Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Battery Tender 12 Volt Junior Automatic Battery Charger

Top positive review

Includes harness not shown in pictures. Don't buy an extra one unless you need to.

December 23, 2016

The item description and images fail to indicate that this item DOES include the ring terminal harness for permanent attachment to your battery. No need to purchase the item linked here: Battery Tender 081-0069-6 Ring Terminal Harness with Black Fused 2-Pin Quick Disconnect Plug

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mustryde

Bummed Out

November 4, 2017

I ordered 2 of the 021-0123 Battery Tender Juniors. They arrived on time, I unpacked one of the 2, hooked leads up to the car battery, plugged in the charger and watched the light as I made the final connection. Everything went as the manual said it would. I was waxing the car as the charger was doing it's thing and after about 15 minutes the charger started "clicking" and died. I unplugged it and waited a few minutes, plugged it back in, and nothing.
I unpacked the 2nd 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior, intended for my motorcycle, plugged it in and it lasted maybe 15 seconds and did the same "clicking" thing and died. The replacement process went smooth but I have not received the new ones yet.

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RedSled

Highly recommended!

November 1, 2016

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 750mAVerified Purchase

Bought a pair of the Tender Jr. in 2012. I'm sure they have paid for themselves by maximizing the life of my expensive lead-acid batteries. There are plenty of reviews here proving that this is a quality product that has been around a long time. I wish to add that the company that makes Battery Tender products, Deltran, stands by their products. One of my "Juniors" recently stopped working after four years of continuous service. I emailed the company and received a prompt reply. I returned the unit and received a brand new replacement covered under their 5-year warranty. You can't go wrong with this product or company.

Edit: For those considering this product... It is not a battery charger. It is for maintaining fully charged batteries. There are some negative reviews from folks that did not realize what they were buying.

139 people found this helpful

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GoldwingDocs

If you own anything with a lead-acid battery, you need one of these. Best charger available!

December 7, 2014

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 750mAVerified Purchase

This is the ubiquitous Battery Tender Jr., manufactured by Deltran. There are quite a few float charger type products out there that bill themselves as "battery tenders" but the actual product name of this is "Battery Tender Jr." - they have other Battery Tender products, including one with higher charging output, and one with more outputs for charging multiple batteries.

But let's first get back to basics: what is a float charger, and why is it needed?

Lead-acid batteries, of the type used in cars and motorcycles, lose a part of their charge over time just sitting when they aren't even connected to something. When left in a bike that has a clock or radio memory circuit in it that constantly draws power even when the bike is off, that loss of charge is even faster.

Lead-acid batteries "like" to remain at full charge at all times. A battery that is kept at full charge will have a much longer service life than a battery that is left sitting with less than a full charge.

I used to go through a lot of batteries - my motorcycle batteries would last between one and two years before they needed replacement. With multiple motorcycles (not to mention other battery powered things like a generator, snow blower, etc.) this gets expensive!

I figured I would put a trickle (float) charger on my main GL1100 battery to help keep it fully charged. I bought a cheap trickle charger from Harbor Freight, for under $10. I hooked it up to the battery and left it sitting overnight. The next day, to my utter surprise, the battery was dead! The cheap trickle charger, with no intelligence in it and no way of turning off when the battery was charged, overcharged the battery, destroying it! I could charge it fully, but its plates were sulfated, and it would no longer produce enough current to start the bike. This was an expensive lesson - and taught me about the false economy of Harbor Freight float chargers!

So it was with a bit of trepidation that I tried the Battery Tender Jr. - I didn't really want to throw another $100 down the drain for another new battery. The difference with the Battery Tender products is that they are intelligent: they have computers inside that analyze the state of charge of the battery to which they are connected, and alter their output to adjust: Initialization, Bulk Charge Mode, Absorption Mode, Float Mode).

The result: I'm still using that battery five years later, and it still works like it is brand new. I was so impressed that I bought more: I now own five Battery Tender Jr.'s, and they are connected to all of my bikes and devices, 24/7. Every time I park my bike, I plug it in. I have not had a single battery go bad in the five years since I have started using Battery Tenders - and every battery still performs like it is brand new.

