3 amp or 4 amp battery tender

[ex vtxer]

i was told that the 3 amp battery is great for the 1800, so as i mentioned this to my cousin, he bought me a new 4 amp Deltran battery tender...is this good or is this too big for the Yuasa GYZ20L...
Ive used the Junior Tender before but something went wrong with mine, which is not common...
thanks
Merry Christmas to all

[tamathumper]

Not uncommon, if the light is flashing, look on YouTube for videos on how to replace a capacitor in the unit to fix it.

[ex vtxer]

thanks for reply thumper, but i was wondering if the 4 amp is too big as opposed to the 3 amp? thanks again

[AZgl1800]

The amperage just specifies the "Maximum Current" that the Battery Tender can provide.

the 4 amp model will charge a Diesel Truck battery and keep it hot.

I use 250 mA, 750 mA and one 1.25 Amp model Battery Tenders.

the size was determined by what was on the shelf when I suddenly had a need for an extra one at the time.

I use the 1.25 amp model for my Chevy Suburban.

the 250 mA model is used on my gl1800 and also on my little Piaggio MP3 250cc scooter....

each bike, car, Golf Cart, has a dedicated charger that is online full time when the vehicle is NOT in use.

The Golf Cart batteries are 6 volt at lots of Amps, and $$$$$ to replace. So, I bought a super duper Battery Tender for that, it is 36 volts.


https://lesterelectrical.com/products/s ... -chargers/

.the OEM charger for the Golf Cart boiled the batteries dry every 45-60 days.
this new charger gets a year between Distilled water top offs.

[C-dub]

I don't know if it is too big or not, but rather the intelligence of the tender itself seems to be the critical factor. The Battery Tender Jr., recommended by WingAdmin ranges from 0.75-2-1.25 amps.

[blupupher]

c-dub hit the important part, make sure you get a good, smart tender, regardless of amps.
A good tender will not give full amps all the time, only till the battery is almost fully charged, then start dropping to get it full, and once full, very low amps are needed.
Cheap tenders can give full power all the time and end up killing the battery.
All a 3-4 amp tender will do vs a .75 or 1 amp tender on a motorcycle is help charge a low battery faster, it will not do much if anything more than a .75 amp one for tender duty.
If the tender is used on motorcycles as well as cars/trucks, then a higher amp one would help the larger batteries get topped off faster.

I know my 0.75 amp Battery Tender Jr will top off the very large group 65 battery in my truck that has been sitting for a few weeks, but takes 2-3 days.
A 2 amp charger takes about 6 hours.
For my Goldwing, I plug the 0.75 amp tender in if I won't ride for 2-3 days, and it is usually charged in 20-30 minutes after plugging it in (but has not been sitting for more than a day or 2).

[AZgl1800]

I don't know if it is too big or not, but rather the intelligence of the tender itself seems to be the critical factor. The Battery Tender Jr., recommended by WingAdmin ranges from 0.75-2-1.25 amps.

the Technology of the Battery Tender brand, will properly float any battery, provided the battery is at full charge when it is attached. ( Assuming the parasitic draw does not exceed the Battery Tender's capability. )

IF, the battery is very low, like the one time that I let my Suburban set for 3 months with the GPS plugged in ( simply forgot to turn it off: cigarette lighter on that truck is Always Hot ). I needed the truck, and did not even get a warm glow from the ceiling light.... "aw crap, that is a New Battery" or was...... I have a big Battery Tender that can provide up to 10 amps if needed. I set it for Automatic Mode, and left it alone for 3 weeks... that battery came back to life, I was shocked, but very pleased.

Since that time, that truck has the biggest Solar Charger I could find, plugged into the HOT cigarette charger socket..... the lowest the battery has fallen to since then is 12.1 volts on summer cloudy days.... now that the temps are starting to reach below the 40s, I plug in a Battery Tender because the Solar Charger is useless in the Winter months. Tomorrow, the low is predicted to be 20*F, so the battery tender goes on tmw.

[ex vtxer]

thanks for the help guys, truly appreciate it. :mrgreen:

[WingAdmin]

The battery will only draw what it is capable of drawing. If the Battery Tender can supply 1 amp, it will do so, and the battery will take longer to charge.

If the Battery Tender can supply 3 amps, it will do so, and the battery will take a less amount of time to charge.

The only difference is how long it takes the charger to charge up a battery that is depleted. For keeping a float charge on the battery, all the Battery Tenders are functionally identical, regardless of their amperage rating.

