Ducati Monster Forum

I just found the battery tender cable on my 696.  Is that all it's good for or can it be used for other things also?

uhmmmm...besides charging your battery?

suppose you could also use it as a power lead.

so it could be used for heated clothing or other powered accessories i'm assuming.  Do heated clothes-gloves come with a compatible cable?

Do not use it for anything above the rating of the fuse that came in it.  If you get heated clothing it should come with a suitable power lead.  You can install that one and use it for your battery tender.

That's really the key here.  Don't use the battery tender cable for anything that will draw more power than the cable is rated for.  There's a fuse in that tender pigtail, and that should give you an idea of power rating.  Don't be tempted to put a bigger fuse in there, you could melt the wires.

I think you could use the pigtail as a power lead for small electronic devices, like phone chargers or GPS.  Heated clothing may be a bit much. 

I know for a fact that you can't jump start your bike by attaching another battery to the tender cable.  Ask me how I know.

I have indeed installed a slightly  higher rated fuse and other than using my battery tender cable for it's original purpose I also use it to connect to and run a miniuture (and I mean tiny) compressor that in the event of a puncture I can use to reinflate my tyre.  I also fitted an additional low-as-it-can-go fuse in the compressor side so that if I do draw too much current the fuse is easy to get to.   But no, I wouldn't use it to power a long high-load draw such as electric vest, mine's strictly for "get you home" emergencies.

I got a "cigarette lighter" that hooks up to the tender cable that I used to charge my cell phone while on a road trip...

Where exactly is this cable? I've pored over the manual trying without success to find it (the bike doesn't get picked up for a few days, so I can't go out and hunt on the bike itself.)

Is this a standard feature, or something added by dealers who want to drive psychiatrists out of business by minimizing the need to access the battery?

Yes, where exactly is the cable? Can you take a picture of where it is please? I keep reading about it being on the right side somewhere, but can't find it on my bike.

The cable isn't standard, so it won't be in the manual. It will connect directly to the battery and look like this

(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h116/rjf172/BatteryTenderConnected.jpg)

You can pick up one from your local bike shop for around $5 (if their isnt one on your bike allready)...
Most dealers put them on as part of their prep (to aid in B.Tender sales)...

Thanks Nakid. I know what the cable looks like. I had the same cable installed on my old 620. I've just been reading that it's installed on the right side somewhere on the 696. I've looked and looked and couldn't find it. I guess it wasn't installed on mine by the dealer. I have the cable. I haven't had a chance to ride it in the last few weeks and I have close to a full tank of gas in there. I'll have to take her out for a long spin this week to burn some of the fuel off. Then I can lift the tank and install my tender cable. Will also install the yellow colour therapy panels that I just picked up today as well at that time.

If it is a Battery Tender cable the gauge wire is too thin for high power consumers like heated clothing.  It will, of course, work with your Tender small power consumers like cell phones and GPS systems.

Now you've got my attention!

I want to get a set of yellow plastics for my new-to-me 696 (that I haven't even picked up yet). I agree that the panel swap would be the perfect time to dissect down to the battery to mount the pigtail.

As far as I can tell, Powerlet hasn't yet released a specific kit for the 696. The kit for earlier Monsters is great. It looks as if the factory put it there, if you can even notice it. It provides a stable plug point with no connectors or cables flapping in the breeze. Even better, the wire is appropriate for heated clothing, etc. I'd feel much safer in a pinch using a Powerlet outlet to jump-start the bike than a Battery Tender pigtail. Once they do have a kit out I plan to grab a couple.

I dunno.  I have a tender for both my bikes and aside from the fuse Amp rating, the wiring seems to be pretty similar.  My tech even said he's run his heated gloves off of the battery harness, you just have to add a higher amp fuse.  I don't really care to go look under my hood, but does anyone know off hand what the stock amp rating is for a tender and one pair of heated gloves?  I want to say 3A for the tender and maybe, MAYBE 5 for the gloves.  Kicking the 3 amp up to 5 on the tender harness really shouldn't be that big a deal, provided your tender isn't a raging piece of shit. 

