Dave O

I replaced my battery in my 2006 on Sunday. I replaced it with another Delco. To make sure it was fully charged, I hooked up my battery tender after I installed it to ensure it was fully charged. Well, it has been 2 1/2 days since I installed it and the light on the tender is still red. It has yet to alternate between red and green, let alone green. I would have expected it to have been charged by now.

Curious if others think this is normal or if I might have a problem with the battery.

EVRose

You replaced it with a new Delco? Why should you need to put a tender on it at all? It's fully charged when you buy it.

bolivar

It's probably normal. I usually put a new battery on my 'big' 30amp charger before puting it in a car. Most, that I remember, will take a 5 amp, or so, charge for a while - like a couple of hours, before getting down to zero.

Marc V.

A battery tender is not a battery charger. A tender is meant to maintain 12 volts.

If the car starts normally, then I would say you are OK.

Have you driven it since installing the battery?

vettedoogie

I've had batteries take a few days to get fully charged with a maintainer. You would likely be better off using your regular charger to get it fully charged and then use the maintainer when not driving it for a week or so.

brianc6z16

As others have said, a tender is NOT a charger. I think I read my CTEK only puts in 3 amps. If yours is the same it may take a while before the "tender" sees it as fully charged. If your battery tender is warm it is probably doing all it can do.

beaversstonehaven

I recently replaced my battery and placed a battery tender on it. In my case it took overnight/12hrs. to go to green.

EVRose

I still don't see the point in putting a tender or a charger on a new battery. I've replaced many batteries in my days and they have all been fully charged when I get them. If the car starts easily with the new battery why not leave it at that?

jimmybobby

I just bought a brand new battery from Auto Zone last Sunday and have not started it since then. My Battery Tender Plus came in today so I hooked it up since it's not a daily driver. The solid red light is on, which according to the unit means the battery is less than 80% charged. And the reason I bought the tender in the first place is because it's not a daily driver and I want the battery to be fully charged so I don't have to replace the battery before I need to. Mine is hooked up through the cigarette lighter.

I'm surprised as well that a brand new battery even needs more than a trickle charge.

brianc6z16

I have seen it. Should NOT assume that a new battery is "fully charged". BIG mistake. The best thing for a new battery is to fully charge it with a BATTERY CHARGER set to "Equalize" for 12 to 24 hours. Yes your alternator will charge a new battery and you will get away with it for possibly years. But for maximum life you should take a new battery and fully charge it.

Gary '09 C6

Q: is the cigarette lighter adapter sold separately for the Battery Tender Plus ?
Mine did not come with one, and I would like to get this...


thx G

Dave O

Thanks for all of the replies folks. The reason I put my tender on it was twofold. 1) to make sure it was fully charged and 2) because the weather here sucks right now, and I don't plan on driving it any time soon. So as with my old battery, on goes the battery tender. I was surprised that after 2 1/2 days, the red light was still on. I don't have a regular charger, so the battery tender is all I have for now.

So I decided to try to start the car tonight (never even tried to start it after I installed the battery), which it did, but was very sluggish as if the battery wasn't fully charged. I let it run for a while, started it a couple more times and it seems fine. I put the tender back on it and we'll see what happens.

Let me know if you have any other thoughts.

JJC5

What you're doing is smart. You also are saving your alternator some hard work getting your battery fully charged.

richp5

I bought mine on ebay (new) from an outfit called Kathy & Gary's (or something like that) for $5.99 + shipping/handling (less than $11) last month. There were quite a few for sale from many dealers.

mudfish

Sometimes batteries sit on the shelf for quite a while before you buy them. Not unusual at all for them to need a good charge even if new.

vetteright

Not true. Most new automobile 12 volt batteries (all brands) are not at 100 % full charge when purchased. Usually, the charge is more than adequate to start the car, but they are not fully up.

WMark

Needed a new battery after nine months. Read enough on this forum to go with a battery tender. Took a day and a half for the green light to come on.

After that, it takes only a few hours, so the battery was definitely not up to full charge when I bought it.

Knob Jockey

Op- Get your battery up to a full charge with a regular charger, then hook up your tender.

If you still see a red light after a day or so, disconnect the battery from the car, charge it up again and reconnect the tender.

Then:

If it turns green it could mean your car is not going completely to 'sleep' and it will drain the battery excessively. Sleep mode happens about 20 minutes after shutoff.

If it stays red, you may have a bad battery. Happens with new ones occasionally.

jimmybobby

No, it didn't come with the adapter. I got them both from Amazon. Here you go......
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CJ927I

Don-Vette

Sounds like the battery was sitting on the shelf a long time before you bought it. Put it on a regular charger first to bring it up to full charge.