I've been talking about a car that I've been maintaining the battery while the owners are on vacation. In the past I've helped jump it.
However, I'm just wondering if there's something wrong when I'm using a jump starter or a charger/maintainer. I rarely can find a metal part that's well grounded and just take my chances by connecting to the negative post. I understand the biggest worry is maybe that a depleted battery is gassing hydrogen and that a spark could set it off. I've tried bolts, the engine block, etc. The one time I did get what seemed to be a decent ground connection was clamped to a metal thingy hanging off the ATF dipstick tube.
Is there a ground cable somewhere that might need replacement or maybe loosening to scrape off corrosion? I remember I'd replace the ground cable in a couple of Integras and a lot of issues would go away. However, I could easily see it when the hood was open.
I also bought a few $5 coupon special battery float chargers/maintainers at Harbor Freight. Those ones seems to come with a lot of specific instructions - that it's only meant for maintaining a fully charged battery, that the battery should test to at least 12V before using, and that the clamps should be connected directly to the battery posts. They also have at least three models, and they seem to differ by the wall-wart and maybe the clamps have a slightly different design. They're all 13.2V supplies drawing 14 or 15 watts, so I'm not sure what's with the variety. One part number came in a box, while the others came in blister packs.
However, I'm just wondering if there's something wrong when I'm using a jump starter or a charger/maintainer. I rarely can find a metal part that's well grounded and just take my chances by connecting to the negative post. I understand the biggest worry is maybe that a depleted battery is gassing hydrogen and that a spark could set it off. I've tried bolts, the engine block, etc. The one time I did get what seemed to be a decent ground connection was clamped to a metal thingy hanging off the ATF dipstick tube.
Is there a ground cable somewhere that might need replacement or maybe loosening to scrape off corrosion? I remember I'd replace the ground cable in a couple of Integras and a lot of issues would go away. However, I could easily see it when the hood was open.
I also bought a few $5 coupon special battery float chargers/maintainers at Harbor Freight. Those ones seems to come with a lot of specific instructions - that it's only meant for maintaining a fully charged battery, that the battery should test to at least 12V before using, and that the clamps should be connected directly to the battery posts. They also have at least three models, and they seem to differ by the wall-wart and maybe the clamps have a slightly different design. They're all 13.2V supplies drawing 14 or 15 watts, so I'm not sure what's with the variety. One part number came in a box, while the others came in blister packs.