Battery Tender Junior 800 Review: The Best Battery Maintainer for the Money

The vast majority of our hands-on reviews focus on new tools and gear. Today, I want to shine some light on a piece of equipment that’s served me well for multiple years now: the Battery Tender Junior 800. 

As batteries sit, they’ll naturally discharge. That’s why you almost always need to jump-start a car that’s been sitting for a while. If they sit long enough, the battery will degrade, go dead flat, and will need replacing. A battery maintainer is your best way to combat the issue. They automatically maintain an optimal charge level while a battery sits. Since every shop has a car, motorcycle, ATV, or even a piece of lawn equipment with batteries that go unused for months on end, battery maintainers are essential tools.

The good news is that battery maintainers are very affordable. You have a ton of options to work with that sit well below the $50 mark. Still, it can be tempting to go with the absolute cheapest option. After being down that road and learning my lesson the hard way more than once, I can assure you that you’re far better off buying the Battery Tender Junior 800 for just a few dollars more. 

The Bottom Line

Battery Tender Junior 800

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The Rundown on the Battery Tender Junior 800

The Battery Tender Junior 800 is as simple as it gets. As indicated in the name, it’s an 800mA charger compatible with 12-volt batteries. To be perfectly clear it will function as a trickle charger and a battery maintainer. It works with AGM, flooded, or gel lead acid batteries and lithium (LiFePO4) batteries. Operation is fully automatic. The only steps you need to take are to plug it in to a wall outlet, select the appropriate setting for the battery type, and hook it up to your battery. You select modes for the battery type with a single button in the center of the housing. Your choice is verified with an LED indicator. An LED light illuminates in green or yellow that will flash or stay continuously lit to tell if the leads are hooked up properly, if there’s a problem with the battery, and the current charge level. 

Out of the blister pack, you get the Battery Tender, the instructions, and 12-foot leads with two connection types. You can either work with simple alligator clamps or eyelets if you want to mount them permanently to the vehicle. The older models like I have came with interchangeable leads with pigtail connectors, while the new version has the eyelids screwed into the clamps. Seeing as I lost my eyelets years ago, the new version is a nice upgrade. The setup retails for $49.95 but is often on sale for less. As I write this, it’s currently on sale for $39.95 at Amazon. 

Used and Abused for Years 

I’m not going to tell you that the Battery Tender Junior 800 is something it’s not. It’s not some miracle machine that’s going to revolutionize your battery charging experience. It’s a battery charger and maintainer. You plug it in and hook it up to your battery, and it slowly charges and maintains the battery. That’s it. That’s all it does, and it’s awesome. 

I’ve bought my fair share of cheap battery chargers and maintainers over the years. Every one of them gave up the ghost within just a few months of owning them. After the third time, I just ponied up for a Battery Tender and haven’t looked back. And by that, I mean I spent maybe $10-$20 more. 

This Battery Tender Junior 800 has been in my shop for a few years now. It has essentially seen continuous use the whole time. My 1969 Dodge Charger is regularly down for repairs and major projects. I also have a truck and motorcycle that tend to sit for months on end. Between the three of them, this charger is almost always keeping something charged up. It’s also faced a variety of different battery types, including lithium, and it’s run flawlessly for all.

In direct comparison to the other very cheap chargers I’ve owned, the Battery Tender is of the best build quality. It’s doesn’t feel super cheap or flimsy, and years of service indicate the internals share the same difference in quality. It’s also protected with an inline fuse and offers reverse polarity protection in case you do get the leads crossed. 

Overall, it’s really hard to find anything not to like about this unit. It does take a very long time to actually charge batteries and the leads are relatively short, which is pretty annoying at times. However, neither of those issues prevents it from doing the job it intended to. That said, you can see some improvements in both of those areas by jumping up to the Battery Tender Plus. In all reality, that’s probably the better choice for my fleet. Still the 800 still works just fine. I did actually gift the larger version to my dad a while back, and it’s proven to be equally as reliable. 

The Verdict: Battery Tender is Worth Every Penny, and Then Some

Over the course of several years, the Battery Tender Junior 800 has offered nothing but a positive experience. I have yet to run into an issue with it. It never lets me down; it always keeps my batteries topped off, and that’s all I could really ask of it. If you’re in the market for a trickle charger or battery maintainer, I really can’t recommend it enough. It’s not the cheapest option, but the reliability is well worth the extra money. That said, there are definitely some solid alternatives worth considering. If you have another suggestion, be sure to drop it in the comments and let us know what makes it a worthy contender.

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