Re: Dont leave car battery charger in rain
The Daring Dufas
> I was charging a battery on my car and left it plugged in during rain.
> I put a plastic bag on top but it must have blown off. The charger
> was not working and it blew the breaker in the garage. When I flipped
> the breaker it popped again. I opened the charger and found the
> transformer was completely burned up. That paper like coating on the
> outside was totally black and burned exposing the windings. It looks
> like it was not actually on fire because the plastic handle on top did
> not burn or melt. It has a metal cabinet but that handle is on top.
> I guess the rain must have caused it to short out. I wont be leaving
> chargers outside anymore. Guess I'll have to make some sort of tin
> cover for the next one, or something that wont blow off. I do sort of
> wonder how that much water got inside though. The top has no vent
> holes, so the only water that could get in was by the handle and the
> seams, but I suppose that was enough to get into the transformer.
>
I have a charger hooked up to one of my vans outside right now. I never
leave a charger out in the weather, it's under the hood of the vehicle.
TDD
JoeSpareBedroom
news:s436a6pmf5b96hrht...@4ax.com...
>I was charging a battery on my car and left it plugged in during rain.
> I put a plastic bag on top but it must have blown off.
That was as easy to predict as the sun rising in the east. Are you a
teenager?
hal...@aol.com
wrote:
Its far better and costs just a bit more to replace vehicle batteries
every X years before they usually fail:).
Waiting till the battery dies is like not buying gas till the tank
runs dry.
Its highly inconvenient>
Besides I have found alternator failure dropped to near zero for me
since I went to preventive mantence battery replacement:)
My theory is weak batteries require more charging thats hard on
alternators. The only alternators that still fail have bad bearings...
hal...@aol.com
Since the OP is buying a NEW charger get one with 200 amp boost:)
It will start a stone daed battery within minutes :) so it wouldnt be
out in the rain long enough to matter:)
LSMFT
> was not working and it blew the breaker in the garage. When I flipped
> the breaker it popped again. I opened the charger and found the
> transformer was completely burned up. That paper like coating on the
> outside was totally black and burned exposing the windings. It looks
> like it was not actually on fire because the plastic handle on top did
> not burn or melt. It has a metal cabinet but that handle is on top.
> I guess the rain must have caused it to short out. I wont be leaving
> chargers outside anymore. Guess I'll have to make some sort of tin
> cover for the next one, or something that wont blow off. I do sort of
> wonder how that much water got inside though. The top has no vent
> holes, so the only water that could get in was by the handle and the
> seams, but I suppose that was enough to get into the transformer.
>
The average person would not leave it in the rain. Some people need a
warning sticker for everything.
--
LSMFT
I look outside this morning and everything was in 3D!
Oren
>. The only alternators that still fail have bad bearings...
Tightening the belt to tight will cause the bearings to fail
prematurely. The belt needs a little slack and helps prevent this
failure.
hr(bob) hofmann@att.net
> I was charging a battery on my car and left it plugged in during rain.
> I put a plastic bag on top but it must have blown off. The charger
> was not working and it blew the breaker in the garage. When I flipped
> the breaker it popped again. I opened the charger and found the
> transformer was completely burned up. That paper like coating on the
> outside was totally black and burned exposing the windings. It looks
> like it was not actually on fire because the plastic handle on top did
> not burn or melt. It has a metal cabinet but that handle is on top.
> I guess the rain must have caused it to short out. I wont be leaving
> chargers outside anymore. Guess I'll have to make some sort of tin
> cover for the next one, or something that wont blow off. I do sort of
> wonder how that much water got inside though. The top has no vent
> holes, so the only water that could get in was by the handle and the
> seams, but I suppose that was enough to get into the transformer.
You're supposed to put the charge INSIDE the plastic bag, with plenty
of air space inside the bag for heat to circulate.
mkir...@rochester.rr.com
> I was charging a battery on my car and left it plugged in during rain.
> I put a plastic bag on top but it must have blown off. The charger
> was not working and it blew the breaker in the garage. When I flipped
> the breaker it popped again. I opened the charger and found the
> transformer was completely burned up. That paper like coating on the
> outside was totally black and burned exposing the windings. It looks
> like it was not actually on fire because the plastic handle on top did
> not burn or melt. It has a metal cabinet but that handle is on top.
> I guess the rain must have caused it to short out. I wont be leaving
> chargers outside anymore. Guess I'll have to make some sort of tin
> cover for the next one, or something that wont blow off. I do sort of
> wonder how that much water got inside though. The top has no vent
> holes, so the only water that could get in was by the handle and the
> seams, but I suppose that was enough to get into the transformer.
No shit, Sherlock.
If only the breaker had not tripped when you reset it. You would've
gotten electrocuted when you picked up the charger and we all would've
been spared from your so-called wisdom.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
That doesn't help if you leave the dome light on, or the headlights.
A perfectly good (even brand new) battery can go down to the point you
need to charge it.
aemeijers
> On Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:11:41 -0700 (PDT), "hal...@aol.com"
> <hal...@aol.com> wrote:
>
JSB never makes distracted mistakes. He is right that keeping a young
strong battery in a car helps- I haven't had to use my plug-in
charger/starter in years- but I have no plans to get rid of it. I'm sure
I will space out and leave something running and kill the battery again
some day. My shiny car turns stuff off itself- can't leave the
headlights on when I park in the street to plow the sloped driveway
before driving on it and packing down the snow- but the other car is not
that smart.
--
aem sends...