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Correct use of battery float chargers

W

Wayne in NE

Member
I've never used battery float chargers before and I would like more information than the instructions provided. The float chargers will be used on my tractors, I have charged the batteries and disconnected the cables. The tractors are in an unheated shed and I would like to leave the batteries in the tractors over the winter. Do I hook up the float chargers and leave them plugged in all winter or should I run them everyother month? Is it worth the effort to remove the batteries and move them to an insulated area? Thanks! Wayne
 
If by "float charger"you are talking about maintainer type like Deltran Battery Tenders,it is desighned to be left on battery indefinatly. Since I only have 3,I rotate them amoung vehicles with batteries expected to sit idle for 2 weeks or more. I'm convinced the chargers are responsible for tripling life of my batteries. Moving batteries to area that remain's above freezing is benificial if outdoor temps routinly stay below 20F for more than a few hours at a time.
 
if the out put of the charger is 3/4- 1 amp it wont hurt a thing to keep it plugged in. cold is always the hardest on a battery. this way you are only putting in what the battery would normally loose sitting, and keep it topped up.
 
A good battery mainter you hook them up and plug them. If you reverse polarity it will tell you.NO SPECIAL CARE Needed.
 
My Uncle uses those chargers and he puts his on a time clock.

I would would have to ask again but I think he only runs them about a hour a day and has very good luck with batteries that I don't think are very good.

RT (my 2?)
 
Get good quality chargers. A cheap one at best won't keep the battery charged and at worst can damage it. A good one will cycle on when needed and shut itself off when the battery is charged.
 
Just hook them up and leave the charger on until you need to use the tractor again. It will keep the battery from running down almost indefinitely.
 
Float chargers should not be left connected to the battery indefinitely. Doing so will shorten battery life.

A battery maintainer can be left connected indefinitely without battery damage.

Dean
 
We leave one on the backhoe. Need it to start anytime. Has worked for us. But yesterday went to neighbors to to get his loader tractor. It had a float charger on it battery was dead. But cables were nasty as well. Batteries just don't last forever.
 
I have about a dozen maintainers. I just make a routine of rotating them every few weeks. I don't like to leave them on all of the time. I used to do that on my diesel power plant and it went haywire and overmaintained the battery and boiled her dry and ruined it. After they have been on the machine a day I feel them to see if the transformer is warm. If it is then either the battery was low or the maintainer is bad.

Just today I rotated the maintainer on the mowers. I don't figure they need it everyday. In the dead of winter I put the grain trucks on them since they rarely get used. The battery in the '58 is some cheap battery and it's on it's 10th year.
 

Bud keeps a a Jeep at the beach he has drove it 1500 miles over the last 6 years. I replaced the bat last week it was grave yard dead as dead as a battery could ever be. It was one of those rare deaths you could not jump start it. The only good thing I can say about the battery maintainer is to that point it always started for him.

I use solar maintainers now that I think about it they do cycle on and off as the light dictates.
 
OK here we go. FLOATER is a relly cheep device. Un regulated and has a "potential" rhat is about 14 vilts DC. Usyally in the 6 to 10 dollar range and little better than a plug in cell phone or portable radio charger. Sounds like I don't like them? NOW a true MATAINER is more money in the $30.oo range and up. The new ones are automatic in that they select 6 or 12 volts by them self. They are a low power charger in the 11/2 to 3 amp range. When they get to a Full charge of about 14.6 volts they shut off the charger power. THEN they go into a MATAINER mode this is where they will cycle the battery up and down about one volt worth and thus exercises the battery and also will slowly desulfate the battery. Here is a picture of one type rhat works great. Schumacher units are rhe cats meow.
a243814.jpg
 
See Jeff's explanation below.

I have 3 or 4 Craftsman maintainers that are automatic 6/12 volt units. The Craftsman units list for about $40.00 but can regularly be bought for about $20.00 if you watch the ads.

I have 11 or 12 batteries that are not regularly used in the off season and leave my maintainers on three of them at all times. Every month or so, I move all three to the next set of three in the rotation. Batteries that are not regularly used should be charged (not over charged) every 4-6 weeks to maximize life.

Dean
 

The batteryminder.. sold at northern tools... goes in to a high frequency pulse mode after battery is up. this mode will help to break down the sulfate crystals. Normally around 49 dollars... on sell this week for 29..... You can get up to 7 years out of a battery down here in Sotx where the heat normally eats batterys alive. But you need to keep up with the fluid levels on the batteries... especially the smaller lawnmower batteries.

the high frequency pulse mode is also known as the "recondition" mode. Used in all the extreme high end chargers and military equipment...

Battery cell material will eventually crumble and then short out the cells.. and this will be the final end of that battery. Sulfate is no longer the problem.
 
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