Good solar battery tender for ATV in shed..?

[Drifthopper]

Looking for input on a good / name brand solar battery tender.

Story: I got a 2011 Honda Rincon ATV , keep it out in the shed, no power in shed, For years i had it on a harbor freight maintainer,,,, the red one.
Well this past summer , from what i believe, the original battery finally died.
So i spend the money and got another Yuasa battery in September.
Followed the directions, charged it up , put it in the quad , everything was fine, using it like every other weekend for yardwork and such... when in the shed kept it on the HF tender.
well.... go out last weekend, go to start it, it slowly cranks over, then just clicks.... i was like.... C'mon,,, Really.

I think that cheap HF tender took a crap or shorted and slowly drained the battery.... like a reverse draw.

Anyone have any input on Solar Tenders...?

There are cheapy ones out ( like $20 ) there and some high end ( optimate ..like $120 for their ATV model )

Willing to spend $40 -50 on a good tender to keep my $100 battery charged and be able to start my quad whenever i want to use it.

 

[The Evil Twin]

In my opinion, you aren't going to find a good solar charger (maintainer) for that price. Cheap things are not always good. Good things are not cheap.
I just installed a solar/ battery system in a friend's shed. It gives him lights and a outlet to keep 2 battery maintainers running. The solar panels charge the AGM batteries. The batteries power the inverter. The inverter supplies 120 vac for the outlet and LED motion light. It wasn't cheap, but cheaper than running power out there.

 

[Old Machinist]

When was the last time you cleaned your solar panel? I was having issues this year also and found my panels were so dirty they weren't providing current.

I have various setups and most all of them work. A good 10W panel with a blocking diode will keep a small battery alive. I use one on my mower and every spring it fires right up after not being used all winter.

I have a couple of 30W panels with the small Battery Tender brand charge controller and they also work fine. That won't fit in your price range though.

My main setup in my barn is a 100W panel on the roof with a cheap charge controller connected to a group 27 deep cycle battery. I also have a camera plugged into the USB port on the charge controller and I piggyback a cable with SAE connectors and switch it between tractors and a trolling motor battery.

 

[John T]

I keep 2 motorcycles in a (mouse proof) shed for the winter...

To charge the batteries I use:

A 30 watt solar panel ( Renogy RNG-30D)
And a Battery Tender solar charge controller. (#021-1162)

The controller has a cord that plugs into the bikes pigtail to the battery.

Every few days or so I will swap from 1 bike and plug into the other.


The solar unit works just like the 110v tenders.... when the battery gets to 12v it goes into maintenance/float mode and the light turns green.
Works flawlessly.

 

[Drifthopper]

In my opinion, you aren't going to find a good solar charger (maintainer) for that price. Cheap things are not always good. Good things are not cheap.
I just installed a solar/ battery system in a friend's shed. It gives him lights and a outlet to keep 2 battery maintainers running. The solar panels charge the AGM batteries. The batteries power the inverter. The inverter supplies 120 vac for the outlet and LED motion light. It wasn't cheap, but cheaper than running power out there.

That’s a bit more than what I need .

 

[Drifthopper]

When was the last time you cleaned your solar panel? I was having issues this year also and found my panels were so dirty they weren't providing current.

I have various setups and most all of them work. A good 10W panel with a blocking diode will keep a small battery alive. I use one on my mower and every spring it fires right up after not being used all winter.

I have a couple of 30W panels with the small Battery Tender brand charge controller and they also work fine. That won't fit in your price range though.

My main setup in my barn is a 100W panel on the roof with a cheap charge controller connected to a group 27 deep cycle battery. I also have a camera plugged into the USB port on the charge controller and I piggyback a cable with SAE connectors and switch it between tractors and a trolling motor battery.

I have to admit, my little harbor freight maintainer is not the best set up,
it’s relatively clean, but I have it just vertical screwed to the outside of the shed.
The new one I get, I plan on angling it to get more sun.

 

[Drifthopper]

I keep 2 motorcycles in a (mouse proof) shed for the winter...

To charge the batteries I use:

A 30 watt solar panel ( Renogy RNG-30D)
And a Battery Tender solar charge controller. (#021-1162)

The controller has a cord that plugs into the bikes pigtail to the battery.

Every few days or so I will swap from 1 bike and plug into the other.


The solar unit works just like the 110v tenders.... when the battery gets to 12v it goes into maintenance/float mode and the light turns green.
Works flawlessly.

John,
thank you very much for the detailed info on that panel and controller.
I will look into them.

 

[Old Machinist]

I have to admit, my little harbor freight maintainer is not the best set up,
it’s relatively clean, but I have it just vertical screwed to the outside of the shed.
The new one I get, I plan on angling it to get more sun.

I have one of those HF maintainer panels. The output on it is lower than the memory draw on my Mustang so it won't likely work on any car. Might maintain a motorcycle battery with no parasitic draw.

