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MG TD TF 1500 - Battery Maintainers

I bought a 1.5A Schumacher battery "Maintainer" today at Wally World ($19), but am not pleased with the short and very thin ring connector harness (10"). The more popular Battery Tenders have a heavier duty 1.5' either fused or unfused harness. I think I will return the Schumacher.

Two questions. Both units require the ground terminal to be attached to the block or frame, and not "thin sheet metal." Where do those of you that have this harness installed (if you do) connect the ground ring terminal?

Also, the Battery Tender Jr. (0.75A) does not have a fused ring connector harness, but the 1.5A Battery Tender Plus does, but it's twice the price. A fused connector can be bought for the Jr. on ebay for $6-7. Is the 3A fuse really necessary, and what protection does it give?

TIA

Larry
L Karpman

Larry,
Don't know what others feelings are on "maintainers / trickle chargers" but here is what I did.
I have an Interstate battery with dual post,(top & side), painted black (because I find the bright green & white offensive under the bonnet) with a LUCAS sticker on it just for fun. Installed a removable "cut off knob" on my positive top post (my car is negative ground). Dipped the "knob" in red tool grip stuff so it is not green. I use the side post for trickle charger. This way the cars electrical system is disconnected when trickle charger is one during storage.
Works for me.
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

hello larry, i did what dave did. (except without all the cool appearance stuff but i wired mine the same) regards, tp
tom peterson

Thanks Dave and Tom. My battery is hooked up like yours, with the green knob quick disconnect on the negative side. Now I understand why you don't connect the ground of a jumper cable or charger directly to the battery with alligator clips (to avoid sparking at the battery - fumes, etc.), but I don't understand why both manufacturers would recommend against that with the semi-permanent installation of their ring terminal quick disconnect pigtail, and instruct you to attach the ground cable for that to the block or frame.

Also, if the "fuse" was a necessary item, why would the pigtail on the Jr. model not have one, and the pigtail on the Plus model does?

Larry
L Karpman

Larry - The fuse is there to protect the charger, rather than the battery and the manufacture may figure that the current level for the 'Jr." model to be low enough to not be a problem. I would put a fuse in line with the lead anyway rated between 1.5 and 2 times the rated current draw. I have an auxiliary power socket inside our TD and put a mating plug on the line from the tender so I can just plug it in when the car is in the garage (sort of like they do with the aircraft at airport using airport transfers sevenoakss). That way, I don't have to get under the bonnet to connect and disconnect it (I have the battery tender plugged into a receptacle in the overhead of the garage that was there for the garage door opener, so that the cord dangles down right over the TD). Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks Dave. My plan was similar, but I didn't plan to use a power socket. I guess my only question is still, where to permanently connect the ground of the pigtail? The manufacturers both recommend against connecting it to the battery ground terminal, or thin sheet metal. Not sure why.

Cheers

Larry
L Karpman

This thread was discussed on 02/05/2009

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