Battery Tender Reliability - What other options are there?

[Zico]

I have two Battery Tenders and two failures.

My first Battery Tender stopped working and it was replaced under warranty.
My replaced Battery Tender literally exploded and bulged out the thick metal. (wait till I post up pics - you won't believe it http://www.blokessportbike.com/images/smilies/eek.gif)
My second Battery Tender (about 6 months old) is still working and I'm waiting for it to fail. I consider it a high hazard risk now left alone in my unattended/detached garage.

I'll post up pics shortly of the second one that blew up. http://www.blokessportbike.com/images/smilies/eek.gif

Anyone else have Battery Tender Failures?

So, I'm never buying Battery Tender again. What else is out there that you have used and recommend?

[Todd]

interesting. the one i have ive been using for about 8 years now, never a problem. And of ALL the people i know that have them and use them regularly, your the first person ive heard of having a problem with it.

[TLR67]

interesting. the one i have ive been using for about 8 years now, never a problem. And of ALL the people i know that have them and use them regularly, your the first person ive heard of having a problem with it.

Yep My 2 are still kicking after 6 Years or so... Always pugged in something... Boat Battery, Bike, Scooter ect..

[Mongo]

Optimate.

[BlueLghtning]

Wow, do you have some weird power surges or something that keeps frying your tenders?

We have like 6 or 7 battery tenders and the only two that failed were the two cheap walmart knockoff's. The actual "battery tender jr's" are all going strong.

Some of mine are 5+ years old and have been plugged in all that time.

You know, I do have all my tenders plugged into surge protectors. :up:

[Georgiacbr]

interesting. the one i have ive been using for about 8 years now, never a problem. And of ALL the people i know that have them and use them regularly, your the first person ive heard of having a problem with it.

never had any issues with mine too hell I used it once when I had a died battery with my truck and it charged that in one hr and it started up again. I have mine on a timer system in my garage and that's how I turn off unnecessary power drains in case of a failure

[Zico]

interesting. the one i have ive been using for about 8 years now, never a problem. And of ALL the people i know that have them and use them regularly, your the first person ive heard of having a problem with it.

I know it's crazy right!?? They have a great reputation and just about everyone I know has one.


Wow, do you have some weird power surges or something that keeps frying your tenders?

We have like 6 or 7 battery tenders and the only two that failed were the two cheap walmart knockoff's. The actual "battery tender jr's" are all going strong.

Some of mine are 5+ years old and have been plugged in all that time.

You know, I do have all my tenders plugged into surge protectors. :up:

My detached garage only has one outlet in it (same circuit).
I have a refrigerator and a computer that are turned on 100% of the time - they haven't blown up.
And as far as spikes, my two surge suppressor power strips didn't kick off so I think that rules out any lightning spikes.

I just picked up a UPS for the computer and I hope it can log the voltages so I may have some insight if there are any power issues, but I don't think it's a power issue.

[Zico]

clarification - it's a mini fridge (like under the desk size)

[TroyBoy30]

have 2 in my boat that have been plugged in for almost 10 years. no issues

[wallypiper]

I don't mean this in the smartass way it sounds, but I think you need to carefully read the instructions. You have got to be doing something wrong with the way it's hooked up or something. If you google "exploding battery tender", you get nothing. All you get is hits about batteries exploding. Nothing about the tender exploding. That's remarkable at google. You get hits for exploding "exploding vacuum cleaner", "exploding alarm clock", "exploding vcr". Nothing for exploding battery tender.

[forlorn]

I use a Battery Tender Jr and two of the Harbor Fright cheepies with no issues so far.

[cliff0529]

Yeah, we've had a JR model for over 2 years now and always have something plugged up on it. I rotate it between my Race bike and the other bikes. No problem so far.

[TLR67]

10-1 so far Zico.... I think it may have been user error....

[Seca]

Leave mine plugged in all the time. 5 years old.

[i-man]

We have one on Dawn's bike and it has worked like a charm.
I bought a different brand from Matco a couple years ago and have had no issues with it, either.

[Zico]

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/bottom.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/front.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/front2.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/front-top.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/front-top2.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/left-top.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/rear.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/rear-top.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/right.jpg

http://www.video-cycle.com/graphics/batt-tender/top.jpg

[i-man]

We have one on Dawn's bike and it has worked like a charm.
I bought a different brand from Matco a couple years ago and have had no issues with it, either.

