vettenuts

Well, since I can't drive or work on my car, I decided to connect the Battery Tender to keep it charged up. Went out this morning, opened the door and got a strong whiff of burnt electronics. Looked at the Battery Tender, no lights and it stinks. Second one in two years that failed this way, needless to say last one I will use so I don't lose the car and garage.

hotwheels57

Is it actually a BATTERY TENDER (PLUS or JR.) by DELTRAN CORPORATION or are you using the term in the generic sense (maybe a WALMART off shore made charger)?
If it's a BATTERY TENDER PLUS, the warranty is up to ten years and they will replace it for you.
I've never had one fail since I started using them in '95. Maybe a CTEK is an option?

Z06PSI

CTEK here. No problems

vettenuts

No, its the Battery Tender Plus by Deltran. The first one went back under warranty, but the handling and processing fees were actually only $10 less than I paid for it so I won't do that again.

hotwheels57

Send them a message or better yet call them...tell them this is the second unit to fail and the cost of fees involved. They might surprise you and send you one...you don't know if you don't ask.

MattB

I think its the cost of the house and Vette that he is concerned about LOL... I'd feel a little uneasy as well.

Quick Silver Z

vettenuts

Just bought a CTEK. I don't want to risk another Battery Tender.

ytwokc5

Which model CTEK do you guys have?

Quick Silver Z

3300US IIRC.

http://www.ctek.com/Manuals/US3300_en.pdf

tiojames

The battery tenders I have used all say the battery has to be fully charged to use them, as they are for only keeping the full charge. They are only good for 1-2 amp charging. I would check your battery to see if it is down a bit causing the tender to overheat trying to charge the battery.

vettejeff

One of mine has been plugged in now for 10 years on my 86 with no problems. The one on my 2003 has also been plugged in for 5 years with no problems. I dont even unplug them from the wall, just unhook at the battery and go cruising. Like someone posted earlier, maybee your battery is drained before hooking to the tender, so the thing is overheating trying to bring the batt up to full charge.

vettenuts

No, battery was up and green light on. It was basically in maintenance mode. Funny thing is, my older unit still works and I used that on my C4. I only bought a new one because the lights were dim on the older one.

bestvettever

Hi, I do the same thing with mine, I have 2 battery maintainers, from sears, and 2 battery minders from batterymart.com. The sears units are 19 years old and still doing the job. And the battery minders are a few years old and no problems so far. A drained battery should not cause a battery tender to go bad, it will work the unit harder, but the unit can only put out what its limit is by design. It will take much longer to bring the battery up to full, but it should not destroy itself. I've used mine on discharged batteries and they did the job, albeit in a longer time. I know it's not recommended, but they will do it. I would guess that either the 2 battery tenders had a defect in them that finally came to light, or there is an intermittent high surge condition in the outlet the tender is plugged in to.
Good Luck

dieseldave56

What is the voltage in your garage? Do you use an extention cord? Polarity of the outlet that you are plugged into is correct?

I've also used the battery tender for years ( I have 6) and never had any problems. Look to another source for the cause. My 2 1/2 cents

rws.1

You can pay more but you can't buy better...

Harbor Freight... under $10
acutally paid $6 on sale.... for their battery float charger.....
I have 4 years of use on 1, 3 years on the second and 1 winte ron the 3rd.... , my 2 brothers each use them (also 4 years) and several club members....
NO failures....

vettenuts

Old tender has run in garage for years, so new one is in the same plug. The garage circuit I use has one outlet in the basement, which has my computer plugged into it. Circuit is OK, but can't speak to whether a power surge has occurred while this particular unit was plugged in.

jovette

Suggest you buy and install a surge protector, before you plug in another new unit, and see if you ever have the problem again. Just hard to believe you got two defective units back to back.

vettenuts

Yes, been thinking that. What a pain.

donaho

Last year my garage and everything in it burned to the ground, at 3 am. I lost a 1997 Silverado pick-up (24,000 miles), a 2004 Chysler Sebring convertable, 1967 Firebird 400, totaly restored and a 1992 Corvette. A four post lift and a lifetime collection of parts and tools. If the wind would have been blowing in a different direction I would have lost my house also! The fire was blamed on a battery maintainer on the Corvette. (By three different fire inspectors) I will not state the manufacture because it couldn`t be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that is what started the fire. Most of the evidence was incinerated. My new M.O. is to use a Vector smart charger hooked to a one hour timer. I keep track on a calander when I charge my 2000 FRC, and charge it once per month, while I`m home, in the winter. It`s a pain, but I sure sleep better.