I would directly connect to the battery. Sounds like the wiring is dropping some voltage causing the tender to miscalculate the charge.

Steve

 

Keeping in mind what you are using is a tender and not a charger. Most tenders/maintainers are 1-2 amp. And most chargers are 10amp. A tender is meant to be left on the battery during the season to do just that, maintain the battery. If you have a depleted battery, the best bet is to give it as much time as it needs, or use an actual charger.

On that same note, your new sled may have come with an AGM battery. As the cost of these batteries has come down in price. Newer tenders can charge different battery formulas for the type of battery they are. Desulfate etc. A new AGM may take longer to take on a charge, Again with a 1 amp tender, it may take much longer.

So use your tender in the off season, or give it time. Or, go buy a real charger if you have a depleted battery.

Good luck,

 

I wouldn't use a 10 amp charger on a small battery. A lot of the little Battery Tenders for motorcycle/snowmobiles are .5 to 1 amp but you're right they're more of a maintainer. A new battery like that should take a charge no problem though even with a 1 or 2 amp slow charge. Unless battery is bad which would be unusual.

 

my indy battery died after charging it up to 12.6 volts but it was over 6 years old. As soon
as the season is over for any powersport battery the experts mention to keep the battery fully charged to prevent sulfation. For more info search, or ctek manual, or yuasa battery site.....
There is a specific amp charging rate for these powersport batteries as well....

 

Good feedback already - thanks guys. I was just surprised that it's taken this long, given I've been doing this same type of trickle charge for years and the longest I've seen a battery take to reach full charge (green on the Battery Tender) is a few days. That happened twice. Once with a sled that sat from March until July without a tender on it, and most recently my '19 XC in this same scenario ... new, from the dealer and sitting in the garage for several weeks took 4+ days to reach full charge.

I just went out to look, and turned the key to power up the 7s ... still sitting at 11.4v on the display. So I decided to put the clamps on the terminals and will see if anything changes. If all else fails, I have a battery charger that I can throw at it ... but I've never had to do that in the past so I'm hoping the Battery Tender eventually works.

Thanks fellas 🍻

 

I have the battery tender junior.
Plugged the atv in last night and saw this morning it was green.
Sometimes I will connect it to one of the many large car batteries I have and it may take one full day to go green for those. On our tractor we have one just for that, .5 day to 1 day.
If yours is going on 5 days for just a sled battery, and one that is pretty new, I'd be concerned about that battery.

 

I have the battery tender junior.
Plugged the atv in last night and saw this morning it was green.
Sometimes I will connect it to one of the many large car batteries I have and it may take one full day to go green for those. On our tractor we have one just for that, .5 day to 1 day.
If yours is going on 5 days for just a sled battery, and one that is pretty new, I'd be concerned about that battery.

Totally agree.
I would check to make sure the battery isn't defective in any way. It should be charging relatively quickly for a tender. Unless there is something wrong with the battery itself.

Jeff B In Maine

Sent via my US Cellular rotary dial device.

 

We'll see if the clamps on the terminals make a difference. I'll look tonight to see if the voltage readout goes up from the 11.4 number or not.

 

Never used my battery tender for my boat battery to try and recharge a near dead battery. I just use it in the off-season to keep the battery up to snuff, otherwise the cells will end with sulfation.

 

I never said anything about recharging a dead battery - so I'm not sure where that's coming from. This is a NEW sled, which has been in my garage since late October.

 

Was your sled delivered with an uncharged or partially charged battery ? Or does the factory charge them ?

As we all know, most powersports batteries are bought over the counter and then filled with acid/water and then charged.

 

Right, and they have to be charged with a certain amp charger for a certain amount of time. The last lead acid battery I bought you filled the acid and wait for an hour, then charge with a 10amp charger for a certain amount of time. The Battery Tender type chargers are 0.75amp. I'd be concerned with that battery at 11.4v. No battery, new or old should ever see 11.4v at any single point in time because that can damage it.

 

The batteries are filled with acid at the dealer and sealed up. They come dry from Polaris.

Put it on a bigger charger to fully charge it.

 

I honestly think it's the bullet connector - we'll see. After my most recent meeting (I'm working from home) I stopped out to turn the key on my sled and the voltage was up to 11.6 so in a relatively short time it's gone up .2 which is more than I'd seen over the past 18 hours or so. I guess I'll know more later tonight, or tomorrow.

As far as the battery goes @cfm ... they're new. Each dealer has to activate the battery - it's not done at the factory.

 

We are all on the same page then.

 

I have a about 6+ batteries on tenders, in atv's tractors, lawn mowers and skid steers, the skid steers in cold weather suck the battery down pretty hard on cold starts, but even so, once plugged into my battery tenders, I am back up to full battery charged in a few hours or less!
ALL my tenders are hooked up the same way, directly to battery thru a 2 SAE patch cord connection with an inline fuse!
if your tender is hooked up for days and don't have a fully charged battery, IMO, you have a problem, either a BAD connection, wiring from plug in to battery, or just a BAD tender, or, you have a BAD Battery!
or last,. you have something on your sled that is draining power faster than the tender can put any back!
pull battery, have load tested, this rules out battery, after this, get a meter out and check fuses to see if anything is drawing power more than it should be!, (could even have a shiort)
then check tender!

just cause something is NEW< doesn't mean its good.!

