Battery Conditioner

[Pilot25dmc]

Hi folks

I bought a battery conditioner at the NEC on Friday and wired it all up last night. I noticed in the instructions that when you wire it to the car you connect the red+ lead to the battery and connect the black- lead to the chassie... How am I supposed to do that?? Why cant you connect the red to red and the black to black?

I wired it up anyway with both leads connected to the battery and it seems to be working ok BUT in connecting both leads to the battery have I done something wrong?

I think that with the battery IN the car you need to have the black- lead on the chassie to stop any electrical equipment being damaged, is this correct? In the instructions it says that with the battery OUT of the car you can connect both leads.

[steve.s]

Hi Alistair

Sorry i didn't see you when i left, i looked but i think you were walking around other stands, and i had to leave to get my son to the doctors!.

It was good to chat, and interesting to here what it is like living near to the factory.

thanks also for the contact details you gave me.

anyway, i can't see it really makes any difference, as in a standard car the body is negative. with ours the main y chassis should be.

perhaps they think that in a standard (steel!) car you can connect the negative to any metal part, and then just one lead onto the battery.

the other way would be perhaps the jump posts in the engine bay?. not sure if this would make a difference, but would this be easier to connect to?.

Regards

Steve Saunders
VIN1621-about to remove the screen!.
doc 370

[Pilot25dmc]

Thanks for the info folks...

My car does not have the jumper connections in the engine bay!! It was one of the first things I saw that was different on the car when I bought it as the battery was flat and we tried to jump it.

There does not seem to be any problems with the conditioner, I hooked it up on Friday night and it seems to be working ok. On Friday night it said charging and on Saturday morning it said "conditioning" so it must be working ok.

I also took the notion and bought one of the cair-o-ports which is the large tent like structure that you put your car in over the winter and it blows filtered air all over it. Not a bad way to spend £390....

Thats not my car by the way! Just a picture off their website

[!wvw!]

Yeah, I think its all to do with the gas and saftey. I think sparks can also damage the voltage regulator on the alternator.

[Rich H]

It's perfectly OK to connect the clips directly to the terminals of the battery.

If you connect the battery to the conditioner whilst it is switched off, it's unlikely you'll get any sparks at all.

Very little hydrogen gas is generated whilst charging a battery with most chargers, and even less with a 'conditioner'.

Hydrogen is lighter than air, so will easily disperse. It's only when gas is trapped that enough can accumulate to cause an explosion. That's why you shouldn't charge a battery under the bonnet of the car.

Personaly I always remove the battery from any car before charging it up.