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Old 07-31-2019, 12:38 AM
 
Location: West Los Angeles and Rancho Palos Verdes
13,565 posts, read 15,499,660 times
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Car is a 1986 Mercedes 560SL, which has a very large battery, and I'd like to get a trickle charger for it. Any reason why I shouldn't? Any tips as to what kind to get? Do I need one specific to my battery size or will any type work on any auto battery? Thanks.
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Old 07-31-2019, 05:24 AM
 
Location: Outskirts of Gray Court, and love it!
5,619 posts, read 5,760,757 times
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Mine are Battery Tender brand. A little more expensive, but they are going on 15 years old and still working.
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Old 07-31-2019, 06:12 AM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,227,113 times
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I have the same brand. Battery Tender. I use it for batteries that sit like my trailer.
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Old 07-31-2019, 06:40 AM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,482,448 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat View Post
Car is a 1986 Mercedes 560SL, which has a very large battery, and I'd like to get a trickle charger for it.

Any reason why I shouldn't?
Any reason to think you need one?
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Old 07-31-2019, 07:26 AM
 
Location: Outskirts of Gray Court, and love it!
5,619 posts, read 5,760,757 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Electrician4you View Post
I have the same brand. Battery Tender. I use it for batteries that sit like my trailer.
I have their solar one for my trailer. Works very well, better than I expected it to.
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Old 07-31-2019, 07:30 AM
 
Location: Maryland
2,269 posts, read 1,615,253 times
Reputation: 5198
Quote:
Originally Posted by UpstateJohn View Post
Mine are Battery Tender brand. A little more expensive, but they are going on 15 years old and still working.
Same thing I use on my hobby car. Can’t remember how long I’ve had it but it works fine.
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Old 07-31-2019, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Minnesota
1,761 posts, read 1,704,895 times
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Battery Tender here too. I've got two of them and use them in the "offseason" for both my motorcycle and my summer driven convertible car. Keeping batteries at full charge is key to making those batteries last longer. Partially discharged batteries sulfate which causes their future performance to degrade...and the lower their charge level, the faster they sulfate.

I don't put it on if I'm using the vehicle every couple weeks or so...but if I know It's going to be more than two weeks between uses, as in over the winter, or an extended vacation etc..., I'll throw the Battery Tender on to keep it at full charge.

I routinely get 6-10 years out of my vehicle batteries. Seems many people get far less than that, so if you amortize the cost of a $50 dollar tender compared to the marginal yearly cost of your battery, you'll come out ahead pretty quickly.
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Old 07-31-2019, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Southern Arizona
9,593 posts, read 31,552,830 times
Reputation: 11708
Quote:
Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat View Post
Car is a 1986 Mercedes 560SL, which has a very large battery, and I'd like to get a trickle charger for it. Any reason why I shouldn't? Any tips as to what kind to get? Do I need one specific to my battery size or will any type work on any auto battery? Thanks.
Good question, Exitus . . .

I live "in town" so I do not drive my vehicles every day . . . a DelTran Battery Tender Plus (one for each vehicle) has literally doubled the life of my batteries plus lots of Peace of Mind.

The secret is relatively simple . . . they must be hooked up each and every time you pull into your garage so I have mine set up on a shelf with an extension cord to reach the vehicle for the least amount of effort.

Good Luck.
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Old 07-31-2019, 11:55 AM
 
1,190 posts, read 1,179,794 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UpstateJohn View Post
Mine are Battery Tender brand. A little more expensive, but they are going on 15 years old and still working.
X2- they are the BEST.

Use one on an old Triumph TR3A and the battery is now 12 years old in that car- use the tender all winter.
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Old 07-31-2019, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Kirkland, WA (Metro Seattle)
6,031 posts, read 6,084,649 times
Reputation: 12508
Quote:
Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat View Post
Car is a 1986 Mercedes 560SL, which has a very large battery, and I'd like to get a trickle charger for it. Any reason why I shouldn't? Any tips as to what kind to get? Do I need one specific to my battery size or will any type work on any auto battery? Thanks.
I have a dual, of whatever that popular brand is: the first that comes up when you Google. "Battery Tender" or some such. I have a motorcycle on one, sports car on the other, past ten years and before that a single in my prior garage. I cannot stress enough how much they have paid for themselves, I got crazy mileage on a motorcycle batter (like nine years), kept a 911 Turbo battery going (Porsche), 911 GTS never had any trouble spending most time on it, current Shelby GT350R is always ready to go as I don't see running that too often either. The batteries love it, to anthropomorphize a bit.

I have a center load-bearing pillar in my garage which is a pain but at least was good for mounting the charger (ran power down from the ceiling). I put an SAE dongle on the motorcycle, fused and capped (goes for every bike). It varies car by car how I handle those; some have fused SAE dongles from batteries, others through through the cigarette lighter. Also fused, in the car itself in that case. They trickle charge all that right up, with lights that indicate status at a glance.

My primary vehicle, previously a Tacoma and now a Land Cruiser, don't need a trickle charge since they're run daily or min. 5x/week on work or errands.

The dually probably cost all of $59. Singles are way less then that, available at just about every battery shop and Pep Boys in the US.
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