Trickle Charger Question

[N80]

My mother has a little Ford Ranger that sits in her garage and gets driven maybe once every three or four months. The battery, which is only a year old, is often dead. I can jump it and drive it a bit and get it charged back up but then a few months later and its dead again.

So I bought this little 1.5 amp trickle charger that stays attached under the hood. So all my mom has to do is unplug a regular three prong plug from an extension cord and go.

Schumacher Onboard Battery Maintainer — 12 Volt, 1.5 Amp, Model# SE-1-125 | Battery Maintainers | Northern Tool + Equipment

The problem is that the instructions say that you connect the positive wire to the positive battery terminal and the negative wire to metal on the chassis or engine. Well, I can't find anything to hook it too that isn't painted or plastic. It is hard enough when jumping it to find something to hook the jumper cable to and even that is scary close to the fan belt.

I'm an idiot when it comes to electricity, so I'm just wondering what is the risk of hooking that negative lead to the negative battery terminal and not the chassis? If it is serious I'm just going to have to buy some additional wire to try to run that lead all the way down to the frame or something.

 

[scesnick]

you could sand a bit of paint off where you hook the ground wire to the body. I usually just use the negative battery terminal. Not sure if that is the wisest thing to do, but so far I have had no issues doing it that way.

 

[whistlepig]

There is some danger of a spark over the top of the battery where hydrogen gas may have collected. I have blown up a battery this way. You have to blow up your first battery to really appreciate how deadly these things may be.

 

[ultrarunner]

Find a sheet metal screw or add one...

The guys in the old time car clubs hood the leads to the battery cable clamps.

Some of the later models also use a cigarette lighter adaptor...

 

[grsthegreat]

The reason they don't want you to hook it up to the battery is the spark that will happen when the ground (or hot lead) is hooked up to complete the circuit. Batteries can disperse Hydrogen gas...think Hindenburg.

By connecting the hot to the battery first and the ground to the chassis, the spark will happen away from the battery. I agree with sand away a little paint under the hood.

 

[N80]

So it is okay to use a body panel if you get the paint off it? That will be fairly easy.

 

[deepNdirt]

I know the type charger you talking about, I use to have them in my Boat, and kept them connected directly to both the battery terminals, it might say recommended to connect the ground to the frame or metal part although as you might guess not much in a boat in the way of metal to ground too
if you are not comfortable with connecting both wires to each terminal and if you happen to mount the charger to a metal part, fender well etc, simply bring the ground wire back around to one of the holes that you will put the bolt or sheet metal screw into,
Most all vehicles have a ground strap coming from the frame to the body parts at some location, you may see one from the firewall to the engine and one from the engine to the frame,or even from the frame to the body, its all tied in together with grounds at some point,

 

[firedog]

Those are instructions for typical hooking & unhooking charging cables or devices. The negative connection at the frame/chassis should be the last connection made so that any spark is made away from the battery.

What I think your talking about is a permanent install of a battery tender. Once the device is connected there is no longer a risk of spark unless it disconnects for some reason (think alligator clips).
All of our emergency response vehicles have battery maintainers that are connected directly the the battery terminals. These are permanent installs by professional folks. I see no reason to connect straight to the battery as long as the connections are solid. You may have to install a different type of battery cable connection with a stud for additional connections.
During your installation process there would be no spark at the battery unless you had the charger/maintainer powered up at the time.

 

[whistlepig]

Those are instructions for typical hooking & unhooking charging cables or devices. The negative connection at the frame/chassis should be the last connection made so that any spark is made away from the battery.

What I think your talking about is a permanent install of a battery tender. Once the device is connected there is no longer a risk of spark unless it disconnects for some reason (think alligator clips).
All of our emergency response vehicles have battery maintainers that are connected directly the the battery terminals. These are permanent installs by professional folks. I see no reason to connect straight to the battery as long as the connections are solid. You may have to install a different type of battery cable connection with a stud for additional connections.
During your installation process there would be no spark at the battery unless you had the charger/maintainer powered up at the time.

