Topic: Battery Tender "JR"

[78_SaltLick]

12 Volt Battery Tender "JR"

Im going out to buy one tomarrow, anyone have one? Do they work good? How come they are "JR".

oh yes last dum question...arent all MC batterys 12 volt?

[Bob Wessner]

Battery Tenders, or their equivalents, work well. The Jr. is just dimensionally smaller, more compact I believe. Keep and eye on the electrolyte level over time. It may need topping off periodically and only use distilled water to do this. As to volts, probably 12, but not an absolute. If the battery has 6 cells, its a 12 volt.

[p69]

As far as your "JR" question, I bought one about two months ago for my K6 and it seems to work fine. I'm using the quick disconnect cord (rather than the alligator clip equipped cord - both are supplied with the unit) and I routed it from the battery and along the frame. I can then plug the bike in when parked without raising the seat.

[brian]

I use a small trickel charger (1amp)  on a standard plug in timer clock like use on a table lamp. It's set for 1 hour a day. this seems to keep the battery top off. You do need to check the water level though , as you do not want to run the battery dry. There are 6 cells in a 12 volt battery @ 2.1 volts per cell a fully charged battery will be 12.6 volts if that helps out

[ProTeal55]

Battery Tender products are great. The "JR" is just a smaller version of their popular
trickle charger/maintainer. Some of the guys with the larger HD bikes mount the JR on-board, so they can
plug their bike in when they are on long trips and such.

[74cb750]

Some of my older Kawasaki's are 6 volt.

Anyone here bought a solarpowered cahrger? Just wondering if they hold up in northern climes, Like snow etc etc.
michel

[78_SaltLick]

another dumb question. I got the tender, no instructions. Do you hook it up under the leads that go from the bike to the battery, or on top of them.......

[Bob Wessner]

Technically it wouldn't matter, but on top is easier.

[Sam Green Racing]

Michel,

A friend of mine tried a solar powered charger,.....said it was a waste of space.

Regarding how to tell the difference between batteries,...6v has 3 cells....12v has 6.

Sam.

[scottgarland]

Battery tender is great equipment is good equipment, so is NAPA 85-201 900mAdc automatic charger. I have a selection of british and american pre 1969 bikes in various stages of condition, under construction ect. When they are not in use I hook up a little auto charger. So far average battery life has doubled, about 4 years. Batterys don't wont last if run down and recharged . Happy New Year and good riding.  Black Bird 48

[Uncle Ernie]

Just to re-inforce this- you WILL need to add water. I found out the hard way the the Tender won't boil the battery, but by contiually keeping a charge on it the water will evaporate. If the fluid level goes down far enough, the battery is toast.  If you ride at least once a week, you really don't need a Tender on these bikes if everything is working right- my 2cents.
There is a 6volt Tender you can order if needed.

[78_SaltLick]

Ive had the tender on there now for at least 6 hours, its still in the "red" meaning its still charging. Its suppose to turn "green" when its floating or done charging. Whys it taking so long to get fully charged? This is a new battery, bought it a couple of months ago.....

[TwoTired]

Ive had the tender on there now for at least 6 hours, its still in the "red" meaning its still charging. Its suppose to turn "green" when its floating or done charging. Whys it taking so long to get fully charged? This is a new battery, bought it a couple of months ago.....

1. New batteries don't come fully charged.  Was it ever put on a charger and peaked up?

2. Lead acid batteries self discharge .5 to 1% per day.  60 days of 1% is about 60%. So, your battery isn't fully charged if it has been sitting.

3.  From what I recall when I studied the specs on that charger, at best, it charges at about 900 ma. It reduces the charge rate as it aproaches full charge so the chemicals will achieve full saturation without overheating. Takes more time to achieve peak storage capacity.

4. Generally speaking you have to put in 120% of capacity due to various inefficiencies in converting electrical energy into chemical energy.

5. A depleted 12 amp hour battery charged at 1 amp rate would take over 14 hours to charge.

6. Be patient.  Or, put a voltmeter on the terminals and tell us how close to 14.5 volts it is.

Cheers,

[Faust]

The smalledt charger I have around is 2 amp. Is that too much?

[TwoTired]

The smalledt charger I have around is 2 amp. Is that too much?

For long term unattended connection to a M/C battery, yes.  If it is a constant current type.
2 Amps is too much to apply to a fully charged battery of the size used in our SOHC4 bikes.

But, there are thousands of charger/tender designs.  A good, smart one charges at three levels.  One to restore the bulk of capacity, one the fully saturate the electrolyte, and one to maintain a peak condition.  And, they switch between these levels based on battery voltage.  The really smart ones also change their charge conditions to compensate for temperature, as the chemical reaction needed to convert to voltage varies with temperature.

I have a 2 amp charger, I use to charge depleted motorcycle batteries.  But, I closely monitor the battery voltage during the charge cycle.  When the battery reaches about 14.5 volts, it's full.  Continued overcharging will cause overheating, outgassing, and electrolyte loss.  Overcharging shortens battery life.

Cheers,

[eldar]

I have to agree with uncle ernie. If you ride Once a week or even every 2 weeks and it is a more than 10 minutes, if the charging system is workingproperly then you should not have to use a tender. You may never "top" the battery off but you dont need to. As long as proper voltage is maintained, you should not need to charge. If you do, then you need to do some work on your charging system.

If you are storing the battery, I find a good peak charger used for r/c equipment works best. Many now can charge packs of 10 cells or more and even multiple packs. They are much more adjustable than any regular charger and also peak better. If these chargers can get maximum power and use out or battery packs using NiCD and NiMH cells that can put out over 100 amps in a short and are discharged in a matter of 4 - 5 minutes, They can handle old lead/acid tech.

That is my choice, but I will not cut on any one using a standard charger/tender. Just stating another option. these chargers are more expensive than some tenders.