Going on vacation for a month, can I leave battery tender jr plugged in 24/7 in condo

[jedininja]

Hey guys its my first year with the bike and am leaving for a month vacation in jan...is it ok to leave the battery tender jr plugged in to the power outlet while I am gone? will this do any harm or blow a fuse? what do you recommend?

[EngineerJoe]

I leave mine plugged in all winter. Isn't that what they're designed for?

[chiller]

I leave mine plugged in all winter. Isn't that what they're designed for?

well i leave mine plugged in all winter but i switch it every 3 days from 1 bike to another bike ... so every bike gets about 2 or 3 days charge out of a 10 day cycle...

[ViperZ]

I assume you have a room temperature in your condo, like 20C? Nothing will happen to your battery in a month. I plug in my battery charger/tender every 2-3 weeks in the winter, in unheated garage, and the charge level is still over 90% all the time.

[Charles Darwin]

Is there a moderator reading these threads? This battery issue deserves a sticky.

[Vlad]

Battery Tender (and other intelligent trickle chargers/maintainers) is designed to charge the battery and keep it charged in floating (trickle charge) mode. You can (and most people do) leave it connected to your battery all winter, even for years if you need to.

Contrary to the popular wisdom, cold temperatures are better for battery storage. Self discharge rate is lower on VRLA batteries, but it's still much faster at +20 than at -20. And no, freezing temperatures won't harm a good battery in any way.

[jedininja]

Thanks all...you think it would be ok to leave the battery uncharged for a month? I will fully charge it before I leave but am nervous abt having the battery tender plugged in 24/7

[ViperZ]

Like I said nothing will happen to your battery if it's in good condition to begin with. If it's crappy enough to discharge in a month, then you'll need a new one soon anyway.

[Vlad]

Thanks all...you think it would be ok to leave the battery uncharged for a month? I will fully charge it before I leave but am nervous abt having the battery tender plugged in 24/7

Don't be nervous. Leave it on and forget about it. 24/7/365/100

The chances of the battery going bad after a month, although slim, are much higher than the possibility of any damage if it's connected to BT.

[jedininja]

Thanks vlad...great advice

[Lonelyrider]

I left mine plugged in all the time in my garage, nothing happens... it should be okay.

[dyno]

My tender is connected at all times summer, spring winter and fall. The only time it gets disconnected is when I take the bike out.

[Wingboy]

My tender is connected at all times summer, spring winter and fall. The only time it gets disconnected is when I take the bike out.

Same here times three.My Wing is an 01 and i just put a new battery in it last spring to be on the safe side.There is one Tender and 2 juniors in my garage that see 24/7 use.

[cbcanada]

I assume you have a room temperature in your condo, like 20C? Nothing will happen to your battery in a month. I plug in my battery charger/tender every 2-3 weeks in the winter, in unheated garage, and the charge level is still over 90% all the time.

I leave mine at 0-5 degrees and nothing happens. People dont give their batteries enuff credit. I
Put my bikes in garage and put the trickle charger on them. The garage gets down to zero but nothing happens to battery as long as the trickle charger is on.

[Vlad]

One more time:

A fully charged battery will loose its charge and get damaged faster at room temperature than at -20. Having it connected to a good trickle charger / maintainer is a must when stored at room temperature. At -20 (say, the bottom of the freezer) it will hold it's charge until spring, even without any recharging.

High temperature is bad for long term storage of any battery. Freezing will not damage any battery that wasn't already dead. A battery will have less power output at lower temperatures, but that is irrelevant for storage as we won't need any cranking power at -20 anyway.