Charging a car battery

[1968GTX]

When charging a car battery with a Sears Battery Charger, can I charge my battery without removing any of the terminals?  If I keep the battery in my car while charging, what terminal negative or positive should be disconnected. I have a 1991 Honda Accord.

[joe_padavano]

50 minutes ago, 1968GTX said:

When charging a car battery with a Sears Battery Charger, can I charge my battery without removing any of the terminals?  If I keep the battery in my car while charging, what terminal negative or positive should be disconnected. I have a 1991 Honda Accord.

 

Your 1991 Accord has an EFI computer. Disconnect one of the terminals. It doesn't matter which one, but the negative is safer (and here we go again on which terminal to disconnect...).

[joe_padavano]

4 hours ago, 48Firetruck said:

Charge it while hooked up. Not sure why you feel the need to disconnect a terminal...?

 

 

A transformer-based battery charger is far more likely to impart voltage spikes that can damage electronics. A battery is a much "stiffer" power supply (for lack of a better technical term) and doesn't have that problem. In testing aerospace avioncs, we routinely differentiate between battery-powered tests and power supply-powered tests due to performance differences.

[c49er]

Some factory Honda radio's have a radio theft security code that needs to be reset if the battery has been disconnected.

No secret code to re-enter... no radio operation.

I'd leave the cables connected.

[Frank DuVal]

On 8/4/2019 at 1:13 PM, c49er said:

No secret code to re-enter... no radio operation.

 

I really hated those in the shop.  30 years ago you could call the dealer and they would supply the code. Then it got to be the owner had to do it, maybe even with a personal visit.....😡

 

Lots of vehicles, BMW, Mercedes, Honda, etc.

 

Now you want to keep the battery connected so the computer does not do a relearn of driving style and rerun of monitors for emissions.

 

Now, if you hook up the clamps of the charger backwards.....  all bets of safe without desatruction are off!😲

 

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[Larry Schramm]

Just have the key off before you hook up the battery charger.  Probably not a bad idea to leave the key off with the charger connected.  With the key off, I can not think of any modules that would have battery power on other than the memory for the radio for the clock.