Correction. We have the Jr on Dawn's bike.

[TLR67]

Looks like lightning got it IMO...

[Zico]

10-1 so far Zico.... I think it may have been user error....

LOL! This is not a who is right and who is wrong dealio! I thought the customer is always right anyway - hehe.

I know I'm in the minority here guys.. but lets not make this personal or start jumping on a loyal paying customer of about 5 years. I'm not out to bash Deltran. I'm sure they will replace it without issue under warranty. I'm simply stating the facts and posting up my experiences. Obviously my luck has not been positive. Most importantly, my question is what other options are there?

I was in Hawaii for a week and that is when it failed. I was no where near the Battery Tender when it failed. Thankfully, it didn't burn down my garage or my bike while I was away. Maybe someone broke into my garage and swapped out their failed Battery Tender with mine - LOL??? Did someone play a joke on me?? LOL

So, what would cause this to function properly for say 6 months and then basically blow up? User error?

Lets face it.. all you have to do is plug in the device into a hole :-) , clamp on the batt connectors matching the color and the rest is up to the Battery Tender and if I recall it has reverse polarity protection too. User Error? I don't think so. I've built and soldered my own variable 5 V DC power supply back in college for my electronics labs, which still works I may add and hasn't blown up - LOL. Heck I even built my own MP3 player to install in my car 10 yrs ago even before the iPod even came out.

[TLR67]

Lightning.... What days were you in Hawaii? We have had some wicked lighting here recently...

[Zico]

Looks like lightning got it IMO...

That is the only thing I can think of too. But, I have two surge protectors which did not kick off including the surge I have my Dell computer and monitor hooked up to and they are fine. Again, same outlet/circuit. I guess maybe the Battery Tender is more sensitive than computers.

Well anyway. I don't think we will figure out the root cause and I'll let them tell me what's wrong with it when they replace it.

[Zico]

May 3 - 9

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Have you taken the casing off of it to see the damaged components? I don't have a Deltran battery tender/charger so I am not sure exactly... are the flexed components plastic? Obviously they'll inspect it I would assume but I'd be curious what it looks like inside.

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Just re-read the original post... is all of that casing metal?! WTF dude that is pretty gnarly. I'm starting to think it was a surge too. The bottom looks like there might be some discoloration where the AC wires come in (top left on first picture). I'd def be curious to see what it looks like inside there.

Does it smell burnt at all??

[Zico]

yeah that is some thick tough metal and it was bent - that is why I say it exploded rather than failed

I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the fire dept or something about hearing an explosion. That had to make some noise.

I'm dying to open it up, but afraid it would void the warranty and therefore unable to have it replaced.

there is a big cap in there and I expected that is what blew, but I don't actually see it distorted or exploded - maybe it blew out from the bottom

nope didn't smell burned either - so I think that means the cap blew also rather than the elec traces on the board; or perhaps b/c it sat for nearly two weeks before I noticed it blew and the smell wore of

I think the discoloration you see is mainly my finger prints trying rub around to read the serial number.

[TLR67]

Hey Zico.... Do you have it hooked up the right way on the Battery? Red on Red.. Black on Black? I know its the obvious question but I have toi ask...

[wallypiper]

I'm not sure this is related, but I deal with a lot of AC variable speed drives. They have big capacitors in them and the capacitors do not like lots of frequent power cycles on the input side. Maybe you had some power on/off/on/off cycles. And you're almost certainly right about opening the case. That would probably void the warranty. I would think that the manufacturer might be willing to venture a guess about what caused the failure, especially since it's a repeat. They think their device is fairly bullet proof - protected against short circuits and reverse polarity for example. I guess the message from this thread is that it's not the Battery Tender itself. Failures are obviously pretty rare. Something else is going on.

[Zico]

actually, this is not a variable - it has reverse polarity protection built in (yep I read manuals)

but I'm happy to double check and even verify with my Fluke multi-meter - it's usually the simple things that get overlooked right ;-)
but again... It worked in the past without issue

[Zico]

I'm not sure this is related, but I deal with a lot of AC variable speed drives. They have big capacitors in them and the capacitors do not like lots of frequent power cycles on the input side. Maybe you had some power on/off/on/off cycles. And you're almost certainly right about opening the case. That would probably void the warranty. I would think that the manufacturer might be willing to venture a guess about what caused the failure, especially since it's a repeat. They think their device is fairly bullet proof - protected against short circuits and reverse polarity for example. I guess the message from this thread is that it's not the Battery Tender itself. Failures are obviously pretty rare. Something else is going on.

