Near Battery Disaster
02-26-2011, 10:19 AM
#21
Thank goodness no fire !!! Would you mind sharing with us the
make and model of the charger? was it an "automatic" vairable charger?
The forum members noting that a charger should not be left unattended are right on the mark. A friend of mine returned from an extended assignment to France and borrowed my Sears Charger to bring
his Camero back to life. The movers were unloding the crates that he had put in storage and 1 of them came running up to him telling him smoke was comming from his garage. THE CHARGER WAS IN FLAMES!
Not sure what happened but the charger was a melted blob of plastic and electonics. I do not recall if it was an "automatic" charger or not,
I do not belive it was ....... A lot of good advise noted above.
make and model of the charger? was it an "automatic" vairable charger?
The forum members noting that a charger should not be left unattended are right on the mark. A friend of mine returned from an extended assignment to France and borrowed my Sears Charger to bring
his Camero back to life. The movers were unloding the crates that he had put in storage and 1 of them came running up to him telling him smoke was comming from his garage. THE CHARGER WAS IN FLAMES!
Not sure what happened but the charger was a melted blob of plastic and electonics. I do not recall if it was an "automatic" charger or not,
I do not belive it was ....... A lot of good advise noted above.
02-26-2011, 12:37 PM
#22
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My car is a 2006 Corvette convertible and the battery was the original equipment.
The battery charger was a NAPPA brand and it was set at the lowest setting - 2 amps. I'd done this routine for many years in that my Corvette batteries have always been prone to die relatively quick when parked in the winter.
I can see the "wisdom" of a battery "tender" now, but it came almost too late in my life. I posted this thread mostly in hopes it might help somebody else avoid my mistake.
The battery charger was a NAPPA brand and it was set at the lowest setting - 2 amps. I'd done this routine for many years in that my Corvette batteries have always been prone to die relatively quick when parked in the winter.
I can see the "wisdom" of a battery "tender" now, but it came almost too late in my life. I posted this thread mostly in hopes it might help somebody else avoid my mistake.
02-26-2011, 12:43 PM
#23
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Jun 1999
Location: Minneapolis Minnesota
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I use a charger during the winter months without a problem. The key is to not let the battery get too low. I have a digital voltmeter that I can use to check the battery voltage. I charged it up at the end of December even though the battery was at 12.0 volts and it had been sitting since mid November. The charger was on about 3 hours. I charged it again a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to see the battery had dropped to 11.6 volts before I hooked the charger up. I charged it for 5 hours and I'll check it again in a couple of weeks. We had a very cold January which probably contributed to the increased voltage drop from the end of December to the end of January.
02-26-2011, 01:32 PM
#24
Le Mans Master
consider yourself very lucky,i am a firefighter and one of the worst car fires i have ever seen (seen alot) was a c6 corvette...all the plastic/fiberglass/magnesium/aluminum burn extremely hot and fast....with the magnesium being reactive to water,it explodes violently when trying to extinguish it with water. glad you were so lucky...
02-26-2011, 05:46 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
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I agree with everyone on using a "battery tender". I get 10 years out of my GM delco batteries in my Vette and Solstice sitting all winter on Tenders. A full charger wil boil off the water.
02-26-2011, 09:24 PM
#30
Racer
I have seen this happen more than once, the battery shorts out and boils out the remaining electrolyte, it will emit a really strong sulfur odor.Glad to hear everyone is o.k.
02-26-2011, 09:28 PM
#31
Le Mans Master
Actually, if the battery was run down to far, that may have been the bigger part of the problem. Had a nearly new battery I ran down to far. Removed it from the car and hooked it to a 10 amp charger. Should have known, as it was nearly a dead short to the charger at the beginning, then started gassing. Never was worth a darn after that.
