Battery tender question

rancherwilli · 10-26-2018, 12:00 PM

When connecting the basic tender to one battery, is it also charging the second battery which is wired in parallel? Does it matter which battery is clipped? Thanks,,

powercat_ras · 10-26-2018, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rancherwilli

When connecting the basic tender to one battery, is it also charging the second battery which is wired in parallel? Does it matter which battery is clipped? Thanks,,

Yes it will float charge both of the two house batteries that are connected in parallel. No it does not matter which battery you clip the tender to.

rancherwilli · 10-27-2018, 06:25 AM

Thanks Randy, I suspected as much but wanted confirmation. Trivia for the day,,,,,I served two years at Fort Riley Irwin Army Hospital. Great part of the country. Now live in Reno area. Thanks again, willie

Bigbird65 · 10-27-2018, 02:45 PM

I'm curious why you use a battery tender. With our 2250DS I leave it plugged in 24/7 and the WFCO converter/charger does a fine job of keeping the battery topped off without boiling the water away.

rancherwilli · 10-27-2018, 07:31 PM

Just to cover possible cost in failure situation. Tender is 50-60 bucks versus huge rig replacement,,,

pj48009 · 10-29-2018, 05:16 PM

For my boat and my now new TT I also remove the battery and keep it in the garage where it’s somewhat warmer and on the tender till spring. I also put more than one battery on the same tender, just used jumper cables to cooect the two batteries. Always worked.

MkgBen · 10-31-2018, 07:12 PM

If he has older converter which is single stage, it will kill the batteries in less than a year, The battery tender is cheaper and easier to install than replacing the converter with a 3 stage. But the battery tender is low amp, so slow if battery charge is low. I replaced my converter after killing 2 batteries with a 3 stage 45 amp which now works great on the house batteries (2 in parallel) and bought a 5 amp Battery Tender for the engine battery which otherwise discharges when parked for extended time. I figure I can also use the battery tender to recharge the toad's battery if it needs it.

JoeC · 11-01-2018, 10:22 AM

Do you know about the "Amp-L-Start" product from LSL Products? It will charge the chassis (starter) battery when you are plugged into shore power or when your generator is running and charging the coach batteries. It's about the size of a deck of cards, maybe twice as thick and connects using only 3 wires, 10-12 gauge, (wire terminators are provided). If you have a battery boost solenoid, or similar, all of your connection requirements are within inches.

The device uses excess available charge power to charge the chassis battery and will shut down if there is no excess power and will not drain the coach batteries; a pretty clever device. The only restriction would be to make sure you have the same battery types for charging. You shouldn't mix gel, Odyssey or lithium batteries with flooded or AGM lead acid batteries. I've checked my installation with a Victron Energy BMV-712 battery monitor and it does work as advertised. Link: AMP-L-START Starting Battery Charger/Maintainer - Overview Page