powersurge said:
Also, either hard wire the quick connect pigtails directly to the battery terminals or put clamps right onto the battery terminals. That stuff about not connecting to the battery is nonsense. the charger needs to measure the voltage right from the battery...
I'm not a LEAF expert, nor an electronics expert, nor a PbA battery expert, but it seems in my opinion that Phil (Ingineer) is, and I am going by what he has recommended many times, "
Also, heed my warning about NEVER connecting ANYTHING directly to the LEAF's negative battery post EVER!" In my opinion "ANYTHING" includes the negative connection for a battery charger.
It is so unfortunate, Stoaty asked the exact question about proper battery charger connections, even down to the CTEK charger, asking for "very simple and specific terms," and Phil (Ingineer) replied "See this post,"
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=148133#p148133, where once again he adamantly implores people to never connect to the LEAF's negative battery post, but that reply is in the topic about "Jumping another vehicle" with a LEAF, not about a trickle battery charger. I'm thinking though by him linking to that post, his warning holds true for the trickle battery charger negative connection and not to connect it to the negative battery terminal.
In the CTEK 0.8 manual,
http://smartercharger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/US-800_us.pdf , page 5, Step 16, steps to follow when battery is installed in a vehicle, negative grounded, Substep 2, "Connect negative charger clip (black) to a good metal engine ground away from the battery." It is my understanding the major reason for this recommendation is the remote possibility of a spark and subsequent explosion of the 12V battery. But I'm going to follow their recommended procedure.
Phil takes this risk very seriously, and as evidence I can speak of an incident where I witnessed a guy blow up a 12V battery at night. It was like a bomb went off, with a huge flash of light, and there was nothing left of that battery. At first I hadn't realized what happened, as I wasn't focused on the guy, and I was a bit far away. I then heard him screaming in pain, and quickly went to him. A few other people had gathered, but I was right by him, and told somebody to go in the store and get distilled water. They must have been looking for a specific brand and waiting in line to pay, as it took forever. I was starting to panic, as I was about 21 years-old or so, when an older guy said he had some vinegar which should be poured on to "neutralize the acid." As a chemistry major, I just knew that was wrong, always being taught use only distilled water, but I was starting to lose any ability to think and was actually considering it, and the irony of course is that vinegar is acidic too. The guy finally came back from the store, and I started pouring the water all over the injured guy's face, and trying to get him to relax his muscles so a bit of water could wash his eyes, as I knew too that I shouldn't touch him. Thankfully the ambulance pulled up and they took over, I think he was OK because he had a large cut above his eye but I think his eyes were OK.