Battery Conditioners for 6-volt systems

[LarrBeard]

Winter is upon us and the '48 2WD Truck will sit a lot this winter. I will start it and get it up to operating temperature every week, but that is still a lot of sitting.

In doing work in one of my other retirement jobs, I have discovered gadgets called battery conditioners. They are not really big battery chargers, they are little trickle chargers that intermittently hit the battery with a current pulse based on the battery terminal voltage. They claim to hold the battery at saturation voltage (about 7.15 to 7.25 volts) but not overcharge or cause electrolyte loss.

Other claims include reducing sufation as well as stopping hair loss and curing arthritis (well maybe not all three).

Who has experience with these gadgets? Do they work - how well - downside of the thing?

[gmwillys]

At my last place of employment, we used battery tenders on a lot of the Sheriff departments seasonal equipment. Items like water patrol boats, snow machines, command posts, etc. Items that were in storage, but may be needed at a moments notice. The battery tenders work great, as long as you remember to unhook the connection from the vehicle before pulling it out. Some conditioners have permanent mounting, so all you need to do is hook up the end to the charger when parked. Much like a trailer light connector.

[LarrBeard]

I saw a set of those cables. They make disconnecting easy - but I'll bet some people use them as "quick disconnect umbilicals".

[gmwillys]

We ended up taking a traffic cone, placing it in front of the trailer. This served as a reminder to walk around the trailer before hooking it up, and tearing out. A bit of the same logic that the phone and power companies do when parking a vehicle. Place a cone out to force the driver to walk around the vehicle to pick up the cone, and performing a walk around to ensure nothing is in the way of the truck.