Battery tender question?

I have a 23 TRD OR bought new last February, it only has 4K miles on it as I don't drive it much. I have an old Subaru that I drive during the winter and the Tacoma goes into winter garage storage with a battery tender hooked. After a few days in storage the battery tender keeps saying the battery is bad, but the truck has started fine and ran at least 3 days a week since new. I check it with a volt meter and it's 13.2 just sitting and 14+ running, Should I be concerned about leaving the tender hooked up in this condition? Any ideas as it's a Schumacher brand tender?

 

Have the battery checked by the dealer or someone reputable. Or - plug the tender into your other car, and see if it reads the same issue. That should narrow it down to a defective tender or battery.

 

I keep a Noco tender on all my cars as they aren't used on a regular basis. My Tacoma is a 2019 TRD OR, it has always been on a tender since new and has the original battery. I've never had any kind of warning and the truck always starts right up. Maybe your tender went bad????

 

Make sure the battery terminal clamps are tight.

Are there different voltage settings on the tender? For example, if you set it to charge at AGM voltage, it may not like it given your battery isn't AGM.

When the tender says the battery is bad, what happens if you reset the tender (unplug the tender's AC cord then plug it back in)?

 

My tender has no selectable settings, but I've had it for many years and it has done well. I unhooked it and reconnected it and made sure it securely fastened, it goes into a solid yellow light mode and not pulsing. When unplugged for a few minutes and reconnected it seems to work correctly for a few days pulsing green, but after a few days it says "bad battery". I have an older battery tender brand unit and I'm going to dig that out and try that on the Tacoma, see what it does?

 

Try the battery tender on your other car

 

Sounds to me like there's an issue with the old tender. Hard to beat these latest, greatest NOCO smart chargers with battery selectable modes. I have one on my motorcycle with the latest lithium iron tending technology as I replaced the AGM battery in the bike with a LifePO4 Lithium (onboard BMS) 5 LBS vs 30 LBS for the AGM. The AGM was always on a 1.1 amp NOCO tender set at cold AGM and it lasted 5 years. That's a really long time for a motorcycle battery.

 

Are you using O rings bolted to your battery terminals or clamps? I don't trust the clamps.

I have switched from Battery Tender brand to Noco. I only do it when the old ones start misbehaving.
Hard to go wrong with the 5Amp unit.

 

I'm just using the clamps but they seem secure. I put the Schumacher on the older Subaru and it's saying battery issues also, so it's bad. Ordering a new one today, thank you for everyone's help it is much appreciated.

 

I tend to trust the tenders judgement, sucks it happened but you made the right choice in buying a new battery.

They are fickle things.

Battery warranty is 3 years, why not get it replaced at the dealer?

 

These work great, I use them on my Tacoma and Corvettes.

$30 NOCO GENIUS1, 1A Smart Car Battery Charger, 6V and 12V Automotive Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, Float Charger and Desulfator for Motorcycle, ATV, Lithium and Deep Cycle Batteries

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GENIUS1...9&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY

 

have you checked the battery with the multimeter while the tender is err...tending?

 

No I have not done that and I really don't trust this tender anymore, it's getting replaced.

 

That is exactly what I just bought,

$30 Genius1 , 1A Smart Car Battery Charger, 6V and 12V Automotive Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, Float Charger and Desulfator for Motorcycle, ATV, Lithium and Deep Cycle Batteries

Genius1 ordered it at Walmart this morning $29.95 and free shipping. I have one of Noco's jumper boxes and it works very well.

 

when I had a car in storage, I just used my regular battery charger. I put that adaptor into the lightbulb socket of the garage door opener, and replaced the lightbulb, and plugged an extension cord to the adapter and ran it to my charger. that way, every time someone opened the garage door, the charger would get juice (power was on when the lightbulb illuminated) and my battery would get a very brief trickle charge.

I had that thing in storage for six months and the battery loved it.

 

Just installed my genius2A. Literally took seven point five minutes. I only drive my truck on weekends for the past two months and for the next eight months. From Amazon same day delivery. Two year old red top Optima will appreciate it, I’m sure.

 

never heard of it.

Professionals use CTEK.