Battery Tenders - Thanks Tom L

Update:

I called Deltran to ask them why they sold me two Battery Tenders when I only needed one.

The response was that one *will* work. HOWEVER, *if* the second battery (the one NOT hooked directly to the Battery Tender) ever weakens more than the one that it is hooked to, the Battery Tender will "smoke" the first battery trying to charge the weaker one.

He said that if I wanted to use only one Battery Tender, the proper way to hook it up was to hook the positive eye-let to one battery and the negative eye-let to the other battery. Thus, the need for the additional cabling.

Thought this was important enough to pass along. I certainly don't know jack shit about electrical, so it all sounds greek to me.

Craig C.

Craig Christian wrote:

Hmmm... sort of makes one wonder what kind of magical doo-dad is inside our alternators that prevents them from doing that, too.

Again... just like the alternator is hooked up.... except that it isn't.... the alternator's got a single output that connects to one battery terminal, and relies on the common ground to complete the charging circuit. How do it do dat? :)

You know ... I don't know. I'm just glad I was forward thinking enough to purchase a Battery Tender for my boat.

:-) Craig C.

That's a riot! You must have had Nell Nelson on the phone.

The industry is obviously in desperate need of people who know something about parallel batteries.

Actually it was John Ford. Head Technician for Deltran.

So are you saying that he is wrong? Tell us, electrical expert, what would happen if I hooked up the Battery Tender as John recommended?

Maybe. I find it more interesting, however, that you waited until after Tom made his comments to come along and try to be an expert on the matter.

I trust what Tom L. said about it and have followed that advice. He's not steered me wrong yet.

Craig C.

Nothing would happen differently whether you connect it his way or not. There's just no reason for additional cabling to reach the negative post of the other battery. Both negative posts are grounded to the frame, they're functionally the same, there's 5,000 lbs. of steel connecting them. That's a "heavy" wire!

So? I waited to see what kind of replies you got. That should hardly be "more interesting", graywacke. I was talking about batteries weeks ago with Know Nothing NELL.

Then you aren't trusting what John Ford said, right?

Then why the added drama of "". Just being a girl?

I believe that John recommends the extra configuration for a reason. What that reason is, is unknown to me and apparently you too. I'm sure they ran scores of tests on many different kinds of vehicles. However, with my truck, I trust tried and true Cummins mechanics/fanatics more. Like some of the members of this ng and my local mechanic.

Craig C.

Because "... the proper way to hook it up was to hook the positive eye-let to one battery and the negative eye-let to the other battery. Thus, the need for the additional cabling." Not because nothing would happen differently.

And what are eye-lets? Is that girl-talk for ring connectors?

Probably wanted to be sure you'd understand.

Hardly a reason to "". Maybe your were ""-ing on something else.

The connectors that connect directly to the battery.

It's non-mechanic speak for "ring connectors". You got the point, and so did everyone else. So shut the f*ck up.

Craig C.

Plenty of reason! Head Technician for Deltran gives wrong advice about the need for additional cabling to hook up a battery charger. Your truck's frame already *is* additional cabling leading to the negative post of the other battery.

Yup, everyone recognized your pansy-speak for ring connectors.

There's 5,000 lbs of steel connecting the batteries? My god man! How heavy is the truck that carries that much weight for a battery cable?

During the time of the "electrical questions" thread my computer suffered a hard drive crash, it took me a few days to re-install the OS, drivers, a few flash updates I had missed, restore from backup, etc. At any rate, I missed that whole discussion, but read much of it tonight because of your self professed knowledge on the subject in this thread. I noticed that you continue to make friends and sway opinion with your usual aplomb.

You posted something about 2-6V golf cart batteries in series versus 2-12V batteries in parallel that you had read many years ago in an RV magazine, but I doubt you understood the nature of the article. A standard automotive battery is also known as a "starting" battery. It is good for producing a lot of amperage for a short period of time so that it may turn the starter motor.

A golf cart battery produces less amperage than a starting battery, but it is capable of producing that reduced amperage for a much longer period of time as compared to a starting battery. That is why golf cart batteries are ideal for RV applications.

I really do feel sorry for you, Beryl. You have a tremendous need to make an ass out of yourself in order to draw attention. I would suggest you get a dog, but I think a cat may be more appropriate as a dog requires your attention and a cat requires little.