Battery Tender

Mikeabn · Post by **Mikeabn** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 7:16 am

I am getting ready to put the jeep away for winter and want to put a battery tender on it. It is 24V. Do I need to disconnect the batteries from each other and use two tenders or can one be attached to Positive of one and Negative of the secnd battery and "tend" to both of them?
Thanks
Mike DeLapp

RICKG · Post by **RICKG** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 7:32 am

24V tender takin care of business,

Hawkshadow · Post by **Hawkshadow** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 12:22 pm

X2 with Rick, I use the Bosch C7. It also has a winter setting.

DFoley · Post by **DFoley** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:52 pm

Rick...I love this idea. I have the same charger but have it wired to the two batteries. I don't know why I didn't think of this, the outlet is staring me in the face. One question though, what size are the connectors you attached to your charger cable and where did you get them?
Later,

RICKG · Post by **RICKG** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:37 am

I used 5/16 OD copper tubing, ran the leads thru, bent over and soldered, finished with shrink tube of the appropriate color. This set-up has served 4 winters now with no problem.

whydahdvr · Post by **whydahdvr** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 8:48 am

What about attaching the charging point for the batteries on the Jeep?
Is that called a slave cable like with modern military 24V? I've been interested in that set-up potentially, though for now I just disconnect the battery cable and charge each one separately if needed.

Post by **wesk** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 11:20 am

whydahdriver,
not sure what you are asking.

The jeep shown in Rick's illustrations has the slave receptacle and rick is attaching his charger to that receptacle.

I would suggest the simplist connection is a permanent one to the aft/cowl box battery positive terminal and the ground lug at the frame regulator plate or right front engine mount using the rubber plug that comes with most of these trickle/maintainer chargers.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:40 pm

Wes,
Just to understand. You are saying your simplest solution is for folks
without the slave receptacle and cables installed, correct?

Otherwise the slave cable connection appears to be pretty straightforward.

Tks,

whydahdvr · Post by **whydahdvr** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 6:16 pm

Thanks Wes, I was asking about the receptacle he has those two leads plugged into - but the rest of the information was very helpful too.
Thanks!
-Josh

Post by **wesk** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:58 pm

This way is the simplist because you leave the pigtail connected forever.

No unscrewing that PITA cap on the slave connector.

No dropping that cap over and over again and scratching your paint.

No setting chargers on the fender and tripping over the cord and scratching your paint.

No PITA threading the cap on each time you wish to drive the jeep.

And if you are using a 24V maintainer you still only use a single pair of wires but this time you don't have to remove them when you take it for a drive.

If you really want convenience mount the charger itself under the cowl out of site and route the AC power cord to the glove box and just plug the extension cord to it when you park the jeep.

Post by **wesk** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:05 pm

Just to understand. You are saying your simplest solution is for folks
without the slave receptacle and cables installed, correct?

No, I said my solution is simpler than Ricks weather you have a slave receptacle or not.

I had a slave receptacle on my M38A1 in the 80's and on my M37 & M38 now and screwing those caps off every time I park it is a real PITA.

It does not get any simpler than this. Just less then 2 seconds to push these two rubber connectors together.

And if you forget to unhook them before you go driving they just pull themselves apart!

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Fri Mar 24, 2017 7:21 am

Thanks for explaining Wes. Makes sense.

The rivet counter police won't let you get away with it though.

I saw this thread the other day and some friends and I all had
a good discussion regarding the battery tenders re: boats, RVs,
four wheelers, etc. It applies to any vehicle not used regularly
and saves batteries. Thanks for posting.

RICKG · Post by **RICKG** » Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:17 am

In my case it was less about simplicity and convenience and more about using the slave receptical for more than a cool fender ornament.

Post by **wesk** » Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:01 am

Rick, I understand that entirely. However a warning to all that use your method you absolutely must un-plug the charger before you slide those bare metal prongs out of the slave receptacle!!

Hawkshadow · Post by **Hawkshadow** » Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:15 am

I needed a new slave receptacle and the new one came with a stubby ground lead. (better to have a functional "almost-correct" piece rather than a useless receptacle with the cap seized on. But I digress). I ran the positive to the positive post on the cowl battery and the negative to a quick ground within reach. I find this setup very easy to use and charge/ tend the entire system together.

The leads on my Bosch C7 come with eyelets where you can attach the aligator clips. As it just so happens, the eyelets are the perfect size for the receptacle.

I've been using this system for over a year now and would highly recommend it for efficiency and ease of use.