battery charging

Paul LeClair

Paul LeClair

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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
my garage fire is now a year ago but I am still replacing tools lost in the fire. Yesterday I bought a high tech "digital" large multi purpose battery charger, 2 am, 10 amp, 20 amp, most battery types, recondition and recovery functions, etc..

Reading the instructions, the instructions make a big deal about never attaching the negative battery charger lead directly to a battery, says should attach positive battery charger lead directly to postive on battery, then attach a length of jumper cable or similar to the battery negative, only then attach battery charger negative lead to the jumper cable.

Makes no sense to me. Anyone?

Also, finally just replaced my garage fire burnt up Lincoln flux core wire feed welder for a bigger better higher capacity Lincoln MIG, also bought a new 80 cubic ft tank for the new MIG, starting with a 75% Argon 25% CO2 fill mix. Should give me several hours of MIG welding time on that size tank. I am just finishing hooking it all up, then going to do some test welds. I also replaced my large commercial sized oxygen and acetylene tanks, and finally have my gas cutting and gas welding rig set back up as well, this time with a 50 foot spring loaded reel of oxy/acetylene hose that can reach out of the garage into the driveway as well as pretty much anywhere in the garage

Paul LeClair
 
In the olden days I was taught to always connect the negative last, to an earth point remote from the battery to prevent a spark from causing an explosion of the hydrogen gas produced by the battery.
But I doubt one battery can produce enough gas in a short enough time before it dissipates, unless you put it in a plastic bag. Besides, most batteries now are fully sealed.
 
Have been using ctek trickle chargers for maybe 5 years now, very happy with them. I don't think you need anything bigger for bike batteries. Never heard of the jumper lead thing
 
1200 JOTA said:
... was the manual translated from another language?
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No, You have to differentiate between whether you are connecting or disconnecting the car battery!

ON - clamp: First PLUS + then MINUS -
OFF - clamp: First MINUS - then PLUS +

If the sequence is not followed, sparks can form. This was particularly dangerous with previous battery technologies. When a battery was being charged, a so-called oxyhydrogen gas mixture was created that could be ignited by the spark. Today's maintenance-free batteries no longer emit gas to this extent, so the risk of experiencing such a reaction remains small.

Thomas aus LAU
 
Paul LeClair said:
then attach a length of jumper cable or similar to the battery negative, only then attach battery charger negative lead to the jumper cable.

Makes no sense to me. Anyone?
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I suspect this is to obviate the risk of explosion from a conventional wet lead acid battery gassing. In a poorly ventilated space, oxygen and hydrogen can collect. Low risk it may be, but I do know of one instance where a car battery exploded when a lead was disconnected without the charger being first switched off.
 
Just for info when instructing on combine harvesters we would say connect the negative cable first then the positive - reasoning being that if you short the positive terminal with a spanner or screwdriver on the frame in theory the earth will save any spark
 
Earlier this season, I absentmindedly connected the negative then the positive leads on my remote starter to the leisure battery that powers it. It didn’t do the positive terminal on the battery much good and the sparks certainly jump started me! 🧟‍♂️
 
Paul LeClair said:
Also, finally just replaced my garage fire burnt up Lincoln flux core wire feed welder for a bigger better higher capacity Lincoln MIG, <snip>.
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Paul, you are truly an inspiration to us all. Thank you. All I seem to hear these days is people moaning on endlessly about how terrible their lot is, and here's you jerking two fingers at all your problems and just getting on.

Once again, thank you.
 
I meant to post this earlier but was distracted.

My approach is to attach the active first, then the earth. I believe it's safer. If you accidentally drop the earth lead while connecting it, no big deal. If it touches part of the chassis there may be a spark but it's not a short circuit.

