tender recommendations

[bluesdog]

I have a deltran BT junior, which puts out 12 VDC @ 750mA, and an automatic feature which allegedly turns off the device when it detects a full charge in the target battery.

Will that be sufficient to keep my FJR's OEM battery alive during storage?

Or should I purchase a special unit for the 'special' FJR battery?

I also have an ancient MRC battery trickle charger, with a 16VDC @ 600mA output, which I've used successfully on other, older bike batteries.

 

[stevet]

Something I apparently don't know, but what's special about the FJR battery?

The Deltran Bettery Tender Jr. is the same battery "tender" I use, I've had it about 4-5 years now.

For long term battery storage (which for me is the winter season, sometime in November - early/mid March, or so), I pull the battery out of the bike and keep it in my heated garage workshop, which I keep heated to around 62 degrees or so. Once a month I'll take an afternoon when I'm in the workshop, hook up the Tender Jr, and let it charge for a few hours. It actually shows a full charge pretty quickly, within maybe 30 minutes or so, give or take.

With my storage method, I don't think it's necessary to have it be in a constant state of charging (i.e. hooked up indefinitely and allowing the smart charging device to monitor and top-off as needed). Batteries sit in long term storage waiting to be bought without chargers attached to them, and having the Tender plugged in and hooked up is constantly using the electricity you are buying from the utility provider. In my very non-expert opinion, having the battery stored out of extreme cold means more than having a trickle charger of any kind constantly hooked up. I think periodic top-off with the Tender should be fine for you. But here's an extensive FAQ from their site, looks like it should be fine to do this- https://batterytender.com/resources/frequently-asked-questions One of the points they make is not to ignore a battery being kept on their chargers, "just in case..." Lots of good info here.

Also, and I can't recall where I read this, but there could be unwanted affects to keeping a battery in a constant, long-term state of recharge, but before putting faith in this statement, I'd try to do more research for yourself.

 

[olsonm3915]

I live near Minneapolis too, so have to put my bike away in the winter.

I am nice to my battery- I leave it out in the bike, in a cold garage. Cold is good for batteries that are charged up- they don't self-discharge nearly as quickly as they do when they are warm. In addition, the type of battery our FJRs come with has very low self-discharge to start with, and does even better in the cold. Conventional non-sealed batteries benefit from cold storage too, but to be safe with those, I hook a battery tender up to them once a month or so during the winter. I might hook the tender up to the FJR once during the winter, and I might not. But I do ride until it's pretty cold in the fall and get out early in the spring.

Please read through Yuasa's very good technical manual, especially the section about self-discharge on page 32, and reconsider removing your bike's battery from a low-stress environment (cold) to a higher stress environment (warm).

 

[squeezer]

Nice info.

But the simple answer is: Yes, it will work just fine.