Opinion wanted on Battery Tender

[fpa1974]

Tony,
No need to worry about either the Deltran Battery Tender, or the Ctek. Both are float chargers. They turn on when the voltage drops to ~11 volts, and turn off when the battery is fully charged.
Completely different than the old 'trickle' chargers that were on as long as they were plugged in and would cook a battery dry.
The reason I have been moving to the Ctek is that they will charge a dead battery, the Deltran will not, it needs to see a specific voltage. But, I still have and use both.

In addition to resurrecting a dead battery, CTEK also has an AGM battery mode which is very useful if you have any cars with that battery type. They also have a reconditioning mode which can help with neglected batteries. They also, for me have been more reliable. Initially I used Deltran ones until one of them stopped working under warranty. It was extremely cumbersome to get a replacement from them and replacement died too very quickly. When I wanted another replacement they started to politely beat around the bush. I then switched to CTEK and for the last 10+ years all of them have been flawless.

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[Skye]

Good experiences thus far. Zero issues.

I continue to have the tender exit near the headlight and simply plug back in when returning home.

It's best to remove the negative cable from the battery, before starting any of this. Dropping a tool at the wrong moment can short something out, causing damage to you or the car. When connecting back up, the car is going to make all kinds of weird noises, several times, as it performs self-checks. Perform a BMS reset when done.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/bms-reset-no-tools-required.151602/

Yesterday, I attached my Ford Performance battery tender for the first time, to check it out. Using alligator clamps and leaving the hood up might be alright for the weekend, but it wasn't going to work long-term. I began eyeing the fuse block, another pigtail I had with the kit and these threads.

Thank You for the insight and the inspiration. Below are two options I'm playing with. Maybe these ideas and others might help you.

Cowl: the advantage of the cowl is I can tuck it under the hood and take it out as needed. To a passerby, it's almost invisible. The disadvantage is the hood closes snug and its a water area. The cable I fabricated is sealed with heat shrink, but still.

Front: the advantage of the front is all the wiring under the hood stays away from water, sharp edges or rubbing. But the plug poking out isn't very esthetically pleasing. I considered the grill, but it's a heat area and snug fit, for best airflow. If I Sharpie out the orange it will probably be less obvious.

For now, the front headlight area.

The advantages to either solution are not having to pop the hood, being able to hock up in moments and having a visual on the tender at any time.

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[dcalero]

That is the same unit I use. I got tired of my battery draining since I no longer drive as much.

 

[WD Pro]

Thanks Fred, as I didn't get any instructions with it. I should be able to look something up now.

I just got a couple of CTEKs. It's safe to just leave it hooked up all the time when the car isn't in use? I worry about "overcharging" or whatever. The model didn't come with detailed instructions. Just vague explanations in 30 different languages.

Yes, it will click over into maintenance mode (unless the battery is bad, then it will show an error)

WD

I looked on my PC and had the instructions for my 7A CTEK, the steps are the same so it should give you some idea what's going on :

If you want a copy of the full instructions, just drop me a PM with your email details and I will send them on to you

WD

 

[tobaccokid]

Have numerous tenders. Prefer C-Tek and Schumaker for their microprocessor capabilities.

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