Yeah.. I think my conclusion is lightning. But still raises a big question mark why my computer and monitor didn't blow up or the surge protectors kick off which is on the same circuit/outlet??

[The Lazy Destroyer]

^I'm still not sure how you can get the casing to flex like that when the whole thing is vented?

Understand about not wanting to open it up. Maybe Deltran will update you on what they find, assuming that they even inspect failed units. I'd be curious to know what could do that.

[MX Tuner]

I doubt you'll have any issues getting it replaced but definitely ask them what could cause that, especially since it's a repeat issue. 2+2 isn't adding up to 4 here.....

[vfral1]

9+ years on my battery tender jr. Actually, I think it is one of the best products that I've ever purchased. Prior to having it I had to change the battery every 2 yrs. Now, they last 4+.

[bigmixx]

I've been using a Junior for over 2 years and it works flawlessly. No problems to date.

[KTM Rider]

There are 5 regular and 1 junior in my household. All work fine.

[Zico]

Update:
I confirmed with a neighbor that lightning did hit and took out the building security system.

Deltran looked at my batt tender and accused me of prying it open. Since there was no burnt electronic smell, they don't think it blew. They said my battery did the damage which is was caused the fuse to blow.
After all that damage, they also said it still works.
Wow, Just Amazing!

How can a battery rated at 1.2 AMPS blow out a fuse rated at 7.5 AMPS?
Even with a short, how can it generate more AMPS than what it's Max output is?

[BadAssRX-7]

from the pics i was gonna say other than the case bowed out i see no danadge. the board is clean and so it the other internals so id guess that the tender didnt fail but something made it swell.

[Todd]

How can a battery rated at 1.2 AMPS blow out a fuse rated at 7.5 AMPS?
Even with a short, how can it generate more AMPS than what it's Max output is?Having been in the electrical industry for almost 30 years, i can tell you first hand, you'll NEVER get a straight answer on that one. Lightning does some funny shit. Ive seen it blow shit up, while an item right next to what blew up wasnt effected. Ive also seen a short circuit on a 20 amp breaker blow right past the 20 amp breaker, right past the transformer, all the way to a 1200 amp main switchgear.

[wallypiper]

Fuses have a characteristic time/current curve. A fuse rated at 10 amps may tolerate 1000 amps for a fraction of a second. Fuses designed for motor are deliberately slow because motors pull 6-8 times their running amperage during startup. When you design a multilevel electrical system, with fuses in series with each other, the whole process is about coordination. Which fuse do you want to blow? How fast should this fuse or that fuse blow in order to protect the parts of the circuit it's designed to protect. Circuit breakers for motor protection are allowed to have instantaneous trip ratings that are 1300% of the motor's normal full load amps. Common motor overload protection, called "class 10" allows 600% of rated amperage for 10 seconds without tripping.

A fuse that is exposed to long periods of near full load can gradually lose it's tolerance for overloads. In three phase circuits, a single fuse may blow out of the three parallel circuits but in almost all cases that means that the remaining two fuses, though not blown, are damaged and will tolerate less current than before.

And I second Todd's comment on lightning. It can do strange things. When you put gigavolts into a circuit designed for less than 20, all bets are off.

[Zico]

Thanks wallypiper! That's good info for reference.

I realized the fuse would not blow instantly and let something through. I hope to hell my wiring harness is still OK. But afraid I'll have to have it replaced as a result for safety reasons.

While this is an extremely rare occurrence of a lightning hit, if you have anything hooked up to your bike, have a surge suppressor hooked up to it (the higher the rating the batter). And if you are home during the time, disconnect it :-)

This has been one PITA!

I spoke to the Warranty Repair Elec Engineer/Tech at Deltran and they confirmed that lightning hit it (changed their mind for some reason) and replaced it under warranty and only charged me $17 for shipping. This was my second replacement with Deltran and it has always been hassle free and they stand behind their product. In this case, they even said it still works after being hit with lightning - Wow.