So I am looking for a very dependable and reliable battery maintainer for a vehicle that is being stored all winter, and I will have very limited access to both the building and car.

I don't want to lose everything, and want to keep the battery going over winter I just got it going. I hope to drive it here and there, but on a daily basis I won't be able to oversee the operation so to speak.

I remember a member here lost everything from one of these devices, that was several years ago and hopefully technology has improved.

I've been running the Battery Tender brand of battery maintainers for many years. Between my lawn mowers, my cars and my son's car, I currently have 9 Battery Tenders running.
Never ever had an issue with the Battery Tender brand.

In that situation it woyld be better to disconnect the battery and bring it home.

While I haven't had anything close to an overheating or fire problem - knocking on wood as I type this - Rhinodart's fire photos chill my spine.
I've had as many as 7 maintainers going at once.
Best of the ones I've bought were Schumachers & Duralast (AutoZone).
This year I've just disconnected the 2 Road Runner batteries, but am running maintainers on the 2 later models that have computers.

I have a battery tender .75 amp unit on my sportster, my fury I've had need to start it about every 2 weeks so I can pull it out and work on other stuff in my garage..... The last 2 years I've been able to park that at moms house in her garage, and with no charger/maintainer at all it started right up without a jump after sitting 6-8 months...

For about 10-12 years I’ve been using battery tenders and BT jrs. Lately one crapped out (sort of) by no longer going into full float. I just switched to NOCO Genius 1s and so far so good. I like wall warts as opposed to corded on both ends.

I had been using Battery Tenders for many years until I had one short out and burn up. The case was totally warped and very hot.
I called corporate and reported the issue, they didn't seem very concerned sent me a new one.
Then a week later their chief engineer called me in a panic and wanted me to send the defective unit back for evaluation but it was already tossed into the dumpster.
Then I learned about desuflating process, won't use another Battery Tender gave the new replacement unit away. And I upgraded to the Battery Minder, great investment.
Here is the one I bought from Amazon..

Just my $0.02...

https://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDe...y-Motorcycles/dp/B00D7HZ6FC/ref=sr_1_28?

I still use Battery Tenders but do not put the negative clamp on the battery. I leave the ground connected to the battery and put the negative on a clamp on a body ground. I have had some issues with battery tender not working correctly if I put both clamps on the battery...

I totally agree. Hopefully we won’t be reading about this in another thread down the road. Ask Rhinodart.

Put it in a small fire proof box.

Bring the battery home and keep it in a warm spot is the best thing you can do. Stored right it should hold a charge for a long time.

I have let past old cars I've owned sit from October to March or April and the battery still had enough juice to spin the engine over with plenty of speed. If you have batteries that need to be put on a charger several times a year you need to get a better brand of battery when those are used up.

I just unhook the battery on my B'cuda and leave it in the car all winter. Usually just hook it up in the spring and start the car. My 18 Mustang I start once /month during winter....too many computer relearns to disconnect it. At work we had a pole barn full of cars with Battery Tenders on them.....Fire inspector came through and said Had to take them all off.

I’ve never fooled with one and I get at least as long a life as the battery is rated for. U hook the cable for the winter is all I do. always hear about issues with these tender things. My latest battery is an odyssey and it the best battery I’ve ever had. Claim is it will go two years without a tender and not lose a beat. Both springs so far it fired the car like lightning first try.

I’m no exprert, but I think it’s a “vintage Mopar vs. modern Mopar thing.”

Vintage Mopar, I suspect can do well without a tender while in winter storage.

Modern Mopars have a continual micro battery drain due to all the advanced micro circuits and such.

A good tender on such will keep it topped off, so to speak.

It’s the “up / down” storage charge factors that are very hard on their batteries.

My 2020 Challenger Scat Pack is stored in a drywall insulated garage, which is house attached.

It’s on a Deltran 1.25 amp tender for the winter.

Battery Tender Plus 12V Battery Charger and Maintainer: 1.25 AMP Powersport Battery Charger and Maintainer for Motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs - Smart 12 Volt Automatic Float Charger - 021-0128 https://a.co/d/ec44JJn

Same I use, never an issue

Disconnect the battery and you have no drain.

On many late model vehicles doing a battery disconnect can be way more complicated.

Deltran 1.25 amp battery tender is good. That being said if you put the car away with a fully charged battery (12.7 volts with no loads) it should be fine for several months if there is no draw on it.

I work in the commercial and industrial uninterruptible power supply industry.

We use a lot of batteries. Some things to consider based on my observations and talking solely about lead acid type batteries.

If the batteries go 6 months or more between charges the likelihood of thermal runaway increases. Thermal runaway is when the battery overheats under use (charge or discharge) to the point it goes up in flames. That said, does it happen all the time? Nope. But if it happens you know the customer is going to blame us and potentially cost the company millions of dollars in damages.

The device we use to maintain and charge these batteries costs way more than anything you are going to use, even our cheapest model. They are as scienced out as possible and are continuously monitored and updated to prevent issues, see the millions of dollars mentioned.

We recommend 5 year replacement intervals for the VRLA batteries, similar to a maintenance free, and 20 years for flooded cells, similar to old school add water type batteries. Now these are in climate controlled environments using state of the art technology with regular testing and maintenance. Something you in your garage cannot match.

With all of this there is still the, very, occasional issue with thermal runaway. So, I would never leave my battery on any kind of continual charge, especially unmonitored and unobserved.

I would go thru whatever monkeyshines I needed to unhook my fully charged battery during storage. I would attach a charger when I came back to prep it for the driving season and disconnect when I left, if I were the type to store a car for the season. I real life, I just drive them.

But what I never do is leave them on a charger and walk away.

Basic problem with the Battery Tender products is that they don't have a current/thermal shutoff...
So if something is shorted the Battery Tender should shut down, rather than continuing outputting a voltage and eventually overheating/shorting out..
In my personal case, I caught it early enough before it started a fire.
The product is built in China and its basic design should be modified to include a current/thermal shutoff..
But then its price would likely double..

Just my $0.02...