 

[Sidekick]

I tried that 10 watt harbor freight one and it cooked a riding mower battery on me. I use all plug in Battery Tenders (6) on off road equipment/generator and a Cetek 5 amp maintainer (Ford) on my Ranger that's made for AGM batteries. Only had one battery tender fail at about 28 years old so far and no battery damage from them.

 

[JRHill]

Darn batteries get kind of expensive over time, don't they? Not to mention the inconvenience of a battery that has depleted when ya need the rig. Or the wear and tear on the battery from having it go low repetitively. All I have to say is this:

BatteryMINDer® Model SCC-180: 12V 180 Watt (12V 180W) Solar Charger-Maintainer-Desulfator

BatteryMINDer’s SCC-180 12 volt solar battery charger maintainer adjusts its output several times a second to correctly charge your battery without ever overcharging.

www.batteryminders.com

As for the whole desulfation thing of maintainers, who really knows? I've heard a lot of talk about sulfated batteries but nobody I've ever asked has split the case of a battery open to actually verify that was indeed the cause of failure. It's kind of obvious when the case is blown up like a balloon though. But for the use of BatteryMinder I've never had their stuff ruin an expensive battery. And a flooded lead M/C type battery doesn't have a lot of wiggle room for electrolyte so a good quality unit really helps to not overcharge and deplete the fluid, and another expensive battery shot. Ya get what you pay for in many cases and I think BatterMinder has earned its good reputation for a reason.

 

[JRHill]

BTW, we've lived off grid for a long time. In the end everything electrical around here ends up relying on a battery somewhere along the way. Personally I would have LFP04 batteries in everything and will when the technology evolves to where there is not a low temperature imitation or the crazy need of a battery heater.

 

[Old Machinist]

I keep 2 motorcycles in a (mouse proof) shed for the winter...

To charge the batteries I use:

A 30 watt solar panel ( Renogy RNG-30D)
And a Battery Tender solar charge controller. (#021-1162)

The controller has a cord that plugs into the bikes pigtail to the battery.

Every few days or so I will swap from 1 bike and plug into the other.


The solar unit works just like the 110v tenders.... when the battery gets to 12v it goes into maintenance/float mode and the light turns green.
Works flawlessly.

I have two of this same setup that has been reliable. The 30 watt panel will provide some charge in low light.

Every solar maintainer I have tried requires you to connect it to the battery before connecting to the panel and the Battery Tender brand also states that in the manual. I use a SAE connection on the output and put a toggle switch on the positive input lead from the panel. Any time I connect and disconnect the SAE connector from the battery I just turn off the toggle switch between the panel and controller. The only problem I have encountered is finding reliable toggle switches. If that continues to be an issue I will switch to SAE connectors on both input and output sides and just connect and disconnect as required.

You need to start with a fully charged battery. Maintainers will not charge up a dead or partially dead bettery.

BUT my 10W panel setup with no controller has been just as reliable at a fraction of the cost. I have a couple more of those on order now and I plan to just add a blocking diode on the positive lead to prevent any possible discharge at night.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: I tried that 10 watt harbor freight one and it cooked a riding mower battery on me.
love to know just HOW it 'cooked the battery'. yeesh 10 watts MIGHT be 3/4 amp actual charge rate, probably closer to 1/2 amp...... ?

 

[Drifthopper]

I keep 2 motorcycles in a (mouse proof) shed for the winter...

To charge the batteries I use:

A 30 watt solar panel ( Renogy RNG-30D)
And a Battery Tender solar charge controller. (#021-1162)

The controller has a cord that plugs into the bikes pigtail to the battery.

Every few days or so I will swap from 1 bike and plug into the other.


The solar unit works just like the 110v tenders.... when the battery gets to 12v it goes into maintenance/float mode and the light turns green.
Works flawlessly.

John,
For that controller and panel.....
Did you have to cut and splice the panel wires and screw them on to the controller and then cut and screw on the wire lead that goes to the battery...?

Or... did it come complete..... like .... plug & play..?

 

[John T]

John,
For that controller and panel.....
Did you have to cut and splice the panel wires and screw them on to the controller and then cut and screw on the wire lead that goes to the battery...?

Or... did it come complete..... like .... plug & play..?

The solar panel uses a bullet type electrical connection. Male-/female+
The controller end(s) use a ring terminal.....So I just made an appropriate connector wire.

For controller output/battery side, I used a Tender pigtail (SAE)
which plugs into an 20' SAE extension cable..... From there I plug into the bikes or the tractor.... They all have SAE pigtails to the battery.

Even my jeep and pickup have pigtails.... so if I really wanted to I could park next to the shed and run the cord out the window to the vehicle.

 

[John T]

Someone commented about Tenders not charging a dead battery...

That has not been my experience.
They will charge it.... but it days a long time. at least 24 hours.

I'm talking about a traditional 110v plug in Tender.

My wifes bike has a slight parasitic battery draw for the clock on the dash....
I had a brain fart and left it all winter in the corner of the garage....

I put the "Battery tender plus" on it and it brought it back to life. It's been fine a couple years now.

I have since learned to disconnect the battery in the winter....