 "Battery Tender Plus and BMW battery maintainers" | 2006-11-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A33O79GQ8QW4TU |
Three of my cars are in storage during the winter months, and I have learned the hard lesson that storing a car without a battery maintainer is the sure way to kill the battery in three other cars and a boat I previously own. So, per my mechanics recommendation, I started putting my cars on the maintainer.
I have two BMW battery maintainers made by Deltran (Battery Tender's manufacturer). They have both worked for a couple years trouble-free. The only complaint I have is the cigartte plug is a little flimsy and if you drop it enough times, it will crack. But otherwise, they work flawlessly in my cars.
With my other car, the BMW charger does not work because the cigarette socket is disconnected when the car is off. So I bought a Battery Tender Plus. The first unit had a defective LED (though it worked properly), I exchanged it for another new one through my dealer. The new one worked properly for 18 months, then it failed. I sent it back to Deltran for warranty repair, and 10 days later, I received a brand new charger from them, which works properly now. In all fairness, all three chargers are running 24x7 the entire time, in temperature ranging from 10F to 100F, which is perhaps pretty tough on them.
The difference between the BMW charger and the Battery Tender is that the Tender does not include a cigarette plug, which requires one to open the hood to connect it. If you have a car with a cigarette plug which is always on, the BMW charger is much easier to use (also more expensive).
One comment, the Tender only puts out 1.25A. So it is not a fast charger. If you have a badly discharged battery, it could take a couple days or more to charge it (a fast charger puts out 10+ times more current). That includes new battery you buy from the auto store, they are not 100% charged when you get it home (all batteries self-discharge when they are just sitting on the shelf), so don't expect it to go into storage mode in a couple hours. And for a defective battery, it may never reach the storage mode.
To cover all my needs, I also have two automated fast chargers to handle the normal fast charging duties.
Original manufacturer's batteries for European cars are very expensive, and the on-board electronics also does not like a dead battery. Therefore, I view the Battery Tender as a very sound purchase.
The only reason I did not give the Battery Tender Plus 5 stars is the two failures I had with it. But since Deltran and my dealer took care of it quickly, I don't think it is a showstopper.
I am not sure if the BMW charger got extra QA because it is branded BMW, but they are trouble-free for both units I own, they are definitely 5 stars. |
| |
 "works great battery tender plus" | 2006-05-26 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| I got it plugged it in and it charged my battery back up to full in half an hour.No problems at all.Recomend it to all. |
| |
 "Battery Tender Plus and their "Tech" Support Sucks" | 2006-01-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2ERNFTKMZKZF4 |
I recently purchased a Deltran Battery Tender Plus (they are made in China) battery charger for a total cost of $63.30. It has never worked correctly from the first day I got it. It charges great, but it never goes into the "storage" mode, or notifies you that the battery is at 80% charged. It apparently just keeps charging the battery whether it needs it or not.
I contacted Deltran's "technical" department a few times about the problem, and told them that I suspected the charger was faulty, but they kept telling me it was the battery, or "check this" or "check that" or "the weather was too cold" (in Florida), even though I had told them the battery was new. So, figuring they knew what they were talking about, I purchased another brand new battery at the cost of $79.92.
I left the "new" battery on this charger for a few days, and it was the same thing as the "old" battery. The charger never showed a full charge or went into storage mode.
So now that the equipment that this battery is from has been out of service for a couple of weeks, (because Deltran recommended I remove the battery from the equipment since I was having a problem charging it), and I couldn't afford to fiddle around any longer, I bought a competitors battery charger for $46.45, and as it turns out after connecting the new charger, within a matter of a few minutes both the "old" and the "new" batteries showed fully charged, and the new (competitors) charger went into "storage" mode with no problem.
Now that I knew for sure that this Deltran Battery Tender Plus charger was not working properly, I reviewed the Battery Tender Plus "LIMITED" 10 year warranty, and found out they (Deltran) wants a $9.95 "handling" fee (if you have had the charger over 90 days), and if you have the original sales receipt, if you want to send it in for repair.
If you don't have the original receipt, then it is a $15.95 "handling" fee no matter how long you have had it.
Having wasted about 2- weeks fiddling with 2- different batteries and 2- different chargers all because the Deltran Battery Tender Plus did not work correctly in the first place, I am not about to spend another $15.95 "handling" fee (because I don't have the original receipt) plus shipping (maybe $10.00) to return it to Deltran for exchange/repair, and then wait another week or two to get the charger back and have to hope that it now works correctly.
Deltran also told me that since I did not buy the Battery Tender Plus in question directly from them, I would need to send it back to where I originally purchased it. Not having the original receipt (because I bought it someplace online and don't remember where), I asked Deltran what's the difference where I purchased it since they (Deltran) are the manufacturer and supply the warranty as well, and I was told that "it is the same as trying to return a Chevrolet to a Ford dealership". That I don't understand, because if a person has a problem with a Chevrolet, they can take it to any Chevy dealer in the country and have it fixed (and maybe any GM dealer).
They also said in so many words that I should have known sooner that the charger was defective, which must mean that their "technical" department is not fully competent to be advising anyone, and that I should have not paid any attention to their suggested remedies in the first place.
Because of the investment of time and money I now have in this Battery Tender Plus, and the poor "technical" support I received from Deltran, I would never buy another one and would not recommend it to anyone else. Their 10 year "LIMITED" warranty is also a joke. Battery Tender PlusSucks! It should be called Battery Tender Negative!.
|
| |
| "Simple and Effective" | 2005-12-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: AZ9MYFD6EQYH |
This product does only one thing, but it does it well, and with near perfect simplicity. Connect it to your car's battery and plug it in to a wall outlet: your battery stays charged. The charger senses your battery's state and keeps it fully charged without 'overcharging' or otherwise damaging the battery through continuous charging.
A pair of lights on the device indicate the battery's charge state, and a pair of alternate connectors that can be quick released from the charger itself make connection and disconnection easy.
My convertible isn't driven during the winter, and if left undriven, the alarm and other electronics will drain the battery by spring. This device keeps the battery up to charge without the need for constant connection and disconnection.
|
| |
Expedited Available
