trickle charge qwest!

I use an Optima red top. For the past two winters, I've just disconnected the neg terminal and just let it sit. After 3-4 months, it starts back up just fine. I bought a kill switch this past winter I need to install.

Looks just like this one...
http://www.ctclassics.com/productimages/S-BHD.jpg
 
I wasn't able to drive my car for a few weeks and the battery wouldn't start the car. Checking the voltage it was 9.85v. I purchased the battery tender junior at batteries plus. I removed the three fuses that account for most of the normal drain, hooked it up and in a couple days the battery was fully charged :smile: . It worked great but i have a question. I drove the car yesterday for about 2 hours and when i returned home i put the charger back on. The tender went into charge mode (red not flashing green) for a few hours before going back to the float (steady green). Is this normal? I would have thought the battery would be at full charge after driving for 2 hours.
 
I wasn't able to drive my car for a few weeks and the battery wouldn't start the car. Checking the voltage it was 9.85v. I purchased the battery tender junior at batteries plus. I removed the three fuses that account for most of the normal drain, hooked it up and in a couple days the battery was fully charged :smile: . It worked great but i have a question. I drove the car yesterday for about 2 hours and when i returned home i put the charger back on. The tender went into charge mode (red not flashing green) for a few hours before going back to the float (steady green). Is this normal? I would have thought the battery would be at full charge after driving for 2 hours.

Totally normal. Read the instruction booklet. It will charge with the LED red until it hits 14V (I think) and then switch to green & maintain 13.2V. if it dips below 13.2, it goes back to red until fully topped off, then back to green. It makes a weird orange-green color if you unhook one terminal or do something backwards. I am assuming you have the ring terminal pigtail hooked to your car so there is no way to hook it up backwards anyway. If you use the terminal with the little jumper cable clamps, it is possible. I use that on my Subaru every once in a while since the battery is very old.
 
Thanks, i wasn't sure about it because my battery is the original one (5 years old) and i thought it may be bad. I just got the charger at the end of last week and haven't had time to put the pigtail on, so i am using the clamps.:redface:
 
Just to update this thread with another option. At your local Walmart in the automotive batteries section, you should be able to find a Schumacher Battery Companion. It only costs about $20 and worked great for me. I left one of my cars in the garage for a month and came back and it started up like a champ.

The connectors and overall quality of the charger is not quite as nice as my Battery Tender plus but it works great. The charging concept is the same as the Battery Tenders, charges and then switches to float mode monitoring. Stay away from that cheap Harbor Freight crap as this charger is just a tad more but way better.
 
anyone still need these? i got 2 left.

i got 3 for my cars, usually i use the charger at the shop. 2 just sitting at home. i got one on my F car and it works fine.

0.5-.7Amp feed. automatic off.

nothing special but it works.

23$ shipped to us location.
 
The following is my post form a discussion about batteries but I find it applicable here for the tender discussion as these items are interrelated:


I have had good luck with an Optima red top for over 4 years of storing my car for the winters, but there is a catch. You need to use the Ctek 3300 battery tender! My experience was with an MR2 but it was very similar to the NSX as it constantly drained the battery. Actually the first winter the car was stored for 4 months and started the next spring with out the tender, it wasn't available yet. I thought this was great as I just about went through a battery every 2 years and after the second year you couldn't get them to hold a charge. Then the following winter it died in the spring but a trickle recharge and it was good to go after that. The third year it died and could not be revived with any charger I had. I was told the Cteck will bring it back to life by my local parts store. I couldn't beleive it but it did, it took 3 weeks to completely allow the battery to get to 100% but it made it. After that I kept the car on that tender and had no more issues. I sold the MR2 and bought an NSX and continue to use the Cteck tender this winter with no issues. I will go to the Optima eventually as I like the no wet acid aspect of the Optima, but you have to use the tender in the winter if you don't use the car or at least you know you can recondition it if it does die if you don't tender the car.

Regards,

Tytus

PS: I was soon to learn that Optimas are not gel but actually lead acid so I fail to see their advantage. But the Ctek 3300 did bring the battery back to life. I have been using the Ctek on the NSX since I got it in December and I recently started it with no issues.
 
When you disconnect a battery can you just disconnect the negative post and leave the positive post on?


Tony, Yes just the negative (-) is all that is necessary to disconnect the battery.

