GOOD battery maintainer?

[SAP2018]

I want to purchase a good battery maintainer. I will be out of town for a year and I want to take care of the batteries in my truck.

What do you suggest? Price is not an issue.

 

[nukegm]

comrade - i have 6 battery tender jr. by " deltran " i think is the company. they work great. cheers!

 

[chainsawopera]

I have been happy with a Schumacher SC1300 1.5amp maintainer.
Comes with underhood bracket that I put on passenger side above battery.
Installed on my 2015 when new and still working on original batteries.

 

[DavidC]

I have been using maintainers for at least 20 years and still check the wet level every 3 Monthish. Sometimes a cell or some need to be topped off, sometimes not. Unless you have a totally sealed battery I would suggest the same, if your gone for a year that will be hard to do unless you have someone that can do that for you. That said this has worked fine
Amazon product ASIN B00068XCQUor this but more money
Amazon product ASIN B00BPF0Y64

 

[TFucili]

I use Battery Tender, but Pulsetech, as DavidC pointed out are good, as well as the NOCO brand.

 

[AnonEd]

I use Battery MINDer stuff, one 8A desulfator/charger/maintainer and a 1.5A setup for multiple OBD plugs (garage stuff while traveling). Not exactly clockwork but truck usually needs a battery every 7-3/4 to 8-1/2 years. I'm guessing that just using one is more important than brand.

 

[lpennock]

I had a small issue with NOCO on my jeep. It would periodically shut off saying bad cell detected. The battery was an older optima and was probably going out but I had bought the maintainer to keep it charged and about once a week I had to restart it. The Battery Tender brand on my motorcycle never had that kind of issue.

 

[WalterJ]

Greetings; I've been using this "Guest" marine battery tender from West Marine, for my boat & RV batteries during the Winter here in Wis. Here's a pic of the box & one of the RV batteries on the garage floor. (for now). A 2nd batt tender is in the boat for its batteries.
Like the man says, ya needs a buddy to keep the water from drying out. Good luck.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Disconnect the batteries. I do so every fall and reconnect 7 months later on my two boat batteries. Fires off every time with no tender.

 

[shorthorn]

I have the 4A Charger / Maintainer from Harbor freight... works great.!

 

[AH64ID]

I use a NOCO 3500 for my truck. It gets plugged in whenever I won’t drive the truck for more than 3-4 days.

Modern rigs just have too much parasitic draw to not do something when they sit a week or more.

The multiple charge modes, voltages, and connection accessories are why I went NOCO over battery tender.

 

[BigPapa]

I use the Battery Tender Plus.

 

[WAYNE]

Deltran battery tenders have been the best for me my last Optima red tops lasted 11 years (actually still alive but replaced cause they were cranking slower)https://www.ebay.com/itm/Deltran-Ba...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

[MichaelOverfield]

I have been very happy with the Minn Kota charger I installed. It has different modes for the various battery types, and since I put in AGMs that was an important feature.

Amazon product ASIN B00F5EFEA2

 

[SAP2018]

Thank you guys for the suggestions! I ended up with this. Hopefully it does the job.

 

[RVTRKN]

Disconnect the batteries. I do so every fall and reconnect 7 months later on my two boat batteries. Fires off every time with no tender.

Thats how I maintain my RV and boat batteries, but they are Optima gel cell. I installed an isolation switch on my 5ver, thats opens the circuit when not in use, but I also set it up for when I'm connected to the truck, the truck can supply the 12VDC to run the front jack system, while the switch is off. I'm about ready to fire up the boat after sitting in storage for 3 months.

 

[AH64ID]

Thank you guys for the suggestions! I ended up with this. Hopefully it does the job. View attachment 118772

Why a 4 bank?

 

[SAP2018]

Why a 4 bank?

Well, I need to charge 3 batteries to be honest so I saw the 4 bank and thought it was a good idea...is it not?

 

[BigPapa]

We, or at least me, was thinking you were just going to put it on your truck with the batteries installed. If so, you just need one charger hooked to one battery since they’re connected. One charger will charge both at the same time.

DO NOT connect one bank to one battery and another bank to the other battery unless you at least remove the crossover cable from the passenger side battery.

If you’re going to remove the batteries and you have another to charge, the 4-bank is what you need.

 

[seafish]

DO NOT connect one bank to one battery and another bank to the other battery unless you at least remove the crossover cable from the passenger side battery.

In a recent brain fart, I did just that to my truck(i.e. 2 individual battery tenders, one hooked up to each battery) The truck sat that way for over a week and they seemed to charge the batteries normally with no ill side effects to either the chargers, the batteries or the truck, which I have driven since.

That said, I am curious as to why you think it is a terrible idea??