Battery tenders

[Seeker]

I have 2 battery tenders both of them from Oxford Products but different models, they have the older molex connectors and are used on both bikes. Each of them have given the symptoms of not working (one each in 3 years), one indicated zero current draw/zero voltage and the other allowed the batt voltage to drop. I have a single LED batt voltage indicator on the SV - flashes green when bike off (and in range), permanent green when charging, flashes amber if a little low, solid amber if lower still (and red if voltage too high - there are other modes too).
Yesterday, when I took the SV out of the garage it was flashing amber despite having been on the tender for 3 weeks. The battery is 18 months old (a Yuasa).

Each time I have had a battery tender issue it has been the molex connector that was at fault so it's worth checking if you have that type of connector and a charger that is suspect.

I've decided to switch to SAE connectors which newer tenders come with as standard. Unfortunately, you can't buy the plug/socket alone since they are weatherproofed to a cable, I've ordered the bike side cables plus an extension cable that I'll chop to provide the connectors on the tender side.


Gripe - it was hard finding a non-Chinese seller on ebay even after selecting UK only but I find most Chinese vendors have a rating of 96% or lower, many pictures in their descriptions and if you scroll down to the bottom of their advert it gives their business address.

[garynortheast]

I have a 22 year old Accumate "intelligent charger" as they are (or were) known, and it has Molex connectors on it. While they do move about a bit and sometimes take a bit of fiddling to get them to line up, they've never given me any problems. I must admit though, the SAE connectors do look more robust.

[R1ffR4ff]

I have an Oxford optimizer on the Wall of my garage and I fitted a fused SAE connector under my rear seat on my 99. I had one fail and it was because of a Design weakness because the 12V wire flexes and wears and can then short at the box. I've cured this as in this picture with a Tie-Wrap,




I've got one of these in my Kitchen to keep my spare M/C battery charged,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304244752...%3AAQAIAAAA8Kb

Does the job and charges fast and can be used on cars as well if needed.

HTH

[admin]

I bought a cheap Aldi one years ago. It came with crocodile clips but I removed them and made up my own molex connector. The battery on my VFR lasted over 10 years which is the most I've ever achieved on a bike.

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[redtrummy]

Just changed the BiL car battery - oldest I have known, new in 2008

[yokohama]

I tend not to ride in the winter months so take the battery out and keep it in the house. It doesn't lose much charge but I put it on a CTEK every couple of months to top up and when it goes back in, the bike usually starts first time.

[Seeker]

Have you heard the (joke?) story about a wheeltapper (a real profession) and the train he wrote off? Back in the day, a man would tap train wheels with a hammer and listen for ones that didn't "ring" correctly indicating a crack in the wheel. The story goes that the man went down the length of the train and every wheel sounded off so the train was cancelled and then they discovered his hammer was cracked.


Why is this in my battery tender thread?
After buying a new battery and a new tender, dismantling my old battery tender, rewiring the tender battery leads. I discovered that my battery monitor on the bike had a bad fuse connection so it indicated the battery was in a worse condition than it actually was. It had an inline glass fuse holder, I swapped it for a blade fuseholder and no more problems.
I feel stupid (and poorer).


On the plus side I have a spare SV battery and a spare tender

[admin]

Oh dear. We've all been there in one form or another.

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[garynortheast]

Been there, done similar. I have two perfectly good spare batteries for the SV. It was the reg/rec that was duff....

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by garynortheast

Been there, done similar. I have to perfectly good spare batteries for the SV. It was the reg/rec that was duff....

Snap. Replaced a "dead" battery in my GSX250 back in the day only to grind to a halt again three days later, discovering eventually it was the reg/rec.