Permanent mount battery tender

[ShadowsPapa]

I installed (also before the IBS) under the hood on my '22 Mustang.

When you say "before the ibs" I hope you mean on top of the IBS and not directly onto the battery terminal............ 'before' depends on the direction one is looking.

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[Rob_R]

When you say "before the ibs" I hope you mean on top of the IBS and not directly onto the battery terminal............ 'before' depends on the direction one is looking.

Good point. My terminology regarding direction maybe too loose. However, yes, using the location I chose on the Mustang, the IBS will sense the charge reaching the battery. Before purchasing the '22 Mustang, I didn't know these IBS systems existed.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Good point. My terminology regarding direction maybe too loose. However, yes, using the location I chose on the Mustang, the IBS will sense the charge reaching the battery. Before purchasing the '22 Mustang, I didn't know these IBS systems existed.

I sort of assumed from your other post you knew what you were doing - but for others, and just to clarify in my own mind for sure.......... I asked.
Yeah, these are used by a lot of companies out there. The whole system dates back years and multiple companies and the IBS exists on probably almost everything these days. Gee, now I have to go out and look at my wife's JLU when she gets back with it to see if a 4xe has a IBS! Bet it does. No alternator but I've noticed that the charging and running voltages mimic my JT when driving her 4xe.

Anyway, good job and good write-up. That will be helpful to others.

 

[Blade1668]

Rob_R
Glad you got a good CTEC battery maintainer and had good experience with it. I bought one to use a few years back. It was recommended by a buddy who has a Mustang too and a European sports car. Having 9 or so Optima / AGM batteries in various vehicles and T.T.
The company could give me one for free I'd directly throw it in trash.

 

[Rob_R]

Glad you got a good CTEC battery maintainer and had good experience with it. I bought one to use a few years back. It was recommended by a buddy who has a Mustang too and a European sports car. Having 9 or so Optima / AGM batteries in various vehicles and T.T.
The company could give me one for free I'd directly throw it in trash.

Bummer that you are not happy with CTEK. I have 2 of the MXS 5.0 model that have gone without issues so far. Admittedly, I have only owned the first of the two for 10 months. I purchased the second one when I picked up my Gladiator in June. What sort of problems did you run into with CTEK? Do you remember which model you used?

 

[Gatorized]

Thanks to you guys for all of the great ideas on simplifying a permanent battery tender hook up on the Gladiator. I normally use a 5 Amp CTEK charger/maintainer with a charging harness I installed (also before the IBS) under the hood on my '22 Mustang. I was planning on installing the permanent wiring harness on the Gladiator also, so it is just plug and play after lifting the hood.

I was intrigued by suggestion in this thread of utilizing the 7 pole trailer harness plug for battery maintenance. I tested the Gladiator 7 pole plug with my multimeter and sure enough, pins 1 and 4 are live on the Gladiator. The plug cover even has the pin connection legend molded into it.

While I was at it, I checked the 7 pole plug on my '05 Ram Cummins and it is the same with pins 1 and 4 being live.

So I purchased a few items for the CTEK MXS 5.0 charger/maintainer and it turned out to be a simple way to hook up a maintainer.

Here is the CTEK 12V cigarette lighter adapter.

This is the 7 pin to cigarette ligher adapter. Purchased here:
Amazon.com: POLLAK 11-896 7-Way Power Outlet Adapter : Electronics

The charger - A CTEK MXS 5.0. This model is sold by Dodge, GM, and Ford as recommended for their muscle cars. The red/black wire is a CTEK extension for the charging cable.


Everything hooked up

I also put a Post-It note on the steering wheel to disconnect the charger in case I forget....

The setup works like a charm! Thanks again for the suggestions on using this method.

Attach a length of paracord to the charger adaptor and anchor it to the wall - it should disconnect without any damage if you pull out with it still attached… provided you are not backing out!

 

[Rob_R]

Attach a length of paracord to the charger adaptor and anchor it to the wall - it should disconnect without any damage if you pull out with it still attached… provided you are not backing out!

That is a great idea. Unfortunately for me, I do back out of the garage. The Post-It note on the steering wheel helps to keep me focused. It ain't easy getting old.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

. It ain't easy getting old.

I don't think you'd like the alternative any better...........