Brad

WOOPS, Sorry guys I didn't realize this thread had gone on to PAGE 2. What in the heck is everybody doing up so early on a sunday morning. ON PRIME
 
Here is the manual for the EverStart unit.
The model number is WM-1-12A, its a 1.5 amp unit.
I believe it comes in different names as well.
Its exactly like this Schumaker SE-1-12S
http://store.schumachermart.com/se-1-12s.html
Trev
 

Attachments

Do NOT use conventional trickle chargers for long term charging, use ONLY Battery TENDERS, they are designed to be on constantly, Standard trickle chargers have been know to cause batteries to EXPLODE !!!

Harbor Freight sells one for less that $10, or the better ones go for $80+ or so, I have 2 of the cheap ones and they work well.
 
Just to update my earlier posts.

I have been using the Battery Tender Junior for almost 1 year now and it works like a champ. I am still using the OEM battery from 2002 and never have a voltage problem. I use the pigtail connected to my battery and plug the unit in to it when in the garage. The unit itself is very small which keeps it from getting in the way.
 
Just to update my earlier posts.

I have been using the Battery Tender Junior for almost 1 year now and it works like a champ. I am still using the OEM battery from 2002 and never have a voltage problem. I use the pigtail connected to my battery and plug the unit in to it when in the garage. The unit itself is very small which keeps it from getting in the way.

Yeah the nice thing about the battery tender junior is that the unit plugs directly into the wall, and the prongs are located high enough up on the unit that you can still plug 2 into a standard socket. One on the bottom, and one upside down on the top.
 
No disrepect to the bang for the buck Shumacher users, but for you snobs like me that want the best, the Battery Tenders were designed by Deltran, a first class outfit. Shumacher is the official charger for Nascar, kind of the buick of chargers. I've been screwing around with a really high tech Shumacker $160 Odessy Opimizer charger(25 amp quick charge and tender as well- best of both worlds- if it worked right) that is designed only for the Oddesys. I'm on my third battery because the damn thing keeps telling me they are bad and the tech folks keep talking me into a new battery (my stupid). My salient point here is their technical people are piss poor, and I believe I'm speaking to their top engineers. Go Deltran!
 
I normally don't use a trickle charger unless I am on vacation for more than 2 weeks. Hey, I'm in California, no need to trickle charge, just drive it for 20 minutes, and it's charged.:biggrin:
 
No disrepect to the bang for the buck Shumacher users, but for you snobs like me that want the best, the Battery Tenders were designed by Deltran, a first class outfit. Shumacher is the official charger for Nascar, kind of the buick of chargers. I've been screwing around with a really high tech Shumacker $160 Odessy Opimizer charger(25 amp quick charge and tender as well- best of both worlds- if it worked right) that is designed only for the Oddesys. I'm on my third battery because the damn thing keeps telling me they are bad and the tech folks keep talking me into a new battery (my stupid). My salient point here is their technical people are piss poor, and I believe I'm speaking to their top engineers. Go Deltran!

Has anyone had issues with their Odyssey batteries? I'm on my second one (which was replaced at no charge, since it was still under the warranty). I keep my battery hooked up to my CTEK 3300 which does pulse charging. This second Odyssey battery has gone dead too, and it won't recover (de-sulphate) with the CTEK charger. I'm hesistant to invest in another Odyssey, since I have to pay for another one due to it now being beyond the original purchase date's warranty.

-CiaoBoy
 
Has anyone had issues with their Odyssey batteries?

-CiaoBoy

If you search I believe you will find most are very happy. I've had them for 15 years(black panthers) and have been very happy until recently. You do know they should only be charged by a charger specially designed for them,right? although there are some here who have not followed that advice with acceptable results. I'm evaluating my relatively new battery with their help now and will post what I find. Perhaps they are now crap, but I doubt it.
 
Just to update this thread with another option. At your local Walmart in the automotive batteries section, you should be able to find a Schumacher Battery Companion. It only costs about $20 and worked great for me. I left one of my cars in the garage for a month and came back and it started up like a champ.

The connectors and overall quality of the charger is not quite as nice as my Battery Tender plus but it works great. The charging concept is the same as the Battery Tenders, charges and then switches to float mode monitoring. Stay away from that cheap Harbor Freight crap as this charger is just a tad more but way better.

