Battery Tender

I have a battery tender someone gave me. My generator does not work on my 48 Super A. I m looking to use the tender until I can get switched over to 12v on the tractor so I can save this battery from dying. My tractor is positive grounded... is there any issues hooking up the tender to it? Thanks in advance
 
I seen on you tube, they got solar powered maintainer's, it's maybe a 4x6, panel looking thing, heavy equipment guys use em, because there cats sits so much of the time, they say they work!
 
Years ago I ran a Ford 841S with out a charging system and all I did was charge then battery when needed. No matter what ground you have you ALWAYS hook up a charger of any type + to + and - to -. How something is grounded makes no difference as to hook to hook up a charger
 
So you have a 6v system currently? I would not use a 12v tender on a 6v battery....maybe it auto-ranges.

The battery minders I have won't even do any charging work if the battery voltage is below a certain level, I think because the tiny device can't keep up with the input amperage to work on a severely discharged battery. In other words, if the 12v chargers I have sense 6v they are just going to alarm and not engage.
 
you didn't say what your battery voltage was. your battery tender needs to be the same voltage as your battery. if not you may damage your battery. just make sure your tender has the auto function to shut off when proper voltage is attained.
 
sorry, it s a 12v car battery. I ll Take a look to see if it has an auto function. So what s that mean? Without an auto function it ll blow the battery and keep charging?
 
(quoted from post at 16:51:33 05/29/19) sorry, it s a 12v car battery. I ll Take a look to see if it has an auto function. So what s that mean? Without an auto function it ll blow the battery and keep charging?

Battery voltage is what matters for the battery charger. 12V battery needs a 12V charger.

Ground does not matter when it comes to charging the battery. Connect + to + and connect - to -.
 
should the battery be disconnected from the terminals on the tractor to charge or is it good to just hook up while it s still on the tractor?
 
I see BOTH 6 and 12 volt and so called "automatic 6/12" battery tenders for sale, and of course, Id use one suitable for your 6 volt battery. They are "typically" fairly low current devices, maybe less then one to two or so amps, designed more for maintenance and long term non use storage versus a higher capacity (say 10 to 50 or more amps) battery charger. Hey if a battery is in decent state of charge and you're gonna let it set long term not used AND THERES NO PARASITIC CURRENT DRAWS Battery Tenders are a great thing !!!!!!!!!!!!

Its also good to disconnect the battery for long storage to eliminate any current draws.

NOTE if there's no lights in use only a battery powered coil ignition that's only around a 4 amp current draw so a decent rated battery if starting out at a full charge CAN RUN A LONGGGGGGGGGG TIME on a charge, after which you can put a true battery charge on it. Its best NOT to draw the battery down over 50% of its storage capacity...?.

YES battery tenders are great for their intended purpose (long term storage battery maintenance) but they are NOT high capacity battery chargers ifffffffffffffffff that's the need ????? If a battery is charged and you don't draw it down much say short term use, a battery tender may get you by subject to battery condition and state of charge.

John T
 
Why not just fix the generator? It never amazes me, the trouble people will go to to kludge something, when it would have been easier to just fix it right in the first place...... Either the generator or regulator is bad, just troubleshoot and change it, then it will work automatically......... it ain't rocket science. Just sayin'. OK, flame away :)
 

The Schumaker battery tenders I have work on either 6 volt or 12 volt. Just connect it and plug it in. The battery tender KNOWS if it is 6 or 12.
 
Battery Tender makes over 20 different models. Which one do you have? As I recall, only the 1.25 amp model has a manual switch to use for 6
volt or 12 volt. It makes no difference if your tractor has a POSITIVE to chassis or NEGATIVE to chassis. Just hook the charger POS to POS
and NEG to NEG. And yes, if it is the correct charger it can work fine for what you want. Ought to be model # 022-0211 if made for dual
voltage.
 
(quoted from post at 05:41:59 05/30/19) Why not just fix the generator? It never amazes me, the trouble people will go to to kludge something, when it would have been easier to just fix it right in the first place...... Either the generator or regulator is bad, just troubleshoot and change it, then it will work automatically......... it ain't rocket science. Just sayin'. OK, flame away :)

For a lot of people, the electrical system on a tractor is a big magic black hole. Even with a troubleshooting procedure like John T's, it's still intimidating.

Besides, fixing the 6V charging system does nothing to charge a 12V battery...
 
Hey we can "corn" fuse things a bit more lol. I have taken 6 volt systems where I installed a 12 volt battery and used a 12 volt voltage regulator on the old 6 volt generator AND IT CHARGED THE 12 VOLT BATTERY. Before anyone has a calf I'm NOT saying it set the world on fire as far as charging rate and perhaps ??? it pumped more field current through the genny then its rating, Im ONLY saying it worked but DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME IM NOTTTTTTTTTTTT RECOMMENDING IT LOL. As you already know the faster the genny spins and/or the more field current (which the VR regulates) the greater its output...??...

Fun sparky chatting with you, take care

John T
 
The original post states . . ."I m looking to use the tender until I can get switched over to 12v on the tractor so I can save this battery
from dying."

I don't see any mention of fixing the OEM 6 volt system. I read it as the guy is using a 12 volt battery and wishes to keep it charged
until he updates the rest of the system to 12 volts.

I will note I have been doing the same on my Oliver HG crawler for years. It has a 6 volt charging system and often I use a 12 volt
battery to start it. So, when that battery is in there - I have to unhook the 6 volt generator and I just put a charger on the battery
after using the crawler. I will note that my HG has a magneto ignition so needs no charging system to run. Just to charge the battery for
starting purposes. I still curse the day when I decided to keep the OEM 6 volt system. It works well enough but the price on 6 volt
batteries in my area is ridiculous. Plus, the quality of the 6 volt batteries I have been getting has done way downhill.

I just checked my oldest short-warranty Walmart battery yesterday and it just turned 11 years old. Pretty amazing for a 12 volt battery
that still cost $49 at Walmart. Sure beats the $100 they charge locally for what is likely a short-lived 6 volt battery.
 
no issues, just charge the battery and go. disconnect a cable if it makes u feel better, but don't matter. those tractors run a long time without the charging system working.
 
I always leave my tractors 6 volt if they were originally that. Apparently, there is a lot of variation in 6 volt battery costs. Here in western Wisconsin at Fleet Farm they are $60 with 24 month warranty. Many of my batteries are over 10 years old. I never have any problem starting my tractors with a 6 volt battery. If the starter is in good shape and your cables are in good shape it will turn over the engine fast enough to start. Especially on the Cub, A, B, and Super C. Even my Super H starts easily with a 6 volt battery in the middle of the winter. I only use battery tenders on the tractor batteries on the tractors I don't run in the winter time. As others said, they are for maintaining the battery, not for charging it up. I have 6 volt ones on my 6 volt batteries and 12 volt ones on my 12 volt batteries.
 

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