Battery Tenders

[radios1]

If you use a battery maintainer, be sure to use a voltmeter to double check it is actually working. I have two Schumacher SEM-1562a maintainers and I'm finding out they are not working and may be actually discharging the batteries. Do not assume that the green light that means "fully charged" is true. One battery was below 11v and the other was below 10v when the maintainer green light was on. Check your batteries with a voltmeter!

Amazon has stopped selling that.. that Company USED TO be very good, perhaps they are made in China now

 

[ruffdog]

Amazon has stopped selling that.. that Company USED TO be very good, perhaps they are made in China now

I have been testing my two Schumacher SEM-1562a maintainers on a battery and checking it every hour. I first plug it in and the battery goes to ~14.5v, stays for a while, then slips down to ~12.6v. That is fine with me. Then, a few hours later, the voltage is at ~11-11.5v and the green light is still on....not good. I do have 2 Battery Tender Plus maintainers on order. Don't trust the cute little lights, use a volt meter to verify.

 

[LittleBill21]

I have been testing my two Schumacher SEM-1562a maintainers on a battery and checking it every hour. I first plug it in and the battery goes to ~14.5v, stays for a while, then slips down to ~12.6v. That is fine with me. Then, a few hours later, the voltage is at ~11-11.5v and the green light is still on....not good. I do have 2 Battery Tender Plus maintainers on order. Don't trust the cute little lights, use a volt meter to verify.

no offense but it sounds like you have a battery problem, unless the units are actually shorting out, dropping a full size battery in hours takes a significant short to do it, what voltage do these battery's rest at?

 

[ruffdog]

no offense but it sounds like you have a battery problem, unless the units are actually shorting out, dropping a full size battery in hours takes a significant short to do it, what voltage do these battery's rest at?

Yes, I'm doing the testing on a battery that is resting at 11.7v because I want the chargers to have to work a bit. I agree that something major goes wrong several hours into charging. Like I said, everything looks great until the voltage crashes for some reason. It is not the battery's fault as I have seen it happen on several batteries. I will do the same testing once the new chargers come.

 

[fried1765]

Amazon has stopped selling that.. that Company USED TO be very good, perhaps they are made in China now

"Battery Tenders" are also made in China,..... but sold by Deltran, in Deland Florida.
Not everything made in China is bad.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I kind of like this cheap little charger. Short thermoplastic cords that don't get tangled up as easy.

I like a brick style charger, but the charge/ready light doesndd't tell me much. This thing has Volts, Amps and percent charge which I like, if the information is accurate.

BUT, like all low current chargers, it will put a surface charge on a depleted battery and tell you it's charged.


Even if there is the remote possibilty that a charger isn't made in CHINA, the parts inside will be. Last I knew, they didn't make components in the States.

One question I have. Should you remove a charger when starting a machine?

 

[3Ts]

"Battery Tenders" are also made in China,..... but sold by Deltran, in Deland Florida.
Not everything made in China is bad.

My experience with "made in China" is that if the design and overseeing of the manufacturing is done by a US (or other reputable firm - Europe, etc) then the product will be good. If left to their own design, manufacturing, etc, the result will probably not be as good.

 

[yomax4]

Thanks for sounding the alarm. I have a POS $9.99 china battery maintainer hooked to my plow truck maintaining 2 batteries. Never had an issue in 3 years. Thinking maybe I should do what?

 

[ruffdog]

If it is working for you....fine. Just use a voltmeter to verify it is keeping your battery at a good voltage.

 

[Grumpycat]

"Battery Tenders" are also made in China,..... but sold by Deltran, in Deland Florida.
Not everything made in China is bad.

Ditto. China is hungry, they will build exactly as good or bad as the importer wishes to buy. As good as the importer demands and tests.