Author |
Message |
Beebbop
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 06:46 am: |
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Greetings Peeps...I just ordered a cheapo ($18) Platinum series 12 volt, 1 amp trickle charger for my xb9s. Anyone have experience w/this unit or cheap chargers in general? thanks! |
Brumbear
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 09:23 am: |
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no I went to walmart and bought a 1-3 amp trickel charger for around 20 bucks and a summer cover for the machine for another 20 so the prce you paid sounds right as long as you are not paying shipping |
Pwnzor
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 09:27 am: |
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Battery Tender Jr. kept my battery fresh for 10 months while I was away. Came home, unplugged it and fired it right up, first crank. $19.99 everywhere. |
Cixyx_pilot
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:14 am: |
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Battery Tender JR |
Rah7777777
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:28 am: |
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I got a duracell brand one for $20 from target. works just fine (well the one time I used it, bike never sits more then a couple days on average) |
Brad_buell
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:44 am: |
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I have a Battery Tender JR, as well. Works GREAT! |
Badlionsfan
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:50 am: |
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+1 on the tender jr. |
Old_man
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:51 am: |
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One more thumbs up for the Battery Tender Jr. |
Lost_in_ohio
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 07:13 pm: |
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There is a big difference between a trickle charger and what the Battery tender does. A trickle charger will boil your battery if left on long enough. I ruined a trolling motor battery on an autozone trickle charger over a winter. I will never do that again. Of course to each his own. I have a tender Jr on mine. |
Reepicheep
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 08:30 pm: |
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I agree there is a difference, but never heard a clear description of what the battery tender does... anybody know? There is something more then smoke and mirrors there, they really are different devices. |
Panhead_dan
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 08:48 pm: |
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There are battery chargers, Booster- chargers, trickle chargers, battery tenders and automatic battery chargers. It's confusing. I've been using a 10/2 automatic shumacher (sp) for ten years and have left it on a bike for a week with no problems. |
Old_man
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:12 pm: |
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I keep the battery tender on my bike at all times. Never a problem. |
Stuntmanryan
| Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:12 pm: |
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the tender will charge the battery up to full voltage and then monitor it and when it gets down to a certain voltage it will charge it back up again, thus never over or under charging... I have the bigger version because I am usually charging 4 batteries at once and it has more amps then the JR but does the same thing. |
Henry_the_8th
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 02:06 am: |
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Quick question- Where are you guys finding the Battery Tender Jr for $19.99? |
Midknyte
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 02:22 am: |
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I picked up my BT Junior at my dealer for 20$ |
Henry_the_8th
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 02:37 am: |
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All the locals here are selling them for $39.99, Cycle Gear had them on sale before Christmas for $29.99 |
Badlionsfan
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 02:46 am: |
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i got mine at iron pony dot com for $25 |
Beebbop
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 06:53 am: |
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Did some searching and found the battery tender jr at $28 not including shipping..I ordered the platinum already, this one was $20 including shipping..hope it doesnt fry my battery! lol |
Court
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 07:11 am: |
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Keep an eye on Competition Accessories. Last year they had a "2 for 1" deal and I picked up a couple spares. All things considered, not a bad way to go. I generally, given the accumulated crud I tend to run, put the bikes on the charger when I get home. |
Ratbuell
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 10:22 am: |
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Another +1 on the tender jr, just for the monitoring / anti-cook feature. Although I'm getting ready to go super-cheap for my lawn tractor - harbor freight has a $20 solar trickle charger. I figure since the mower is in a barn with no electric... Dunno if it'll get used on a bike. May try the wife's XL1200 just for kicks, since it seems to have taken up residence in the same barn... |
Ft_bstrd
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 10:37 am: |
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I think I bought mine at the Buell dealer for $19 or so. I keep mine on it all the time. |
Jandj_davis
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 01:01 pm: |
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I use a $7 float charger from Harbor Freight. I've used it for 6 years on 3+ batteries, and have never had to replace a battery. It looks like they are on sale for $5 right now. My only complaint is that it does not come with both types of leads (clamp on and permanent). http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem. taf?Itemnumber=42292 |
Reepicheep
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 01:06 pm: |
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Harbor Freight had a "battery tender" for $6 or something over the holidays. I got one because I was there, and because I figured even if I did not use it on the bike it would be useful for hardware hacking. To be honest, I hoped to be able to use it to charge a 12V rechargable drill I have... the drill is good and I have two good battery packs, but the charger burned up. And replacement chargers cost more then new drills It didn't work for that, and I am not really sure why. But that tells me its not just a dumb trickle charger or something. I suspect it's perhaps a constant current source or something, regulated such that the current will never go high enough to do any damage to the battery. Havent tried it on either bike yet.... The Buell doesn't seem to need it, but that KLR 250 is pretty hard on batteries... |
99cyclone
| Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 07:26 pm: |
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I've also had good luck with the Harbor Freight chargers (as low as $5 on sale). In fact I have them on 4 bikes right now. I've only had one problem...you don't ever want the leads to touch when the charger is plugged in. The fragile (cheap) electronics will fry. Keep that tip in mind and the cheap float chargers will last a long time. |