread topic, but how much of a charging rate is sufficient for maintaining a battery? I have several 12V chargers for SCUBA light applications. They range from .25A to .5A. Quite a bit less than the Battery Tender Plus's 1.5 A, but how much is enough?

Polver

Scott G

The Battery Tender is more sophisticated than a trickle charger. Once the battery is fully charged, the charging current drops to 0.1A at 13.2V. This keeps the battery from gassing. For more details, check out their FAQ:

Battery Tender FAQ

I have a Battery Tender Plus and really like it. It comes with alligator clips and a small harness for quick connections. However, it only has a max current of 1.25A. If I need to charge a battery quickly, I drag out my 20 year-old Sears 6A charger.

There are also jump terminals in the engine bay for jump starting. These should work for charging purposes but I haven't tried it. I use the battery terminals.

The trunk light goes off eventually. Does anybody know the functionality on this?

deputydog95

Battery tender is a great product. It is just so much easier with the porsche charger. Plug it into the cig lighter and forget about it. It supposedly does the same thing as the Tender with regards to the float charge.

OCBen

I've heard of the Porsche Battery Maintainer but I've never heard of this "Battery Tender." How does it compare to the Porsche unit?

From the looks of it (after doing a search) it seems inferior in that it doesn't include a cigarette lighter plug connector like the Porsche unit. It's a separate ordered option on this particular product, and it appears you need to hard wire it yourself in order to charge through the cigarette lighter outlet.

At any rate, this particular site sells it for $41.95 ea. for orders of 5 or more:

http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=DEL-021-0128

deputydog95

the "battery tender" brand is excellent stuff. i've been using them for some time now. they didn't have the cig plug option when i bought my porsche charger. you don't have to "hard wire" the cig option on there. just plugs into the battery tender charger cord. you have the option to use alligator clips, the cig adapter, and the battery terminal extension piece (that's the what i use on my bike).

knowing they have a cig adapter option, i would get the battery tender brand. just by the tender junior. it's less money and works fine.

anyone know if the cig outlet is engergized when the key is off on our cars? i don't have my car at home right now.

BigHeadDennis

FYI, the Deltran battery tender really is the best one I've used. The Porsche unit is like the Deltran Battery Tender Junior (heck, Deltran may even be the manufacturer of that unit). If you do order the $6 optional cigarette lighter plug, you can just plug it in - no hard wiring necessary. Note, this may only work on those cars that have an active lighter plug with the key out (dunno if the 996 lighter plug does or not).

I just hook it right up to the battery in front. BTW, the light in the trunk is supposed to turn off automatically after 3 hours, IIRC per the manual.

Lastly, the Batterymart.com offer is for $43.95 without a group buy, PLUS SHIPPING; depending on where you are, the price is almost certainly going to be more than $50 (it was for me, and I'm from Boston). Even if you do arrange a separate group buy to get the $41.95 price, you may not beat the $50 offer from ImagineAuto (Rennlist sponsor).

vty,

--Dennis

deputydog95

the porsche cig lighter must be active as that's how the factory porsche charger works.

Gary R.

I'm in Nate, sent you an email!

SPR

what about using this one along with making a cig adapter with a quick disconnect adapter?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

allistersmith

Yes the battery life lasts for more than 10 yrs. All should use good battery charger so that it should not destroy battery.

DaveSpeed

I use an AutoSport brand tender. They sell for 39.99 + shipping. I got mine on sale for 29.99. Great deal used it for the last two years. Autosport.com

jpowers

My Battery Tender has a flat cord and it easliy fits in a closed trunk lid. I run mine out the passenger side by the fuel door. I didn't want to run the cord where the trunk water seal is. No pressure on the cord and routed this way and it doesn't put pressure on the rubber water seal.

I have used their products for years with bikes and cars and have been very happy with them.