The Battery Tender Jr. comes with a 12 foot cord and a plug. This plug then attaches to one of two included connectors: a set of alligator clips, for temporary attachment to a battery, or a set of ring terminals, for permanent attachment. I use the ring terminals, then feed the other end of the connector up through the bike somewhere where it can be hidden. In my wife's PC800, the connector hides behind the right passenger footpeg. In my GL1500, it hides in the left passenger cubby. When I park the bike, I simply flip open the cubby, plug in the Battery Tender, and I know the battery is protected and maintained.

The Battery Tender is designed to be pretty much indestructible. You can hook it up backwards to the battery, and nothing will happen. You can start the bike with it connected, no problem, it simply turns itself off. It's spark proof, and has an indicator light that flashes and changes color to tell you the state of your battery, and what it is doing to manage it. It has a five year warranty, which I have not had to use.

The Battery Tender works great on standard flooded wet-cell lead-acid batteries, as well as AGM (absorption glass mat) batteries. If you have a gel-cell battery, there is a different version that has programming to work properly with them.

And you can now get accessories that plug into the Battery Tender vehicle-side connector when the Battery Tender is not connected. These provide USB charging outputs and 12 volt cigarette lighter-style power ports to allow you to plug your electronic devices into your vehicle. See more about these accessories here: Battery Tender USB Charger and 12 volt Socket

Overall, this is one of my favorite products, they work amazingly well, keep your batteries in top shape, and cost less than a quarter of the cost of a single new battery. I can't recommend them highly enough.

602 people found this helpful

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66 comments

TADTAM

Very pleased with product

January 14, 2016

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 1.25 AmpsVerified Purchase

Battery Tender 022-0185G-dl-wh Black 12 Volt 1.25 Amp Plus Battery Charger/Maintainer

I had not driven my Truck for about 8 months. It would not start, battery was totally dead.
Called AAA and had them jump it. Started hard. Let it run for about half-an-hour. Took it to go shopping (about 10 miles). It would not start. Passer-by jumped it.
Bought Battery Tender and installed it. It took about 48 hours before green light would come on. But truck started up as normal.
I installed Tender with ring terminals which make it more convenient to put on and off.

Added ON/OFF switch at AC outlet to make it easier to Turn ON/OFF Maintainer.

Very pleased with product. Probably will purchase another one for my Prius.

72 people found this helpful

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11 comment

Ryan

Saves you money and headaches.

December 26, 2017

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 750mAVerified Purchase

Paid for itself the first use. Fantastic.

Accidentally killed a brand new car battery leaving a stereo hooked up in a car that sat for two weeks.
Drained that sucker down to 4 volts. :-0

Once a car battery is at 9v or lower, common knowledge is it has to be replaced. But sometimes newer batteries can be saved.

Apparently the key to saving a drained new battery is to trickle charge it back to life very slowly.

I let the tender charge it for a couple hours, unplugged it and finished charging the next day.
Battery took a full 13 volts and holds it well!
Yay battery saved!
If I would have jumped a battery that low it would have killed the battery and possibly the alternator.

Thing saved me like 80 bucks already.

Then I replaced a battery in another car, and found it wasn't quite charged all the way brand new.
Apparently even new batteries should be trickle charged before the first use to prolong the life.

Brought that one from 12.4 to 13.0 volts in a couple hours.

I haven't even got to it's intended use yet, which is to maintain a charged battery for long periods of time.

This could break tomorrow, and I'd still feel I've got my money's worth and buy another one.

26 people found this helpful

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T. Rider

A really great family of products made even better.

November 13, 2017

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 5 AmpsVerified Purchase

I have always been a fan of Battery Tender and own several of the 1.5 amp and .75 amp models. And over the years they have worked exactly as advertised. I have automobile and tractor batteries that have been in use for over 10 years and still going strong.