When I was in HS, my mother called me (get ready folks, this is for the old-timers here) the absent-minded professor (I was deep into science, tech, and cars - but my severe ADHD meant lost anything that wasn't chained to me)
I once walked out of the house headed for school - forgetting to put on shoes (luckily that's the worst thing I ever forgot to wear), or I'd forget books or whatever and I could never say the dog ate my homework as I only ever had cats - the homework was likely still on the kitchen table.
And it's not gotten better with age.
Putting together my 73 Javelin. I took the interior out in March of 2021. Have to strip the rear out to get the quarter windows out to swap glass and had to take out the dash to get to the door hinge bolts to replace hinges. Silly me - bags of bolts, I figured hey, I'll organize in bags and they won't get lost. Great - but what bag goes to what? Getting there but geesh, when the previous owner screwed up every possible thing there is to screw up and just used whatever he got from the home center for screws, digging through my massive collections of parts to find the correct fasteners for each item. Ugh.

I'm always afraid I'm going to forget to disconnect the battery tenders on my cars when I uncover and dust things off in the spring and prepare for the first outing after the salt is washed off the roads. So far the worst that's happened is I forget they are there and end up tripping over the cords when I take covers off the cars. Luckily I haven't ripped things off our out yet, just looked really silly in the process.

What was the topic again?

 

[KevinM60]

When you say "before the ibs" I hope you mean on top of the IBS and not directly onto the battery terminal............ 'before' depends on the direction one is looking.

Is it better to connect the ground on the ibs than on the inside wheel well grounding bolts?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Is it better to connect the ground on the ibs than on the inside wheel well grounding bolts?

Either is fine. The ground stud next to the battery on the fender is as good as directly to the top of the IBS.

 

[KevinM60]

Either is fine. The ground stud next to the battery on the fender is as good as directly to the top of the IBS.

that’s where I connected my tender. The tender instructions recommended off the battery and I like it better because I can tuck the wires down out of the way instead of over the top of the battery.

 

[Blade1668]

Bummer that you are not happy with CTEK. I have 2 of the MXS 5.0 model that have gone without issues so far. Admittedly, I have only owned the first of the two for 10 months. I purchased the second one when I picked up my Gladiator in June. What sort of problems did you run into with CTEK? Do you remember which model you used?

Well as my earlier post it flat killed the batteries that I hooked up to it. My Optima battery charger limped a little more life from one battery afterwards but shortly later it gave up. Instead of charging them it discharged them. One wouldn't hold 3v afterwards. I'm "the guy" who normally gets extended life with Optima batteries and AGM batteries. The last one that I had completely die was around 20 years old. Red top.

 

[Killroy Was Here]

A combination of the charger and one of the AC ports should solve your issue.

NOCO GENIUS2D, 2A Direct-Mount Onboard Charger
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GENIUS2D-Direct-Mount-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B07W3QSMF9/ref=sr_1_2?crid=JSNU8J01SVLE&keywords=noco+2a&qid=1666096686&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjU2IiwicXNhIjoiMC45MiIsInFzcCI6IjAuODEifQ==&sprefix=noco+2a,aps,167&sr=8-2

NOCO GCP1 15A AC Port Plug
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GCP1-16...93-b52d-8ce45f1c1fac&pd_rd_i=B009ANV81S&psc=1

NOCO GCP2 15A AC Port Plug
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GCP2-18...93-b52d-8ce45f1c1fac&pd_rd_i=B07TLNQ328&psc=1

If it might be helpful, here is my thread link with an option for a permanent mount using the NOCO Genius 2D that has been working very well for me:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ius-2d-onboard-battery-charger-install.65098/

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Well as my earlier post it flat killed the batteries that I hooked up to it. My Optima battery charger limped a little more life from one battery afterwards but shortly later it gave up. Instead of charging them it discharged them. One wouldn't hold 3v afterwards. I'm "the guy" who normally gets extended life with Optima batteries and AGM batteries. The last one that I had completely die was around 20 years old. Red top.

Anyone getting more than 3 or 4 years out of the current generation of batteries is doing something right.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Anyone getting more than 3 or 4 years out of the current generation of batteries is doing something right.

Just replaced mine at 2yr8mo.....Pretty sad.

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