I saw Malibu Rapper's post and decided to check this out at Wal-Mart. I also decided to check out Lowe's (based on an earlier post he made).

Here is what I found:
1. Wal-Mart carries the Schumacher Battery Companion for about $18. Not a bad unit, but a little big. Note: This is not the Schumacher on-board model. It is bigger.
2. Wal-Mart also carries a unit branded Black & Decker for $18. Smaller than the Schumacher Battery Companion. Same features, better connectors and longer cords.

I bought three of each; not knowing which one I wanted to keep (three of my cars don't go out much).

Then I went to Lowes to check out the Vector brand that Rapper mentioned. Lowe's had the Vector unit for $22.

It turns out that the Black & Decker branded unit at Wal-Mart is the same unit as the Vector brand from Lowe's. Black & Decker bought Vector Manufacturing in 2006, so I'm going to keep the Black & Decker units. It offers the ring terminal, battery post and cig lighter (which won't work on Hondas from what I recall) connectors, is small, is only $18 and is a smart charger that float charges. In addition, the Black & Decker and Vector units let you switch between 1 or 2 amp charging.

I also picked up a regular charger similar to the one that NSXTASY showed in an earlier post (the Vector one). Again, from Wal-Mart; branded Black & Decker. For $27. It's a 2/4/6 automatic charger that float charges in addition to regular charging.

You also get a FIVE year warranty on the Black & Decker units. I'd say it's a good package overall.

Now for some pics:

Schumacher Batter Companion @ Wal-Mart for $18 (it looks bigger here than it really is):
yhst-85105415359236_1985_2918674


Vector trickle charger @ Lowe's for $22
vec080.jpg


Black & Decker branded version of the Vector trickle charger @ Wal-Mart for $18:
vec080bd_1.jpg


Vector regular charger that also works as a trickle charger
20025_L.jpg


Black & Decker branded version of the regular charger that also works as a trickle charger @ Wal-Mart for $27. I got one of these as well.
VEC1086bbd_1.jpg
 
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Anyone,

Could I use the (+)positive terminal from the fuse box and the nearest nut holding the fuse box housing for (-)negative? I don't have a DVM to ohm out the nut so I'm not sure it is the same ground. See pic (if attached properly:confused: ).

Thanks
Randy

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23619&stc=1&d=1136434357

Randy,
The 2 times that I put the trickle charger on, I use the "+" terminal from the fuse box in the engine compartment and the "-" terminal by the engine block. No issues. I have not use the fuse box in the front.
 
Wow, mickeylex deserves an award for doing all that research. I hope you kept your receipts. :tongue: Thanks!

I went back to a few different Lowes to buy that Vector unit and I couldn't find them. So I ended up buying the Schumacher. It IS larger and I'm not pleased with the build quality either, but it's worked like a charm so far.
 
Wow, mickeylex deserves an award for doing all that research. I hope you kept your receipts. :tongue: Thanks!

I tested both the Black & Decker and the Schumacher units over the weekend. They both worked equally as well, but I like the smaller size, longer cords, better connectors and build quality of the Black & Decker (Vector) unit.

Good thing I found the Wal-Mart reciept in my gym bag last night. :biggrin:
 
Just to add another one:

I've had and used this BatteryMINDER for couple years. Says it also "conditions" the battery, whatever that means. Quick-connect under the hood w/ SAE connectors (I need the extension). A lot like the BatteryTENDER. Available at a lot of places and on line for $45.

Bill
 
HI NSXer's,

After reading the posts and buying the Black and Decker unit, I had decided to place an SAE connector for the BD battery tender under the protection on the hood and not so far forward under the bumper. I decided to place it on top of the passenger front wheel bump under the hood because it was a wide open area. In what appears to be a dry non -conductive or non-short prone area. I have constructed wiring with the 12 gauge low voltage outdoor wire suggested and nicely insulated all of the connectors and butt splices with shrink wrap to the + battery, ground and the SAE connector. My SAE connector also came with a plug cover.

I was wondering if you guys thought that I still should consider using a fuse or do you think that I will be OK without the fuse. I went Radioshack and know that I can easily place a weatherproof fuse into my SAE battery wire I created. I just didn't know if you thought it was overkill. If you think that it is important how large of an amp fuse do you think I should place? 10,20 or 30? Suggestions welcome!!

Rod
 
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