I have bought brand new battery's that were bad, I even had a Brand new tender, go bonkers and fry up a whole bunch of costly items on a skid steer(2 grand in repairs due to faulty Maintainer,)
so, new doesn't mean GOOD<!

 

Bullet connectors shouldnt matter at al I smart charge all my vehicles through those types of connectors includes cars and trucks. Have a better chargers but usable batteries never take more than 6 hrs,after sitting 8 mo. Top off is like 2 hrs. Your bullets arent connected to the battery with clean terminals. Battery tender is shot or Battery is shot if 11.4 is a true reading you hurt it pretty good. Will never have good reserve power again is your tender warmer or hot more than normal

 

I read somewhere in the Battery Tender literature that you were not supposed to use the Battery Tender to charge a battery if the battery you are charging was a at 25% charge or less to start with. For sure there could be other issues as suggested above.

 

real men pull start their sled @Bontz

 

He has yet to admit that the real the reason the battery is dead is he keeps ogling that shiny new display.

 

I would also make sure that the bullet connectors are properly connected at the battery.

 

I would check the voltage with a meter.At 11.2v it sounds like your battery is bad.You might be able to bring it up with a larger charger but it wont last.Charging specs for that battery are probably somthing like 14hrs @1amp when it is new.

 

I agree with the possible bad battery. There is no way a brand new battery should've been that low on charge in the amount of time you've had it unless it is developing an internal short or the sled is drawing it down somewhere, it was basically at 0%.

 

Dealerships can't fill batteries anymore. If your sled came with an acid filled battery I'd want my money back. All the new machines that I've seen are AGM which is essentially a dry battery. The acid is absorbed into mats to put it simply. Polaris doesn't want a sled being rolled and having acid spilling all over. I see these bad batteries everyday, mostly in recreational vehicles. Sitting around not being used kills them quickly unless there maintained with a maintainer. Have yet to see an American made AGM battery, mostly Chinesium.

 

That's weird, I just filled some batteries at the dealer last week when I was putting new sleds together. Acid comes in a box next to the bag of bolts for final assembly.

 

Well fellas, I'm glad I started this thread because it's been informative to say the least ... so thank you. I went out to look again later yesterday evening, and not much had changed ... turning on the gauge it was still hovering around that 11.4 range - so I pulled the tender off altogether. I'm gonna call the dealer later today to ask about it, and likely pull the battery to take in and hopefully replaced. I hope it's just a fluke, but the idea that something is causing a draw has me a bit nervous. And I'm kicking myself in the ass for not really looking at the voltage closer over the past month, but I swear it was in the mid 12.x range when I brought it home. In the back of my mind, I'm wondering if the fancy handguards have anything to do with it because I really doubt the half dozen times I've turned the key to mess around with the 7s would drop the battery that much (I don't think I've ever had the gauge powered up longer than a few minutes - maybe 5 at the most).

@Crnr2Crnr - real men buy VR1's with electric start
@nosajlleb - I'm only going by what I saw a couple years ago, but I know there was some level of activation the dealer tech had to do with a new sled & battery
@850Switchback - I wish I could say that's the reason, because it would at least put my mind at ease!! LOL 🤣

 

Use the KISS theory. Charge up the battery with a real charger, and then use the maintainer, to keep it there. Any chance that your battery is at fault ? Maybe the 10 dollar per hour help forgot to add the acid. LOL

 

Yup, first use a real charger, tenders won't always charge but rather maintain only.

 

Disconnect the negative cable on the battery. Put your meter in Amps mode, connect to negative terminal and negative cable, so the power flows through the meter. The current should be very low, but not 0. The will be a little draw for the electronics (there is probably a clock in the display?). If the draw is 1 amp or more, there is a problem somewhere.

 

One amp would be crazy high. In the auto world with bigger batteries and way more electronic, 50 milliamps is the general rule. That's .05 amp

 

Will your sled start, with less than 12 volts showing on your gauge ? If so, your gauge might be out of whack.

 

The 7s display sucks the battery down fast with the engine off. For anyone getting familiar with the new gauge while waiting for snow I highly recommend using a charger.

 

The last AGM battery I bought for my sled, came with the acid in sealed plastic bottles, and instructions. You remove the caps, cut the tops off of the plastic bottles, and let them drain into the AGM battery. Once they totally drain into the matting, you remove the plastic bottles, and instal the plastic caps. Then you charge up the battery to 100%, put it on a load tester, and if it shows as good, then install it into the sled. Like many others have stated, charge the battery to 100 % with the proper charger, and then use the maintainer. The load tester will show you if have a good battery, or if there are wiring issues on the sled side.

 

Exactly it. All powersports batteries that I have bought come like that. I have bought at least 5 in as many years from people not maintaining them properly.