Trickle charger safety

[SHALER]

Ok, a follow up to What do you do with your batteries in winter post. Any safety tips you care to share if you had a tractor on charge in a relatively remote unheated shed (with electricity) that you visited say weekly in the winter? Any chance of fire or other problems?
 

[old]

Unplug charger before taking a lead off that way if there is a hydrogen build up in the building you don't get a big bang
 

[FBH44]

I had a battery explode once, wow it was fearful. I thought i'd been shot with a 12-gage. The truck rocked side to side.
 

[rustred]

myself i dont leave chargers on battery's when im not around. just remember ground gets hooked up last and removed first. plus charging at a trickle little chance of hydrogen happening at 2 amps or less. its the fast charge that produces hydrogen like in the 20-40 amp range. from a dead battery. battery's are funny... some can sit out all winter and come spring just go out and start things. like my combine. i have never removed the battery's yet from it. battery's been it for about 7 years now. sits all winter gets to minus 40 here also. plus the same with my honda quad. bought quad new in 2008 and it sits outside in a shed. use it all summer and on warmer winter days. has the original battery i bought it with. have a couple 6 volt battery's that i dont take special care of either they are around 5 years old. they still start the tractors. i used to remove battery's and keep in a building and was even looking yesterday if i should be removing the not used ones. seams like u start removing them thats the ones that give the problems. thats my take on them.
 

[Russ from MN]

Old's comment is good, don't make any sparks by a battery. We leave a lot of batteries in N MN sit for over 5 months, and I don't leave any chargers connected, I don't feel it's necessary. I did take the batteries out of our boat this fall, because they're getting old, and if they freeze and bust it would be bad, they're not in boxes. My truck I disconnect the ground cable, because of the electronics, it would go dead, it's the original battery in a 2013 Chevy. Motorcycles, 4-wheelers, tractors, I just make sure they're charged and leave them, and haven't had to replace any for years, but one of these years!! I was told years ago by a knowledgeable person that a battery discharges slower if cold, because it slows down the chemical action, and I have found that to be true. If a battery is any good it won't freeze, and if it's no good it doesn't matter!
 

[Bill(Wis)]

Good question. Personally, I would never leave any kind of a charger on a battery unattended. When I put a charger on a battery, I'm always 'around'. Not standing next to it but close enough so that anything happens I can deal with it. But, maybe my fears are not warranted.
 

[moresmoke]

Make sure the insurance bill is paid.


Many of the modern battery maintainers will shut off if they sense any abnormal conditions.
 

[jimg.allentown]

There is no basis in fact that I have ever heard that makes one terminal or the other more important than the other to be connected or disconnected in any particular order.

Once you break the circuit, it is broken - whether it is at the positive or the negative terminal. Just not important how you do it as long as you break the circuit.
 

[redforlife]

I have a little multipurpose charger. It has a trickle charge setting. Doesn't matter which setting it is on, the charger will shut off once battery hits the 100& charged mark (that part is digitally display). Well, the charging juice to battery shuts off, and will not kick back on unless you re-set the charger. The charger itself has a light the lights up and tells you basically that the charger is still plugged in but not doing anything. The other functioning lights all go out when the charger kicks off.
In my opinion, it is not important for a battery to be 100% charged while being stored. I think the bigger key is that it has some kind of a charge. Whether that is 60%, 70%, 95%, or what ever. And a battery that goes from 100% charged to 0% charged over the course of 2 to 4 months of being disconnected or stored away should be replaced anyways.
 

[centash]

Make sure the tops of the batteries are clean.....a layer of dust or dirt can act as a conductor from one post to the other.

Ben
 

[BarnyardEngineering]

[Geo-TH,In]

I've never had a tractor burn.
If you have mice you might want to remove one wire from battery just in case mice chew on a wires.

I've never had a charger catch on fire either.
If worried use GFCI. Any wire shorts to ground should trip GFCI. All my outlets in pole barn are GFCI.
 

[Geo-TH,In]

Old,
What you say is good advice if you have old manual charger.

If I discount my smart chargers I've yet to see any sparks. I'll look closer next time.

I keep smart chargers plugged in for days.
Good chance charger has turned itself off before I disconnect it.

A smart charger won't charge a dead battery either


Reduce risk of explosion if you use AGM battery too. That's all I'll buy now.
Get longer life. Never add water because the hydrogen is trapped and returned to water
 

[wore out]

[Michael Soldan]

I have what is called a smart charger . It shuts off when the battery is fully charged. I have left it on overnight but generally I never leave a charger on when I'm not there. That applies to my Dewalt chargers and any other tool charger. I have had 18v Dewalts that were hot when charging and I just don't take the chance. I do have a solar charger and I will leave it on , however there is no risk there when the sun sets.