You can blow up a battery this way. I have done it. I have one of these chargers and it has a lead kit install for the battery if you want to check it out. Save A Battery

 

[N80]

It sounds to me that if I attach the charger to the terminals without the charger being plugged in, then I'm unlikely to get a spark. It also sounds like if I ventilate the area over the battery, with a fan maybe, then there won't even be anything to ignite if there is a spark. And it sounds to me that once the charger is attached to the terminals that there is no more likely to be a spark than just from the battery cables.

The leads from the charger have loops on the end to attach it, not a clip or anything that can slip off or move.

 

[charlz]

I would just make sure to run the extension cord in an obvious way so she remembers to unplug it... of course getting her to remember to plug it back in when she gets home might be the harder part

 

[Travelover]

If the charger is permanently attached to the vehicle, replace the spring clips with terminal ends and attach directly to the battery. No spark, no explosion.

 

[Fixemall]

Or just put a deep cycle marine battery in it and forget the cords etc. I use marine batteries in my trucks and machines that I don't use often, rarely have a problem unless say your son and his buddies were running over pop cans in the driveway with your vibratory roller and left the key on for a week:confused2:

 

[N80]

If the charger is permanently attached to the vehicle, replace the spring clips with terminal ends and attach directly to the battery. No spark, no explosion.

That's what it has.

 

[g0rd0]

in reality there is no reason to keep any charger under your hood. Try this, bring the truck to a mechanic and have the battery tested for a dead cell (load test) and the alt checked for proper operation, you will find that there is something wrong with either or both.
If there is nothing wrong with your alt or battery then somewere you have a serious electrical problem that is putting a constant drain on your battery. And that can be just a pain in the *** or leave you stranded or in a worse case start an electrical fire

 

[N80]

So a battery should never go dead no matter how long it sits?

 

[jinman]

George, I don't know if your grandmother could raise/lower the hood on her pickup or not, but if she can, a disconnect switch might be just the thing to simply disconnect the battery completely from the electrical system when the truck is not in use. These are relatively inexpensive and hook to a battery terminal. The car's battery cable then hooks to the post provided. The knife switch is opened when the vehicle will be out of use for awhile (several days/weeks). The beauty of this device is you cannot forget and drive off with a power cord plugged in. If this switch is open, you aren't going anywhere. However, you have to open/close the hood and that can be a pain. There are probably ones that can be wired to automatically connect/disconnect with the key switch, but they would be far more expensive and complex to install. I like the ZORO# G2699243 model.

ZORO Tools

 

[whiskywizard]

then somewere you have a serious electrical problem that is putting a constant drain on your battery. And that can be just a pain in the *** or leave you stranded or in a worse case start an electrical fire

Rather thanan errant circuit causing the current draw, it might be just the normal loads that remian live when the vehicle is shut down.

There are a number of things that remain powered up on modern vehicles, including clocks, stereo memory circuits, and in more and more cases, parts of the vehicle's computer and sensors waiting for a signal from a keyless entry system. Newer vehicles draw more current than older ones, but even some older ones can't tolerate sitting for months on end.

This is one of the reasons many new cars are shipped from the factory with a small solar panel on the dash, plugged into the 12VDC accessory socket. This keeps the battery charged so you don't have to boost them just to move them on/off the truck or around the lot. The solar panel is removed during dealer prep.

I agree that he should take a good look to ensure there aren't any unusual loads, such as small lights being left on inadvertently, but if all looks OK, go ahead and install a battery maintainer as suggested in this thread, and connect it to the battery terminals directly.

 

[whiskywizard]

a disconnect switch might be just the thing to simply disconnect the battery completely from the electrical system when the truck is not in use.

I would go that way myself, but I guarantee you I'd get grief from SWMBO if she were driving it and had to re-set her clock and radio stations every time! :ashamed:

 

[N80]

She had one (a disconnect switch) put on her boat and it worked fine. I had not thought of that. But, I've already bought this charger ($25) so I'll give it a try.

She is probably going to give (or sell it cheap) this truck (03 4x4 55k miles on it) to my daughter when she goes to college. At that time I'll service everything.