Battery Tender Jr

[Mustang Shar]

On Sunday night, I ordered the Battery Tender Jr next day so it should arrive here tomorrow. I know very little about these, but the Deltran models are highly recommended.

The Stang has not been run in almost a week now and I realized with this Winter that my once a week drive is impossible, hence the Battery Tender order. I just checked the Stang and the little light is still blinking so I still have power.

Should I start it up and let it idle 20 minutes OR is that more harm than good? I've read not to do that yet someone at work says they start their cars at night in these extremes and let them warm up. Soooo...should I screw it, leave it alone and just hook the tender up when I get it?

I've never used one before....if it's color coded do I do red to red terminal or what? I know I should hook up BEFORE I plug the unit in. LOL

[SonicGT]

The tenders are easy enough to use, only problem is they don't come with very long cables, so once I got a car cover I can't use mine anymore unless I get some extensions or something.

I start my car every 2 weeks and let it run for 15-20 minutes during the winter. Have done it every year so far until last year when my battery actually died and thus why I have the tender, even though I did have to get a new battery because it was truely dead and wouldn't hold a charge.

[ShadyNinja]

I use the tender on my motorcycles, good product
money well spent

[mot250]

Not dissing the battery tender but are you sure you need one? My 06 Mustang has sat unstarted for at 2 least months, maybe longer, and starts right up with no problems.

It needs to run until warmed up in order for the alternator to put out the maximum re-charge and for the engine oil to burn off any condensation. Otherwise, the water will build up in the oil pan and in the exhaust pipes, neither of which is good for longevity.

But there is the theory that a car idling in the cold never really gets warmed up to operating temps to eliminate the condensation. Therefore,
I don't start mine if I don't have too move it for some reason and if I can't pull it out of the garage and take it for a ride because I'm not going to leave the garage door open long enough for it to really warm up the car.

[Mustang Shar]

Not dissing the battery tender but are you sure you need one? My 06 Mustang has sat unstarted for at 2 least months, maybe longer, and starts right up with no problems.

It needs to run until warmed up in order for the alternator to put out the maximum re-charge and for the engine oil to burn off any condensation. Otherwise, the water will build up in the oil pan and in the exhaust pipes, neither of which is good for longevity.

But there is the theory that a car idling in the cold never really gets warmed up to operating temps to eliminate the condensation. Therefore,
I don't start mine if I don't have too move it for some reason and if I can't pull it out of the garage and take it for a ride because I'm not going to leave the garage door open long enough for it to really warm up the car.


Last year I had joint surgery and could not even get in my car for 5 weeks. I had my daughter start it up and drive it every two weeks. It officially died on the 4th week. So yeah I'm actually surprized you never had the dead battery syndrome. Lucky. : )

[ford9050]

let it get to operating temp and then rev it to get condensation out of the exhaust.

[Ambenz]

I use a battery tender even thought I start it once a week.
Guess it's overkill, but it can't hurt.
They say if you leave your radio on and turn off the car with the key, the radio can cause more power to drain off the battery.
I don't know if it's true, maybe I should ask mythbusters.
Sharon, I am a little concerned about your tires.
I have heard some horror stories about tire flatspotting.
One story was that the tires became underinflated as it sat in one spot all winter.
When this person re-inflated the tires in the spring, there was a definate thump in the tires as it rolled down the road.
Because of this story, I overinflated my tires to 45 psi and run the car around the block at least twice a month so one patch of tire isn't always on the ground.
Also, running the engine not only removes condensation from the engine, but also lubes the seals and gaskets so they don't dry and crack.
I'm not sure all these measures I take are valid, I'm just figuring it better to be safe and proactive......just my 2 cents.....!

[ford9050]

over inflating tires is a good thing but only inflate them to max on the tire label

[Mustang Shar]

OMG Guys this is getting so confusing.....guess I'm just overwhelmed with 2 hour drives home is this god awful weather. Just a little down. Can not get my Holiday shopping done..I got nothin under the tree. Luckily I did get California family theirs, but it won't get there in time.

So anyone else having trouble finishing their plans? Oh yeah and I fell on solid ice at the car dealership..hurting alot after that. Glad I did not wreck the $150K surgery. Ok I need some funny stories...where's Muskrat? Did he leave us???

[MustangSteveGT]

i've been considering one of these recently.
about what you guys were talking about- theres been times where i havent gotten out to my car for well over 2 weeks for whatever reason and it starts up. then theres times like last year when i came back from 2 weeks of TAD and the car needed to be jumped. so who knows. i run a 5 year old optima battery.
i bought one of those small light-weight batteries and want to run one of them tenders too.

[Mustang Shar]

i've been considering one of these recently.
about what you guys were talking about- theres been times where i havent gotten out to my car for well over 2 weeks for whatever reason and it starts up. then theres times like last year when i came back from 2 weeks of TAD and the car needed to be jumped. so who knows. i run a 5 year old optima battery.
i bought one of those small light-weight batteries and want to run one of them tenders too.


I can tell you this...my battery DIED in March or April, while on the battery tender. I may have been partly to blame...drove the car and didn't hook it back up for a few days. When I did put it on it immediately went RED...and it never recovered.

That said IF your battery is on it's last leg, Tender will not charge a dead battery. I made it all through the Winter months just fine then this. Soooooo when you need a new battery, you need a new battery.

God it was funny to read this last post I made...I didn't know it at the time but that fall on solid ice caused a hairline fracture! LOL