Kestral

I lost the directions to my old battery tender so I was wondering do I have to unhook the car terminals to the battery or can I just leave it connected and conect the tender right to each battery terminal? Is that a big no-no?

Galaxie64

You can leave them connected. That is why they have the quick disconnect in the line.

Coyote5-0

Don't they advise hooking the negative to ground, not the negative terminal?

pressman43

You can do it either way. I have had my tenders bolted to each terminal for many years with no ill effects.

Kingstrider

I leave my battery connected and clamp directly to the terminals.

Coyote5-0

Are you guys sure that's the best idea? I've always been taught to hook negative to ground when charging or jumping a battery.

dsp

Connect to an exposed metal area on the engine when jumping with another battery to prevent the remote chance of an explosion due to concentrated out-gasses from the dead battery and a spark near the battery when you make the connection and complete the circuit.
I always connect my charger before powering it up, so no chance of a spark.
Electrically the terminal and chassis are the same point. It is a negative ground system.

Stage_3

I bought the additional cigarette plug n' play and just do it that way. Way easier in my opinion.
Good luck.

dsp

I have one of those on my BMW charger, it is easier. A little more of a pain to run the wire under the cover, though. But, I don't have to get to the battery so it's a good trade off.

GrnT

Ooooo cool. I gotta look for one of those.

dohc97

I use this myself. My car has been on Battery Tender for a month now

skramblr

Just following up on earlier comments. When jumping a car, the jumper cable will have a live voltage on it and it will spark when you connect it to the battery - thus the potential for explosion if the battery is out gassing. With a battery tender, they should be connected with the tender off - so no voltage and no potential for a spark. Then plug in/turn on to charge. So it is OK to connect it at the batter terminals

Stage_3

Yup. Way easier and the quick connects make it easy if you want to fire up or move the car once and a while. My car has been connected for about a month too.

Stage_3

This is the one I use Mark.
If you want the cigarette plug and play, you have to buy that seperately. I also bought the extension to make sure it will reach into the car.

http://smartercharger.com/products/b...multi-us-3300/

GrnT

Tony I would like to find an end that would fit onto mine. It would make it easier. Yours is very cool though. I'm using a battery tender jr. But they don't make a lighter adaptor for it. I clamp it onto the battery.

skramblr

About the cigarette charger (AKA, power port) version - I think this is not compatible with all cars. A lot of new cars disconnect power from the power port when the car is off (it appears to be on a relay). I know our Focus disconnects, but the Mustang seems to be OK.

Stage_3

Yes. I know it works perfect for the Mustang because this is my second year using it with the cigarette plug in. I also made sure it would work properly before being this specific brand of "smart charger".

Coyote5-0

Ok, so you are fine then hooking it up to the terminals. Good to know.

Stage_3

Yeah,...that's the way I did it with the Hugger Orange SS.

70monte

I have my battery tender hooked up to the terminals and keep the battery hooked up to the car. I have it this way on a total of four vehicles and one ATV. On the ATV and the Ford vehicles, I leave the quick connect connectors on the battery clamps because they have bolt on assemblies I can hook the eyelets to. On the Chevy trucks, I use the clamps.

Wayne