Question on Battery Tender install.

[danaid]

Good morning all,

  I just installed the pig-tail for a Battery Tender plus on my 696. I connected +/+ and -/- on the battery terminals. The install went well and it took about an hour.
 
  After the install I read the installation instructions ( yes after the install), and it said to connect the neg- cable to a good ground ( engine bolt, frame bolt, nothing with plastic..) I found nothing suitable so I connected the negative to the negative post on the battery.

  My questions are will this install damage the battery? I installed the pig-tail last night, read the instructions, connected the charger, and worried most of the night that my battery will fry. Did any of you who installed this on your bikes find a good ground somewhere on the bike or just connect negative cable to negative battery post?

Thanks  Dan.
 

[Slide Panda]

I've got the pig tail installed exactly like you have, on my 900.  Been there for a year and nothings come of it. 

[OverCaffeinated]

Same here. I hooked up the Jr. tender and I think I remember reading the direction and don't remember anything about finding a ground.

[herm]

i've had mine installed that the same way as you since i got the bike.
no problems.

[erik822]

The install won't damage your battery or your bike.
The negative cable on the battery is grounded.

There are usually two reasons chargers should be hooked up with the negative on a grounded part (engine bolt, etc.)
1. To ensure that it stays grounded even if the cable from the battery to ground corrodes.
2. To make sure it doesn't spark and cause a battery explosion when you're connecting it.

Newer Ducatis use a gel battery. The explosive gasses that can leak from a "liquid" battery won't be an issue with a Ducati's gel battery. If you have  a liquid filled battery, then you might want to consider moving the negative wire to a ground.

Me? I hooked mine up exactly the way you did.

[Triple J]

Another one with it hooked up like you do...on all 3 bikes.  No problems at all.

[SP3]

Been that way for 13 years on my SP3 and 7 years on my Monster. Forget about it and ride on.

[danaid]

Thanks everyone! my mind is now at ease.

[Rameses]

The install went well and it took about an hour.
 

Jesus dude, did you MAKE the pigtail??   

[herm]

maybe he was trying to milk the garage time with a beer or two?

[tangueroHondo]

Been that way for 13 years on my SP3 and 7 years on my Monster. Forget about it and ride on.

Dude stil hasn't read the instructions.....

[Carman]

Jesus dude, did you MAKE the pigtail??

Seriously though there is no difference, you are always better off going directly to the negative terminal if your wire is long enough and there is enough room, you are just cutting out the middle man for conductivity and relying on one more connection somewhere else.

Your setup will work!!

[DoubleEagle]

I have 4 bikes setup like you do since last Oct. and so far so good. Dolph

[brimo]

Seriously though there is no difference, you are always better off going directly to the negative terminal if your wire is long enough and there is enough room, you are just cutting out the middle man for conductivity and relying on one more connection somewhere else.

Your setup will work!!

+1 on that (I'm an electrical tech and have been for over 20 years) better on any accessory if you can go straight to the source with as few connections as possible.

[tangueroHondo]

05 S2R

There is a connector that is capped from both boards in front o the batt terminals.  What are they for?  Accessories?  Is one or the other for a tender?