Battery Recharger for 2015 CS-S

Allie

Does anyone here use a battery recharger or "tender" while the T@B is stored between trips?  I have a Sears Diehard recharger (model 28-71219) and although it indicates it is charging, it hasn't come to a full charge yet.  Would this be normal?  Or is it because there are things in the T@B that use battery power full time?  Should I be using a bigger recharger?

Normfun

Allie. The CSS draws about 6-7 amps a day from the battery, more if the fridge or a light is left on. I don't charge between trips but I do pull the battery fuse. I can go months and still have a decent charge when I put the fuse back in.  Others have used chargers or solar to maintain and not pull the fuse.   If I wanted to leave the battery connected I would either plug in the T@B or get a 6amp smart charger. 

Allie

Thanks Norm.  I don't have a fridge, just the lights.  I have the battery set on the 6 volt battery.  Should I switch it to the 12 Volt?

Normfun

If you only have 1 battery it will be 12 volts. If you have 2 they might be 6 volt. My guess is you have 1  12 volt so yes the charger should be set to 12 volts. 

jkjenn

I use the Goal Zero Maintainer, which us a 10 Watt solar panel/tricked charger that comes with a Zamp quick disconnect as well as alligator clips. It does a great job.

mash2

It is a 12 v circuit.  Switch to 12v and it should fully charge.  With a battery tender, it can take a day to fully charge my system (200 AMP).  Any longer and it seems like something is amiss with the charger.  Do you have a voltmeter?  There are some cheap ones that plug into the accessory plug that would give you a sense of the AMPs in the system.  I don't find them extremely accurate, but they would definitely give you a good sense of the battery status.

Allie

It finally recharged the battery and now has a green light.  It took two days.  According to the booklet, once charged, it will "maintain" the charge.  Now there is no worry of running the battery down using the lights while doing things to Condo in the garage.  Thanks for all the replies.

Michigan_Mike

Another thing (for future reference) to remember when plugging into the Zamp solar connector on the battery box is that the polarity is reversed on the Zamp connector. Unless you connect directly to the battery with connectors supplied, your battery might not charge up properly unless the Zamp connections are flipped at the battery.  

Allie

Mike - If I understand you correctly, It is ok if the battery tender is hooked directly to the battery.  Solar is not in my future.  Trying to keep from hauling too much "stuff".  Charging can be done from hooking on to the car if necessary while on the road.
Thanks for the tip though.

Michigan_Mike

Allie said:

Mike - If I understand you correctly, It is ok if the battery tender is hooked directly to the battery.  Solar is not in my future.  Trying to keep from hauling too much "stuff".  Charging can be done from hooking on to the car if necessary while on the road.
Thanks for the tip though.

Yes....  Just flip the Zamp Solar port leads around on the battery and ensure that the tender is charging the battery.  Or just use the alligator style clips that come with the battery tender and hook directly to the battery.  

jkjenn

Michigan_Mike said:

 

Yes....  Just flip the Zamp Solar port leads around on the battery and ensure that the tender is charging the battery.

OK, now I am confused. I am using my GZ battery tender and plug form the GZ unit directly into the Zamp port. I have not flipped anything on the GZ port. am I doing something incorrectly?

Verna

Jenn, if it is charging your T@B, then the polarity of the GZ is the same as the Zamp, and you're fine. If it isn't charging, then you need to reverse the Zamp leads on the battery. 

jkjenn

I would imagine that GZ sent me a cable with reversed polarity, then.