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Looking to buy a battery tender

MikeJLURubi

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I am looking for a battery tender for my 2018 JLU Rubicon. My dealer just replaced by AUX/ESS battery so thought a battery tender may help.
Looked on Amazon and found some around $20 with good to great ratings but wanted to check here before I bought one.
Any recommendations on brand, etc?
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dccurtis

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:(. My secondary battery was replaced in January, ESS worked for a day and then it stopped working. With COVID and all I just haven’t brought it in to get rechecked, but from what I read I will probably need another battery replacement.

This certainly isn’t giving me confidence for when the Jeep is out of warranty...

I know it’s been discussed at length on another thread but this sort of thing just shouldn’t be necessary on a brand new 40K+ vehicle.
 

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Outlawd

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Jeepney Johnny

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I've got a few battery chargers, tenders, and maintainers . One of them is a fancy schmancy CTEK smart testing and charging unit. It's a little too smart, it won't work on a battery that's discharged to a very low level, so I have to use one of my "dumb" chargers/maintainers to charge the dead battery a bit, before attaching the "smart" one. But I only have these because I have a vehicle that isn't driven regularly.

How long do you leave your Jeep sitting unused? I'd think you'd only need a charger/maintainer if your vehicle is sitting around for a month or months at a time. If your battery is dying after only a couple of weeks of non-use, then you've got a bad battery or a light on or some other errant condition.
 
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MikeJLURubi

MikeJLURubi

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I've got a few battery chargers, tenders, and maintainers . One of them is a fancy schmancy CTEK smart testing and charging unit. It's a little too smart, it won't work on a battery that's discharged to a very low level, so I have to use one of my "dumb" chargers/maintainers to charge the dead battery a bit, before attaching the "smart" one. But I only have these because I have a vehicle that isn't driven regularly.

How long do you leave your Jeep sitting unused? I'd think you'd only need a charger/maintainer if your vehicle is sitting around for a month or months at a time. If your battery is dying after only a couple of weeks of non-use, then you've got a bad battery or a light on or some other errant condition.
Not more than a couple days at a time, but some trips are short. I just wanted one not only for my Jeep but my Wife's Jeep which can go several days. Also for my riding mower over the winter, etc
 

word302

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Not more than a couple days at a time, but some trips are short. I just wanted one not only for my Jeep but my Wife's Jeep which can go several days. Also for my riding mower over the winter, etc
Honestly a tender doesn't really cut it for these batteries. While it's pricey, I highly recommend the Odyssey 20 amp charger https://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Batt...&qid=1590857653&sprefix=Odyssey+20+amp&sr=8-3
I throw it on overnight at each oil change and it is amazing. More often if the Jeep's been sitting.
 

Kevin Mojito

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I use ctek. They have never fail me, for both lead acid and amg. Optima's that are over 10 years old.
 

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78cj7-18lj

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Have a look at the solar options. I have a 10 + years old kit I had for a boat that now is used on my wife's car. It works great, cordless take it with or leave home. Luckily my 2018 2.0 Sahara with only 5900 miles has not had any issues with the ess system, cross fingers :)
 

KIVO

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Ctek here. Point is, you don't need a dedicated charger (I don't have any since a couple of decades), if you use a tender for what is intended to do, that is maintain a battery - connect it to a battery, and leave it alone, for days, weeks, months. I use tenders for all what gets periodically little use (mostly wintertime, or when I travel for work).
 

word302

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Ctek here. Point is, you don't need a dedicated charger (I don't have any since a couple of decades), if you use a tender for what is intended to do, that is maintain a battery - connect it to a battery, and leave it alone, for days, weeks, months. I use tenders for all what gets periodically little use (mostly wintertime, or when I travel for work).
That's just simply not true. A tender won't bring these high amperage batteries up to the voltage they need to properly maintain them. The Odyssey brings the batteries up to 14.7 volts and holds them there for several hours. It will also recondition a battery that's been sitting. You aren't going to keep your batteries at like-new capacity with a tender, they will still degrade over time. The tender will help to slow that process but not like a quality charger/maintainer.
 

cosine

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I know it’s been discussed at length on another thread but this sort of thing just shouldn’t be necessary on a brand new 40K+ vehicle.

batteries in general doesnt last more than 4 years now. the 7+ yearlife span are gone. i'm looking to replace mine with optima because die hard have gone down the drain.
 

cosine

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battery tender from deltran is a good brand
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