ATV Battery Trickle Charger

[Ajmboy]

With this cold snap, I noticed yesterday that the battery on my grizzly was a little weak. even clicked a few times before I got it to start. I'm thinking of picking up a batter tender/ trickle charger so was wondering what people use to keep their ATV battery charged up. I was looking at these on amazon. They both have good reviews.

 

or this one

 

Kind of like this one because if the accessory plug

[JacobSlabach]

yea I got a $5 one off amazon for my atvs- works great for charging and maintaining.

[06kfx440]

I have the same exact charger as picture 2. It charges the Harleys and my quads and go cart with no issues. Great buy for me. I bought the plug in accessory that bolts onto the battery. Easy to just disconnect and reconnect

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[pokerl0w]

I would def buy the cheapest POS. Usually these things last forever. I had (*have) an old black n decker that I left always charging my trailer. Even had a fan on it that died. No snow on it ever, but plenty of rain and acorns, debris, etc. Looks like I have black and white clips not red so faded! heh even some rust on the clips

I guess the "transformer" that takes your 110 into charging could die in time. Usually, for non-moving parts, electronics will last and everything else just wires.

I have the regular Battery Tender Plus as well (pricey at $50) that I bought back in 2014. I really like the accessory features of that 2nd one (BM3B) for $19!!

 

23 hours ago, JacobSlabach said:

yea I got a $5 one off amazon for my atvs- works great for charging and maintaining.

got a link? would like to see that one! lowest (with any reviews) I have seen are about $15

 

[davefrombc]

Some trickle chargers I've found on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Battery-Charger-Maintainer-Motorcycle/dp/B014QXL438/ref=sr_1_23?ie=UTF8&qid=1548964541&sr=8-23&keywords=battery+maintainer+12+volt

https://www.amazon.com/TOPAC-Automatic-Maintainer-Automotive-Motorcycle/dp/B079R1FQD3/ref=sr_1_85?ie=UTF8&qid=1548964745&sr=8-85&keywords=battery+maintainer+12+volt

https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-BM1S-Battery-Maintainer-Trickle/dp/B06XXG4YT2/ref=sr_1_111?ie=UTF8&qid=1548964807&sr=8-111&keywords=battery+maintainer+12+volt

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Battery-Charger-Maintainer-Motorcycle/dp/B014QXL438/ref=sr_1_129_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1548964899&sr=8-129-spons&keywords=battery+maintainer+12+volt&psc=1

These  are all  US prices...

I had some $9.95  (  on sale) ones I  got  from the Canadian  Princess Auto  Supply  that worked well  on my  portable  jump starter, lawn tractor  battery  and  my  quad that all worked well.  Unfortunately I have to replace them as they got  hit  when  a  windstorm caused my neutral  line to the house to  break  and the voltage surge took  them out along with   a  lot of expensive electronics that were on  the side of my service that went high.

[JacobSlabach]

18 hours ago, pokerl0w said:

I would def buy the cheapest POS. Usually these things last forever. I had (*have) an old black n decker that I left always charging my trailer. Even had a fan on it that died. No snow on it ever, but plenty of rain and acorns, debris, etc. Looks like I have black and white clips not red so faded! heh even some rust on the clips

I guess the "transformer" that takes your 110 into charging could die in time. Usually, for non-moving parts, electronics will last and everything else just wires.

I have the regular Battery Tender Plus as well (pricey at $50) that I bought back in 2014. I really like the accessory features of that 2nd one (BM3B) for $19!!

 

got a link? would like to see that one! lowest (with any reviews) I have seen are about $15

 

Motopower MP00205A 12V 800mA Fully Automatic Battery Charger/Maintainer Cars, Motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, Powersports, Boat More. Rescue Recover Batteries

Also find one like this at HF... (who knew...)

[pokerl0w]

ha! forgot they had this: https://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-69955.html

I think my dad got one free a while back with one of their coupon deals. I ripped it apart as I got it tangled up in heavier cords 😕 

I want to be excited about HF tools but this charger looks like a radio shack home kit heh.

[JacobSlabach]

lol

[mikeexplorer]

Keeping the battery on a charger / maintainer will also prolong the life of the battery. I keep all our machines on them.

 

Mike

 

[dee004]

Just make sure what ever charger maintainer you buy has smart technology. They charge at a rate depending on the state of existing battery charge and adjust themselves accordingly. Therefore they never overcharge the battery and maintain it in optimum condition. 

[Ajmboy]

Thanks everyone for the responses! Good topic and very helpful. I ordered the black and decker because of the accessory plug, price, and overall reviews. We'll see how it goes.

[davefrombc]

All my idled machines are kept on battery maintainers. They're a lot cheaper   than buying  batteries that get sulphated up from being  run  down  and not recharged. It's especially true for  my 3/4 ton  truck which I only use  every month or so. the "brain box" and accessories  draw very little current, but it is  constant  and can  draw the  battery down  enough to    reduce its capacity over time.  500ma. maintainers  are fine for quads and  yard  equipment/ tractors but for the  larger  batteries in  vehicles a  one or  2  amp unit is better.

The B&D  unit  should serve you well.