The gloves alone you might get away with, but that would be it.  The Gerbing harness is a thicker gauge.  It is thew thickness of the wire, not the insulation that counts.

Right you are, and all I plan on using is the gloves.  I would imagine Gerbings would be a heavier gauge, though I've never chopped into one.  It would have to be to run the 25-30 amps they advertise for the full suit. 

Where'd you find the cable?  I've been looking around but haven't found one.

Got mine at a Checker Auto Parts in Phoenix....

I found a battery tender cable on my S2R1K today. I have a small 1amp charger with crocodile clamps at the ends of the cable. Are there any adapter cables available that allow me to use my charger? Or do I have to buy a new charger?

Unfortunately I didn't store the cable correctly and melted the protective caps on the rear exhaust (fortunately only the cap, not the plug). Any recommendation where to store the cable?

In addition, the previous owner messed up the bolts that hold the battery clamps: Bolts are extremely tight and the inner profile is almost gone so that I cannot use a screw driver any longer. I tried a wrench instead but there is not enough space to use it. I assume I am not the only one with that problem and I want to get the battery out for the winter soon. Any ideas?

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/3897607238_45efee1f0d.jpg)

Thanks,
Joerg

JoTra,

I'm not completely clear on what you're asking. So you just found out that you have a battery tender cable installed on your battery correct? And I think you need to know how to connect your charger to the cable? If so, it should be simple. You can get a replacement cable that's the same as the cable connected to your battery now. It's the cable listed under:

Battery Tender hard-wire cords for multiple bikes (with black plug - not compatible with older white-plug Battery Tenders)

on this web site:

http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?item=BATTEND (http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?item=BATTEND)

You can look for it on other web sites, but I just did a quick check so that you can see what it looks like from the link above. My dealer sells this as well, so yours may also. Just buy this and connect your charger cable to the end where the rings are (where they are supposed to hook up to your battery, and I would insulate this connection with some electrical tape to ensure that they do not short circuit) and the other end should mate with your current cable. Make sure you check the continuity with a ohm-meter or multimeter on the battery end and the charger end to make sure you're connecting positive to positive and negative to negative when you connect the 2 cables.

As for where to mount the cable from your battery (I think that was your question), I just mounted mine to the frame with a tie wrap. See picture. I wanted to use a black tie wrap, but didn't have one in the garage at the time and never got around to getting some.

(http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q7/ducati_monster/private/tender.jpg)

You shouldn't need to remove the battery bolts (for now) if you do it this way.

Our dealer installed a tender lead on my wife's bike while it was there for a repair estimate. Odd, since it looks as if her bike is totalled...

Anyway, they used a rubber cable tie in just about the same location as KG5's nylon tie, only more on the inside of the frame tube. That'll make it easy to connect but also easy to snug down so it doesn't flap around in the breeze while riding (assuming the bike is ridden again).

as far as other uses, if you ever have to drain your tank cause u have to remove it, 12 volt in line fuel pump ran off my battery from said cable.

I rigged my battery tender lead with a 50 amp fuse so I could power up a flux capacitor.  Only got the bike up to about 35 mph before the whole thing blew!

Did they tell you they were installing a battery tender cable to it? Strange that they did it if you didn't ask for it. Or maybe they knew that it was going to be out of commission for a while and did it as a nice gesture. That's cool of them if that is the case.

Yeah, I could've mounted it on the bottom of the frame tube or even try to do it on the other (inner) side of the tube so that it's inconspicuous, but I don't mind it where I have it. It doesn't bother me to see it there. I prefer to have easy access to it than reach around to plug it in. And it doesn't flop around when I'm riding, so it works for me.  :)

the small fuse (us 2A) is there to prevent you jumping the battery with it.

if you have at least 14 ga wire and the total length is less than 16 ft I would jump it.

for 16 ga wire, i would say no more than 8 ft.  i think the battery tender wire is 16 ga.  8 ft (TOTAL) might just be enough if you have small clips.

It was on the list of stuff we wanted done anyway (which also included swapping the front sprocket for a 14-tooth). It may have been silly of me to presume that they wouldn't do it until it had been determined the bike wasn't going to be declared a total loss.