Charging A Car Battery Without The Car.
Posted in Car Batteries | Asked on Jun 8, 2010
I have a dead car battery to charge but not a live car. I have a charger that plugged into an outlet and the battery from the vehicle away worden.Meine questions, I have the charger base, as I normally would with the car dead by clamping the negative end on a metal surface? Or I can simply connect red to red and black with black? And as soon as it is getting charged, how safe is it to put the car back? This can be a pretty stupid question, but not shocked when I attach the metal clips to the battery with a tool made of metal? Thank you.
There are 12 Answers for "Charging A Car Battery Without The Car."
red to red black to black no you will not get a shock
You simply connect the red lead from the charger to the positive terminal of the battery then attach the black lead to the negative terminal of the battery then plug in the charging unit. Just check to be sure the battery water (distilled) covers the internal battery plates. depending on charging rate it could take a day to charge the battery. Or you could take to an auto zone, kragen etc and they will charge and check you battery for you for free.
Black to negitive, Red to Pos. You shoud hook Positive cable first. NEgative cable second for the simple reason being that if your are connecting pos. cable first and your tool touches ground, your battery circuit is incomplete, totaly safe. Connecting ground second, and tool touches vehicle, ground to ground is totally safe.
… and no question is dumb, dumb is thinking you know it all…
no do not ground the battery, hook up pos. to pos. and neg. to neg. depending on what type of charger you have watch out for “boil over ” on the battery. boil over is when you charge at to high a amperage and the battery will boil acid. also remember the fumes coming from a charging battery are explosive. if its not a sealed battery make sure the cells are full. when hooking back up to the car place the pos. terminal up first then the neg., you will have a less chance of sparking that way.when using your wrench to tighten up your leads take care to not short out your tool to a metal surface in the engine compartment.
Just connect the red (pos) clamp from the charger to the positive post of the battery. Then hook up the black clamp to the negative post of the battery. Then make sure the charger is plugged into an outlet. When the battery is charged take it over to your car. Connect the positive side first, then the negative. There is no reason to be scared to hooking up a battery.
If the battery is removed from the vehicle, it is OK to charge it. Make sure the charger is unplugged.
Place the RED lead on the “+” POSITIVE post.
Place the BLACK lead on the “?” NEGATIVE post.
Once the battery is charged unplug the charger & remove the leads.
Installation
• Turn off all accessories
• Close all doors tightly
• Install the positive lead & then the negative
* If equipped – Have the “REMOTE” ready in case the alarm sounds.
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its ok to put on charger red on the + side and black on the – side,and you will get shocked some what if you tighten the battery cables with a wrench if you attach the black one first then the red and if you touch the body with the wrench while its touching the red cable nut and the body at the same time you will arc out with a shock or sparks but not enough to hurt you…
First, inspect the battery. Do not charge it if it’s cracked, bulging, otherwise damaged or stinks like rotten eggs.
If it’s okay then put it on the charger, red lead on positive or +, black lead on the negative or – then plug the charger in. It should begin to charge and give an indication or charge current will go to zero when done.
Don’t short the battery out and take off any rings or other metal jewelry. They will get red hot virtually instantly if they short out the battery. With 12 volts, there isn’t much of a shock hazard aside from using your tongue.
Replace in your car paying attention to which wire your putting on which terminal.
You can also charge the battery in circuit if you wish. It’s a good idea to take the charger off the car before starting else you might cook the charger.
Just as an added note, make sure you don’t have the battery sitting on plain concrete, put it on a piece of plywood or wood. I forget why, but I was always told to do that. I think concrete can suck the charge?
Since the battery is out of the car, just place the charger’s red lead to the pos (+) terminal on the battery and then the black neg lead (-) . Check out the charging current on the meter in the charger. If the battery is dedective, then the current will either be at zero, or peg out the meter. When you first put the charger online the current will be high, but after some time it should start to decrease.
Once the battery is fully charged, then mount it in the car and then install the red lead first. Once this is done then connect the black lead. When the car starts, if you have a DC voltage tester check across the battery terminals and see if you have 13+ V. If so, then the alternator is working and you should be fine.
good luck.
Red +(ve)
Black -(ve)
If the battery takes a charge the max voltage will be 14.8 volts. You’ll not experience a electoral shock – voltage to low. Check car manual for connecting battery as some vehicles electronics re-acts to improper connections.
Just a tip then, once its charged, store it on a board and not directly on ground. It holds its charge longer.