Quote:
Originally Posted by gearhead
While on a trip I had what I thought was a bad onboard charger. Bought a new WalMart charger. Discovered it would turn itself off after 6-8 hours thinking the battery was bad.
Be careful what you buy…read the directions first.
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Yup, read the directions!
Had a friend that was of the " more must be better" mindset that bought a charger with multiple ratings. This person didn't have enough mechanical knowlege to change a bicycle tire and knew even less about electricity. His riding mower wouldn't start and someone told him the battery was dead and just needed a charge.
IIRC the charger was a 10/25/50/100 or similar. He yanked it out of the box, hooked it up and set it on 100. An hour or so later he heard a large "boom" out in his shed. Upon investigation he found a large hole in the engine cover where the battery used to be. It looked like it was shot with a RPG. He didn't bother to read the directions (or the large letters on the box) that recommended the proper setting for the type of battery or that the 100 Amp was a "boost/starting" setting.
He learned a very expensive lesson that day. Fortunately, no one was injured and nothing caught on fire.