Battery Maintainer

Do battery maintainers work on 6 volt, or are they only for 12 volt?

My older ones had a 6/12 selector switch. The new ones sense automatically for correct voltage.

Walmart has a Shumacker (sp) that automatically selects 6 or 12 volts. I have 6 of these and they work great and only $19. The hard thing to do is find them in stock.

Deltran makes a 6 volt and a 12 volt. Shumacher has a dual purpose that works for both.
I get the Deltran from Batteries plus, got my shumaker from Lowes.
I keep them on year around on the 6 volt old tractors make batteries last years longer. Anything that doesn't run often should have one.

Thanks fellas good information

I all so have both of those battery maintainers (7). I have had one go bad and it was a Shumacher.

Everything I have is on a Deltran Battery tender.
I have 6,12 and 24 volt units, 16 tenders to be exact.

Battery problems have dropped off considerably since I started
Using them 6 or 7 years ago.

Tom

I use the Black&Decker ones that can be switched to 6 or 12 volt with Great success,, Home Depot has them for 19.99. like the others since I started using a maintainer my battery replacement has dropped off a lot,, first one I bought I got through Dixon as I was a dealer it also works very well but is only 12volt and cost about 50 bucks but this was in 1998 or so
cnt

I also have a shumacher (sp) from wallyworld. Automatic selects between 6/12V.

I use a small solar cell, the ones that measure @ 8" x 11". I have used these things (have 3 of them at different buildings) for years and they work great. You don't need any "voltage monitoring" equipment, just clip them on the battery terminal and it maintains everything free.

Solar cells wouldn't work well in Indiana in the winter. Shorter days and more cloudy days than sunny. My solar yard lights work all night in summer. Don't work well in winter.

I keep all tractors and things with a battery inside barn. Can't see how a solar cell will in a barn.

Besides a good battery don't need for a battery maintainer if there isn't a paracidic load.

I have switchable 6/12, automatic 6/12, and 12 volt only, so read the box before you purchase.

To each there own if they wish to use maintainers.
To answer your question some maintainers will do 6+12 volt some wont so you will need to check the specs before buying.
I have seen this topic come up so many times I thought I would throw my two cents in.
First if I were to run a cord and put a maintainer on every battery on the place the yard would look like a bowl of spaghetti. (40+ batteries)
With the exception of some of the newer electronic equipped vehicles there is no reason to need a maintainer.
Numerous vehicles here sit untouched for 9-10 months and fire right up, if they wont it is because something is wrong and needs to be repaired or replaced.
I commonly store batteries in an unheated shop on an ice cold concrete floor.
Charge them up and let them sit in minus 40 for a week then do a load test on them, 90% pass the test and sit like that all winter ready to be put to use in the spring.
The ones that do not pass are garbage, If they are marginal I put them out to pasture for electric fence duty, with a 20 watt panel hooked up I get 3-4 years more use out of them and they sit outside hooked up all winter long.
Starters are too expensive to wreck with a marginal battery.
Had a 6 volt in my DC-4, after the engine said goodbye it sat outside for 4 years, needed a 6 volt for an old Farmall I was selling, grabbed the one from the case and without even giving it a trickle charge it fired up the old M like a brand new battery.

Now if your charging system is not working and it's not worth the bother to fix it because it for example sees limited use, then by all means put a maintainer on it and you have a cheap fix to get you by.
I have a Case 600 and 444 that the batteries get charged 2-3 times per season for this exact reason.

I am sure someone has a page of science to prove why using a maintainer is the way to go but the results of real life experience can fill a few pages as well.

I have three Craftsman battery maintainers that will work on both 6V and 12V batteries. The oldest one is switchable, the 2 newer ones are automatic.

Follow the ads and you can buy them for about $20.00 when they are on sale.

Dean

All my solar cells are used in a "barn." I mount the cell "outside" run the attached cord inside then attach an extension wire (similar to a household extension cord) inside. I have ran as much as 30 ft on one. I also have one barn with a clear plastic ridge cap. It is extremely bright inside and so I mounted the cell just beneath the ridge line. These things are not meant to rapid charge, so huge amounts of sunlight are not at all necessary. I move them from one tractor/car to another @ every 4 weeks. I live in IL and as I said, they work great.