quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
^^^^^^^^^

It won't spark when you attach the ring connectors. The circuit is open until you plug the charger into the leads.

I'm a klutz and stupid. My worry is doing something like grounding the positive terminal with a wrench while attaching the ring connectors. Hence why I usually disconnect negative before touching anything on the positive side....

I've done it once and history repeats itself.

If you touch the wrench on the positive terminal while tightening the rings on the negative, it will spark. Same in reverse. Doesn't matter if the cable is disconnected. Red-metal-black equals trouble.

quote:

And also only want to disconnect the battery once (and reprogram everything, ugh) - and was planning to just do it at the next battery replacement for each car.

Not sure how this will work with your self-professed klutziness, but you can also attach the Battery Tender via the clamps to the actual cables while you disconnect the battery to maintain current and settings. Of course you need to plan for where you're going to lay all that so as not to ground or end up with them on each other in transition. Worth a shot!

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

If you touch the wrench on the positive terminal while tightening the rings on the negative, it will spark. Same in reverse. Doesn't matter if the cable is disconnected. Red-metal-black equals trouble.

Sorry - just so I'm straight on this..... If the cable on the negative terminal is disconnected, and I touch metal to positive, that's still bad? Or only if the cable on the negative terminal is connected? Is the car grounded no matter what? Or is the car grounded / has a return path only if the negative cable is connected to the terminal?

It sucks to be stupid and klutzy

Disconnecting the negative cable will save a spark if you touch the wrench from + to other car parts. Touching the wrench to the two terminals or anything connected to them will spark. Wouldn't matter if there were no wires involved.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Disconnecting the negative cable will save a spark if you touch the wrench from + to other car parts. Touching the wrench to the two terminals or anything connected to them will spark. Wouldn't matter if there were no wires involved.

Thanks! Understood. I've made it a practice to disconnect the negative cable before I remove the cap that covers the positive terminal.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

If you touch the wrench on the positive terminal while tightening the rings on the negative, it will spark. Same in reverse. Doesn't matter if the cable is disconnected. Red-metal-black equals trouble.

Sorry - just so I'm straight on this..... If the cable on the negative terminal is disconnected, and I touch metal to positive, that's still bad? Or only if the cable on the negative terminal is connected? Is the car grounded no matter what? Or is the car grounded / has a return path only if the negative cable is connected to the terminal?

It sucks to be stupid and klutzy

You do not need to disconnect any battery terminals—positive or negative, to ‘permanently’ hook up the lead for a battery maintainer.

* Remove the nuts from the battery cable ends. OK to take off both. If you remove one at a time, remove negative post nut first;

* Slip red (positive) terminal ring eyelet over bolt on cable end at positive post;

* Thread nut back on the bolt of the positive (red) cable end and tighten (Note: nothing is “hot” at this time, because it’s not yet grounded;

* Remove the nut from the black (negative) battery cable, if you haven’t done so already. Slip the black ring eyelet over the bolt on the cable end, spin the nut on over the eyelet and tighten.

I think you mentioned have a Battery Tender Plus maintainer. You shouldn’t need to worry about arcing during (or after) hookup. The distal end of the eyelet connection has a cover on it that is only removed when you attach to the lead from the maintainer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMats,

I've never had a problem closing the hood with alligator clamps on a battery. Just position them so they aren't sticking up.

You can always take an old towel and cover the area surrounding the positive post while you're working on in. I made a nice arc a long time ago and since then I've always been careful of where the non working end of my wrench is. Just make sure your wrench doesn't touch anything metal when you're working on the positive, piece of cake.

I’m the most amateur of mechanics; I connected the ring terminals on my BT charger for the S2000 and was embarrassed at how easy it was compared with my trepidation.

Oh! Looks like the odometer turned over to 15,000 when I wasn’t paying attention.

quote:

I've never had a problem closing the hood with alligator clamps on a battery.

I guess the actual risk depends on the vehicle, and the size of the alligator clips and the location of the terminals on the battery, but on average its really not a safe practice as most don't have much clearance. Seen too many problems. If your charging the battery there is really no reason to close the hood and adding a safe setup to use a trickle charger is trivial...

If you want something fast, easy, and readily available why not modify your charger to work with a tow/hitch harness cable. Fit all the things you want to charge with the cable and its plug and play for everything. The plug ends come with a rubber cap end to seal out moisture and you can tuck it somewhere easily accessible(behind the grill, wheel well).

Just a suggestion.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:

quote:

I've never had a problem closing the hood with alligator clamps on a battery.

I guess the actual risk depends on the vehicle, and the size of the alligator clips and the location of the terminals on the battery, but on average its really not a safe practice as most don't have much clearance. Seen too many problems. If your charging the battery there is really no reason to close the hood and adding a safe setup to use a trickle charger is trivial...

If there's room for the posts on top of the battery then there's room for the clips that come with the battery tender to lay flat across the top of the battery. There's plenty of reason to close the hood, especially if the car is sitting outside and left unused for a period of time.

You obviously care enough about your vehicle to want to take care of it, but have never really done any work to it but change oil and filter maybe. For more than that you probably take it to a shop or dealer. Go to who you trust and explain what you want; if they are halfway competent they'll do it for you.
No spark or arc, stripped bolts, or letting the magic smoke out of the wiring.