This 5 amp unit is the best of the bunch. The one disadvantage to the other units was they were a bit slow in recharging a deeply discharged battery. This solves that problem. The only suggestion I have is if you plan on mounting it on a wall. The package does not come with mounting screws. You will need to get 2 #6 by 2 1/2 inch screws from your hardware store to complete the mounting process.

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rickey busch

It doesnt work, very sad+++++ revised+++++

October 28, 2018

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 1.25 AmpsVerified Purchase

after connecting this item to my 12v lead acid generator battery the yellow charging light came on. unfortunately, this was BEFORE I plugged battery tender in!!! After plugging battery tender in for almost a week now the yellow charging light is still on. It NEVER turned green indicating the battery was fully charged. I put a volt meter on the battery and it registered 12.7 volts as it should and the tender SHOULD be green. I wrote customer service at Deltran (battery tender) on a Friday and by Sunday still no response. I guess they dont monitor customer service on the weekend, that's pretty normal although inconvenient. So I notified the seller through Amazon on Saturday, still no response, I guess they are off too. Not feeling too much love at this point and hoping Monday brings better results. My guess is everyone comes to work on Monday, says I got a bad unit and sends me a new one and it works as it should and my one turns to a five. Ill update this review at the end of one week. Stay tuned

It's now Monday and businesses are back to work. I spoke with a representative from deltran who was very responsive. she immediately set up a case number and will be replacing the item for me on wednesday. I suspect Amazon sold me a returned defective product as package was opened. shame on amazon. not the manufacturers fault. the manufacturer is doing everything they can to correct the issue. called amazon about the issue and they were apothetic. I think the girl was having a bad day, they usually are very responsive.

16 people found this helpful

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Tony A

Absolutely love it!

August 24, 2016

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 5 AmpsVerified Purchase

My poor 2005 F150 just doesn't get driven enough to keep the battery maintained. My truck has less than 32k on its original engine but its on its third or fourth Bosch battery (the dealer didn't find anything wrong with my charging system).

By the time I do need to drive my truck its almost always dead.

I just purchased this Battery Tender and I love that it powers on and off automatically, and the 5 Amps replenishes the battery really fast.

I ended up hard wiring this tender to my F150 using a capped marine AC plug hidden in the side well of my truck. Now if I was to accidentally forget to unplug the AC cable before I drive off, it should unplug without damaging anything. I also added a tag on my steering wheel to remind my family members to unplug the AC cord.

My only regret is that Amazon's size specs for the metal version (022-0157-1) of this tender was wrong at the time of my purchase. According to a reviewer (antimorris), the metal version is only 5.2"x5.0"x2.0" vs this plastic version the measures at 12.6"x10.3"x4.9".

I would've ordered the smaller metal version instead of this one.

But I'm still happy with my purchase, It's worth the peace of mind, I don't expect to need a new battery any time soon.
Thank you.

Update:
My original post was done on August 2016, and today is Jan 2 2019. My F150 has only been driven about 800 miles around town ( since we have two other "daily driver' cars). Today I did a battery load test and happy to report that my battery is still showing an "Excellent condition" on the test report. If it wasn't for this battery tender, I'd most likely already need another battery, this turned out to be an awesome envesment.

Thank you

39 people found this helpful

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22 comments

May Never Have to Buy Another Battery

September 26, 2019

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 750mAVerified Purchase

Got this on my mechanic’s recommendation when my 1-yr old battery died after our having accidentally leaving the headlights on for an hour. Though the auto parts store tech tested it under load and declared it good, my mechanic was skeptical. He told me he used Battery Tender on all his vehicles which are stored outside and he hasn’t bought a battery in years. Good enough for me.

I typically buy a new battery every 3 years for about $150. Ditto for our lawn tractor. The pickup’s battery is 8 years old—a miracle. All of our vehicles suffer from the same problem which we cannot resolve because we don’t drive much: too many stop and go trips to allow the alternator to ever fully charge the battery.