Should you connect the earth first, the consequences of dropping the supply lead are worse, as it's most likely to come into contact with the chassis, and that WILL be a short circuit.
Cheers,
bazzee
 
I don't think hydrogen build-up is something you need to worry about with a motorcycle. The batteries of bikes are pretty well ventilated. Might be a different story in a car where there's enclosed bodywork that can trap pockets of gas. My lady friend's Mazda MX5 has the battery in the boot (trunk) and it has little pipes connected to the battery that carry any vented gas to the outside. I replaced the battery for her a while back and had to buy one with vent spigots on it.

Sir Sidney Ruffdiamond said:
Just for info when instructing on combine harvesters we would say connect the negative cable first then the positive - reasoning being that if you short the positive terminal with a spanner or screwdriver on the frame in theory the earth will save any spark
Click to expand...
Sounds like you're referring to the procedure when installing a battery and hooking up the vehicle's battery cables to it. But you have it arse about.

The negative cable should be the last one on when connecting up a battery and the first one off when disconnecting - for the reasons you mention. If you already have the negative terminal connected when you short the positive battery terminal against the bodywork with a spanner, you'll get a shower of sparks and a hot spanner. If you connect the positive terminal before the negative is connected, you can be as clumsy as you like with the spanner because the vehicle chassis isn't connected to the other side of the battery.

Connecting a charger to the battery is a different scenario.
 
I have scars on my left wrist from the battery in my previous 71 SFC 750. That weird zinc coated early SFC 750 frame, stuffed my arm into the battery area wearing a watch with a solid stainless steel band, inadvertently shorted the watch band between the positive battery terminal and the zinc plated frame. Melted a big chunk out of the watch band, 3 rd degree burns to my wrist, barely got my arm and watch jerked free as the battery was nearing explosion, was making a very scary whistling sound. High amperage 12 volt batteries require respect in handling, no question.

Marty, I have several CTek chargers, one hooked up to each motorcycle, really like them. The new bigger charger is for the much larger car and boat batteries.

Paul LeClair
 
In my younger days I took a part time job as as Chop Foreman in a Wrecking Yard. On one occasion and employee with a chop saw ignited a Battery on a wall 40ft long and 20ft high with shelves full of batteries - KA BOOM - Blew the wall out of the Chop Shop and the wall of the Sales building next to us - Fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Needless to say the Chop Shop was destroyed and rebuilt. The Sales Office was repaired - After that incident batteries were stored separately in there own ventilated shacks away from the main compound.

I had previously reported my concerns about storing Batteries in the Chop Shop to the Owners but went unheeded until KA-BOOM !
 
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Dellortoman said:
I don't think hydrogen build-up is something you need to worry about with a motorcycle. The batteries of bikes are pretty well ventilated. Might be a different story in a car where there's enclosed bodywork that can trap pockets of gas. My lady friend's Mazda MX5 has the battery in the boot (trunk) and it has little pipes connected to the battery that carry any vented gas to the outside. I replaced the battery for her a while back and had to buy one with vent spigots on it.


Sounds like you're referring to the procedure when installing a battery and hooking up the vehicle's battery cables to it. But you have it arse about.

The negative cable should be the last one on when connecting up a battery and the first one off when disconnecting - for the reasons you mention. If you already have the negative terminal connected when you short the positive battery terminal against the bodywork with a spanner, you'll get a shower of sparks and a hot spanner. If you connect the positive terminal before the negative is connected, you can be as clumsy as you like with the spanner because the vehicle chassis isn't connected to the other side of the battery.

Connecting a charger to the battery is a different scenario.
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I can go with that 😀 consider myself updated
 
A mate of mine was a garage mechanic for the co-op and their good-old milk delivery floats (did other countries outside the UK use those?).

Yep, the point at which the contact (potential spark) was made was well away (50ft plus a wall) from the batteries for the fume reasons mentioned above. The contact was a big lever on the wall - like Frankenstein's' zapper. Hummmmmmmmmm
 
It's easy enough to vent hydrogen. It's a very light gas (the lightest of all the gases) so you just need a vent in the top of the space to let it escape. Allowing it to build up enough to blow up a building is pretty stupid.
 
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