[blupupher]

The battery will only draw what it is capable of drawing. If the Battery Tender can supply 1 amp, it will do so, and the battery will take longer to charge.

If the Battery Tender can supply 3 amps, it will do so, and the battery will take a less amount of time to charge.

The only difference is how long it takes the charger to charge up a battery that is depleted. For keeping a float charge on the battery, all the Battery Tenders are functionally identical, regardless of their amperage rating.

I also thing it depends on what you are expecting it to do.

I try to be specific if I am talking about a tender vs a charger.

I have 2 battery tenders. Both are Battery Tender Jr's, both 0.75 amps. I use them to keep small batteries topped off.

I also have a battery charger, a Schumacher 2/12/75 amp unit that I use to top off larger batteries, as well as actually charge batteries that are really low. I can also use it to jump a larger vehicle with the 75 amp setting.
The 2 amp setting can be used for tending, but that is not why I got it. I do occasionally use it to top off vehicles (if low, I will start off on the 12 amp setting, then drop it to the 2 amp since it does not automatically do it).

[AZgl1800]

I also have a battery charger, a Schumacher 2/12/75 amp unit that I use to top off larger batteries, as well as actually charge batteries that are really low. I can also use it to jump a larger vehicle with the 75 amp setting.
The 2 amp setting can be used for tending, but that is not why I got it. I do occasionally use it to top off vehicles (if low, I will start off on the 12 amp setting, then drop it to the 2 amp since it does not automatically do it).

I have one very similar to yours, with the Exception that it is fully automatic.
Amp ranges are 2/10/50
I like that it has an LED panel that instantly displays "State of Charge" on a battery when it is powered up, and then connected to the battery.

Usually, my Suburban will display 12.1 volt, and the charger displays that is 60% of full charge.
That battery was hurt really bad last year, I left the GPS 'on' for several weeks and pulled it down below 6 volts.

That automatic charger took 3 days, to eventually bring it back up to 13.1...
But, the instant the charger is removed, the battery falls back to 12.1 so I am afraid that it is not going to last the "5 year warranty period"... I ought to try and take it back to Walmart and see if I can get it replaced.

Yesterday, I had to make a quick run with the truck, when I got back I forgot to put the charger back on it.
This morning, the battery was down to 40%, I forget what the corresponding voltage was?
So, I put the charger back on, and will have to remember to keep it on in this cold weather.

wish I owned one of the PWM battery rejuvenators, that would shock the plates and restore the battery to new condition again.

[AZgl1800]

This topic set me off to looking to see how I could keep the Suburban battery a bit longer.

this link has a LOT of useful information.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/art ... _batteries

this post makes the statement about leaving batteries unattended through the winter months, and why they fail.
Lots of Goldwing folks think they can park their bike in the garage, and not put a Battery Tender on it and it will "be just fine" come spring.

It might work for a while, but you won't get the full lifetime out of the battery like you should.

BWMichael wrote:
you cant let batteries sit for 4-5 months without charging them. They sulphate and you can't fix that. The batteries would not be any good, that's why they don't charge. if you aren't going to use the scooter for a while, just give the batteries an hour charge every 2 weeks and they will last much longer

[blupupher]

This topic set me off to looking to see how I could keep the Suburban battery a bit longer.

this link has a LOT of useful information.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/art ... _batteries

this post makes the statement about leaving batteries unattended through the winter months, and why they fail.
Lots of Goldwing folks think they can park their bike in the garage, and not put a Battery Tender on it and it will "be just fine" come spring.

It might work for a while, but you won't get the full lifetime out of the battery like you should.

BWMichael wrote:
you cant let batteries sit for 4-5 months without charging them. They sulphate and you can't fix that. The batteries would not be any good, that's why they don't charge. if you aren't going to use the scooter for a while, just give the batteries an hour charge every 2 weeks and they will last much longer

That battery university site does have a lot of good info on batteries and such.

[dtcad]

Batteryminders, is my favorite charger/maintainer for the bike and automotive applications.

https://www.batteryminders.com

[AZgl1800]

As a follow up for the chargers I have, I finally found my good one.

It is a Pulse Width Modulation type charger that will Rejuvenate sulfated batteries.

I put it on the Suburban for a week, and had a happy result, the battery is nearly fully restored.

I removed the charger for 2 days in low temp weather, 28-40 degrees, and it was still at 12.6 volts on the DVM.

It auto-senses what kind of battery it is attached to, and uses the appropriate charge rate for that battery.