[r97f1504x4]

I have B&D maintainer then got BatteryMINDer Model 1510 a few years later.  I also had the NOCO Genius which I return after doing some monitoring and it seemed to be overcharging.  The 1510 has a 5 year warranty and has been the best IMO.  It is the only Maintainer approved in Aviation. I rotate the 1510 around once a week between six batteries during winter.  I've tried using the B&D on  batteries after one month of no charger which was last done by the 1510 and it shows the battery is fully charged.  Supposedly the 1510 can maintain multiple batteries that are fully charged in a parallel circuit but I'm not going to try, I just rotate once a week.

 

[Boozy]

I wouldn’t go too crazy on price as mentioned previously they last for a while.

[Ajmboy]

Got the black and decker delivered Sunday from amazon. Hooked it up today via accessory plug.

[r97f1504x4]

The reason I hesitate with less expensive ones which I do own and use the B&D is that my buddies B&D overcharged his 8 month old $120 Harley battery last winter. I only run it for a few days per battery, once a month which is what I would recommend to be safe.  I mainly use the BatteryMinder since I have six batteries not used over the winter months and it has Desulfator which did bring my truck battery back to life and even started after sitting outside at work all day last week at -35. There's nothing wrong with the B&D, it has worked great for my over the last three years.

[Ajmboy]

22 minutes ago, r97f1504x4 said:

The reason I hesitate with less expensive ones which I do own and use the B&D is that my buddies B&D overcharged his 8 month old $120 Harley battery last winter. I only run it for a few days per battery, once a month which is what I would recommend to be safe.  I mainly use the BatteryMinder since I have six batteries not used over the winter months and it has Desulfator which did bring my truck battery back to life and even started after sitting outside at work all day last week at -35. There's nothing wrong with the B&D, it has worked great for my over the last three years.

Good info, I just noticed that my battery was getting weak after sitting..especially when cold out so want to make sure I have juice when I need it. I'll see how the black & decker goes, hopefully no overcharging. I'm going to check it tomorrow.

[mikeexplorer]

I use the maintainers sold by NAPA, They output 850ma which is enough to maintain/charge an ATV battery. Never had an issue with overcharging. They are not cheap but they work well. One thing to watch out for is some maintainers switch to that mode and never switch back to charge mode. They only sense it when it is disconnected and re-connected.  They should have an indicator light to tell you if its charging or on maintain mode. A test I did was once it switched to maintain, I would turn the quad on (but not start it) The draw from the ignition circuit should be enough to drop the battery voltage a bit to tell the charger to kick on again. Turn the ignition off, and it should switch back to maintain mode within a few minutes (I do the test without turning on a larger draw, like the headlights)

I have a larger 2 amp version to maintain the battery on my camping trailer (full size battery)

Mike

 

[redneck999]

Harbor Freight, wait til they have a 4.99 coupon and grab them up, got them on everything  one stays with each car or on  it sometimes vehicles can go weeks without being ran around here

[lemoncap]

Just use a CC charge of 100 mA up to 12.5V then switch to a CV charge at 12.6V 

[WPW]

I've been using a solar I got from JC Whitney 25 years ago. It's only 200ma but works fine as long as the battery is in good shape and has a full charge when stored. 

[Ajmboy]

I forgot to mention that I can't get it to charge through the accessory plug like I wanted with this black+decker, that's what sole me on it...lol. I have to test the plug. I had to use the alligator clips, but works good.

[mikeexplorer]

6 hours ago, Ajmboy said:

I forgot to mention that I can't get it to charge through the accessory plug like I wanted with this black+decker, that's what sole me on it...lol. I have to test the plug. I had to use the alligator clips, but works good.

Probably the accessory plug only has power with the ignition key on. Arctic Cats have a 2 pin connector under the rear fender that has power on all the time for attaching accessories. Its perfect for attaching the battery tender. Perhaps your machine has the same connector?

 

[davefrombc]

I  plumbed in two  accessory  sockets on my old Honda . .One  on the front and one  on the  back.  I used the  marine ones  with caps tp  keep  crud out when the sockets are not in use.

[Ajmboy]

7 hours ago, mikeexplorer said:

Probably the accessory plug only has power with the ignition key on. Arctic Cats have a 2 pin connector under the rear fender that has power on all the time for attaching accessories. Its perfect for attaching the battery tender. Perhaps your machine has the same connector?

 

Probably, need to check. Never thought of that.

2 hours ago, davefrombc said:

I  plumbed in two  accessory  sockets on my old Honda . .One  on the front and one  on the  back.  I used the  marine ones  with caps tp  keep  crud out when the sockets are not in use.

Nice idea!

[Gilbey]

I have used the ones from Harbor Freight for years on my mowers and they do a perfect job for $9.99 before any coupons...

[Ponetay]

eBay has a really good trickle charger. I’ve bought 2 so far

[redneck999]

yup hold out for the 4.99 coupons from harbor freight and buy a mess of them, simple construction  and funtional

[mike costa]

I am a big fan of the battery tender brand, the are reasonably priced, seem to be resistant to weather, and last forever. I have the smaller ones for my ATV's and lager units for the truck, and marine battery's.  I've had some cheaper ones but the magic smoke leaks out and they never work again. 

[gouletp]

I used this on my atv and I have another one for my tractor.  It's very cold here in the winter and it does the trick. 

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/coleman-2-5-watt-12-volt-solar-battery-maintainer-0112007p.html#srp