So, if we could buy some Battery Tenders for $25/vehicle and maybe never have to buy another battery, that would work for us. I bought 4: one for each of the above vehicles and one for our marine battery.

What I Like:
1. It saved my car battery. When I first plugged it in, it stayed red for about 12 hours meaning the battery was under 80% charged even though I had driven 40 miles on interstates since getting a jump. It did go solid green meaning the battery was fully charged.
2. It is easy to install. It comes with two options for connecting the tender to your vehicle’s battery: alligator clips and round connectors. The former are great for temporary connections and the latter preferable for permanent ones. All of ours are connected via the round connectors. See the first photo for a picture of how it is connected to our truck. The second shows the tender plugged into the outlet.
3. Once your battery is fully charged and the light on the tender is solid green, it continuously monitors your battery and trickle charges it to maintain it at 100-103%.
4. With our kind of driving where we don’t drive 30+ miles before stopping and turning off the engine, when we come home and plug in we are solid red, but in less than 10 minutes we are solid green. This tells me the tender is indeed keeping our batteries fully charged, something our alternators can’t do because we don’t drive enough before turning off the engine.

What I Don’t Like:
1. The chart showing you which Battery Tender is right for you says “trucks” need a much beefier model. I consulted our mechanic and he told me that “trucks” really refers to big trucks, that is, not a pickup or anything you’d find in someone’s driveway. I was very grateful for his advice, but was unhappy with Battery Tender’s guidance.

Bottom Line:
This is a great product and may keep you from ever having to buy another battery for your vehicles. It is easy to install. If you have a pickup, just buy the Junior Tender. Yours is not a truck as viewed by the manufacturer.

8 people found this helpful

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Barnacle Bill The Sailor

Seamless plug-n-play battery charging. No more dead batteries.

September 29, 2017

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 5 AmpsVerified Purchase

Seamless battery charging. I have a Mercedes SUV that doesn't get driven much. It also has a constant current draw that Mercedes can't identify even after having the car in their shop for 10 days. I got tired of dead or weak batteries so I bought this 5 Amp Deltran battery charger. Problem solved. The battery is always at full charge even if the car hasn't been driven for a week.

Installation was incredibly easy but because I didn't want to open the hood all the time to plug and unplug the battery, I had to buy a short 5 ft extension cable. The extra length allowed me to extend the short cable Deltran provides for permanent hookup to the battery terminals to the front grill of the car. Now, I have the connector hanging at waist height and I can pop it on and off the charger in a couple of seconds.

This was a problem with the Mercedes because they actually put the battery under the front passenger seat and give you two terminals in the engine compartment for jumping a dead battery. But they put the terminals at the rear of the engine compartment almost back against the firewall. If your battery is at the front of the engine compartment like most cars, you may not need the extra cable. However even with running the extra cable, it took 10 minutes and almost no skill to wire up a permanent solution.

12 people found this helpful

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33 comments

MagSam

SOLVED MY PROBLEMS

July 1, 2018

Style: Battery ChargerColor: Black/GreenSize: 12V @ 5 AmpsVerified Purchase

I recently bought a used 2015 Subaru Outback Limited based on all the reviews that I had read and researched throughly. However, it's been ten years since I last bought a newer car...my Ford Taurus SEL wagon had nearly 200,000 miles on it and I hated to replace it but that's a different story. I quickly found out that these newer cars are meant to be driven EVERY day and I'm not that type of driver (retired, no longer need to commute 100 miles a day). With today's sophisticated computerized features, these cars suck the battery juice continually, even the key fob if it's kept within 10 feet of your car. If I let my car sit a week, it wouldn't start. I had to have several tows to the service dept. and invested in two batteries until I narrowed down the problem. Buy a battery tender and leave it hooked up when I don't need to drive the car for 4-5 days. Yes, it's inconvenient, but not having your car turn over is really inconvenient. I keep my car in the garage where I can conveniently plug in this 5A Power Battery Tender and haven't had a problem since. It was a very good investment.

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