Battery Tender Recommendation

[ctigerlake]

Storing my new to me sea ray 210 slx for the winter. Does anyone have a recommendation for a battery tender for the winter.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I (personally) have about dozen Battery Minder's (NOT Battery "Tender", although they are good, too) and some of them are 10+ years old. I use them on various batteries, both here in PA and at our cabins in Maine. What I like about them is the "desulphation" mode (google what that can do for a battery, if you need to). Whatever you get, just make sure it's at least a smart charger and not just some cheapie "trickle charger" as they can still cook a battery. I think I paid about $40 for the first few Tender's that I bought - taking into account how well they work and how long they've lasted... I'd consider that money well spent. But I'm sure others will chime in with some other options that are probably just as good.

 

[hblock72]

I use the Battery Tender Jr. model and could not be happier. My boat is trailered and stored in a detached garage behind my house. Anytime the boat is in the garage, the battery tender jr is plugged up to the battery. Some may laugh, but I bought my 2007 model boat new in late 2006 and it still has the original battery in it, so my battery is now 10 years old. The big difference between the Jr. and the standard is he Jr puts out .75 amps vs. 1.5 amps for the standard, so one will charge a little faster than the other. I like the Jr. because everything is built right into the wall plug. I've been using battery tenders for around 20 years now. There are other brands out there, but I've had such good luck with battery tender, I've never bothered using anything else. I currently own 4 of them.

 

[wrvond]

http://www.promariner.com/en/~/media/inriver/353127-36037.pdf

 

[dvx216]

Beside the up front cost why would you not buy a on board battery smart charger. Would you not be further ahead plus your battery will always be ready to go.Like a Powermainia M106 for around $100.00.For years I've owned boats on trailer and with my 230 wk. I installed a charging system wised I would of done it with my samer boats. Never worry about a dead battery on the ramp again plus if you have a problem with a battery the charger will tell you.

 

[sporters78]

I use a small solar panel , got it on Amazon. Works great don't need to plug in to electric

 

[War Eagle]

I've picked up several of these:
[h=1]BatteryMINDer Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator System — Model# 1500
[/h]For use around the farm & on the boats. They work!.

 

[JimT]

Battery Tender Jr or Plus.

 

[JVM225]

I use Battery Tenders in my garage on my Corvette and GTO. They are fantastic. I've thought about getting one for my kids 18' bowrider, but have some concern about what the moisture might do to it under the cover so the short solution is to bring the battery home and hook it up to a Battery Tender in the garage for the winter. That is a bit of a pain for me because I'm in my garage all the time and it will be in my way.
Unfortunately the boat is so small that there is no place to permanently mount a dedicated marine charger anywhere. If I had the room, then setting up a 110 inlet and small marine battery charger permanently and properly on the boat would be the way to go.

 

[Westie]

The best battery tender for a battery over winter is one as small as possible. That way it doesn't take up much space on the shelf where it belongs. There is no need to have a battery connected to a tender while in storage. Just fully charge the battery and store it with nothing connected to it. Keep the battery in a cool place and charge it before re-installing it in the spring. Far more battery damage is done by over charging a battery than by letting it just sit in a cool place.

 

[Ike]

I vote for the Battery Tender Junior. I have two of them. One I use on the starting battery for my motorhome and the other for whatever battery needs perking up Such as my boats battery. They work very well, keep the batteries peaked up and never overcharge them. Before I got them the starting battery on my motorhome died and had to be replaced twice. Since I put a Tender on it it's been fine for at least 3 years. Started the engine today for the first time in a month and it fired right up.