UPDATE -- It's now been 3+ years since I purchased this battery tender, and I couldn't be happier with it. I've continued forgetting to start up my vehicle, so I've continued needing to charge its battery. Much to my surprise--and delight--I found that the Deltran Battery Tender *WILL* indeed charge a completely dead battery! Yep, I know it will, because I've now done it several times! In each instance I simply hooked it up and left it for about 12 hours. I have no idea how much of that time it actually needed, but by the 12 hour mark my battery was charged. This is in a Toyota RAV4. I LOVE this thing!
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Because of ongoing illness, I rarely leave my house any more. Despite my best intentions to start up my vehicle every few days...or once a week...or...whatever, its battery kept dying...because I didn't start it up often enough! I finally decided there had to be a better way to deal with this than continually getting the battery charged. That's where the Battery Tender Plus comes in.
I did some research to look for possible solutions, and once I learned about battery tenders, I was pretty sure I'd hit on a good one.
Keep in mind that I'd never used, never even HEARD about, battery tenders before. So I plunged in a little prematurely when I ordered this one. Let me explain. I was in such a hurry to get one that I didn't bother reading all the fine details about all the different tenders I viewed. I read good reviews and saw good ratings for this particular brand, went to their web site, found the correct voltage for my vehicle, and then ordered it. It wasn't until my friend and I were installing it that I realized it wasn't really suited, logistically, for my particular situation. I park my vehicle in my driveway [because there's no room in my garage *sigh*]. Once we attached the tender we realized I'd goofed. When it's attached to the battery, the hood of the car cannot be closed all the way. It's a combination of the clips adding height to the battery AND having the power cord hanging out.
You're not supposed to let the charger get wet, as in being outside in the rain, so we were kind of stumped. This model was clearly intended for a vehicle stored in a covered structure, where the hood could be left up and the charger wouldn't get wet. Before deciding to send it back, we thought we'd try doing a little rigging to make it work.
I pulled my SUV all the way up to the garage door, then we stuck the charger inside the garage and let the door down gently; the power cord fit under the door without being touched, so that was fine. I have a Toyota RAV4, and its battery sits IMMEDIATELY below the windshield; its cover actually forms part of what you see as the exterior of the car, i.e., if you're looking at it from the front, the part just below the windshield wipers actually consists of the battery cover on one side. Because we couldn't get the battery cover back down into its normal, flush position, we could see that this would be a problem letting rain in. We put the hood down [almost all the way], being mindful not to crush the cord. Then we took a plastic bag, covered the area where the battery cover is, anchored the bag under a windshield wiper, stuck something on top of the bag to keep it from blowing off, and, voila!, problem(s) solved. :)
If I had it to do over again, I'd definitely do a better job of researching the different styles battery tenders come in. I'm assuming there are self-contained units meant to be left installed at all times, with the hood shut, on vehicles not stored for months in a structure, only plugging/unplugging their power cord as needed. But live and learn!
Note that although the instructions strongly warn against using an extension cord "unless absolutely necessary," the supplied cord is ridiculously short. Personally, I don't have a GFCI outlet right next to my vehicle, so I had no choice but to use an extension cord.
The tender is working as expected. Its manual explains what its various lights signify when they're flashing or solid.
If I remember correctly, the manual says that the tender will NOT charge a dead battery. So if your battery is dead, get it charged first and then hook up the tender. (See UPDATE above!)
David E. Bounds
Agatha Coronado
Orion Winder
