Damage by battery charger?

[kaanage]

Has anyone had any damage caused by using a battery charger on their car?

I was once told (a while ago) that modern car electronics could be damaged if a battery charger was used while the battery was connected up to the car.

[Idle]

I've heard the same thing, but I've recharged the battery in modern cars many times, often from dead flat, never disconnect the battery and so far have seen no evidence of it.

Having said that, I'm always careful to connect a charger properly and never connect or disconnect with the charger powered on.

I did recently replace my 30 year-old 8 amp charger with a more modern solid state device, though (mostly because I now tend to forget the thing's on, the old one can overcharge a battery and the new one can be safely left on for months.)

[ian]

Has anyone had any damage caused by using a battery charger on their car?

I was once told (a while ago) that modern car electronics could be damaged if a battery charger was used while the battery was connected up to the car.

I personally have had no problems ,as long as you dont over charge the battery past the 13volts

[Transporter]

If you want to use your old $20 battery charger from the Kmart, then you have to disconnect the battery from the car el.system, otherwise get CTEK that can charge the battery while it is still connected to the car. But, any battery will be better charged and maintained with CTEK rather than the old style charger.SeeCTEK website for the video that is showing that modern car electr. system can be demaged when you use wrong charger.

---------- Post added at 07:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 PM ----------

I personally have had no problems ,as long as you dont over charge the battery past the 13volts

...more like 14.5V
even 14.8V is OK for some batteries.

[kaanage]

If you want to use your old $20 battery charger from the Kmart,

yep, one of those

Thanks for the advice!