I have a 95. The battery tender advised to clip on ground. Is any metal part around the engine block good ground? Especially somewhere around the battery. Thank you all....

 

Maybe this is not proper, but I used my tender all last winter and just attached directly to the + and - terminals of the battery. Plan to do the same this winter.

 

i was considering that, but my tender has a warning not to do that. probably some reason. i have not used one before, so i don't know why you couldn't do it. i'm not an expert on batteries and electricty and such.

 

Found this on the batterytender.com site. Looks like this is a UL safety recommendation. It should not impact the functionality of the charging circuit: (don t want battery to blow up upon application of AC power).



Electrical Connections between the Charger & the Battery: Before charging, connect the charger leads (ring terminals or alligator clips) to the battery terminals. Then connect the charger AC power cord to the AC power outlet. When you want to disconnect the charger from the battery, first disconnect the charger AC power cord from the AC power outlet. Then disconnect the charger leads from the battery terminals.

CAUTION: Only connect or disconnect the charger output leads (ring terminals or alligator clips) at the battery terminals WITHOUT AC POWER connected to the charger. The charger AC power cord should not be connected to the AC power outlet.

CONNECTIONS FOR ALL LEAD-ACID BATTERY TYPE:

1. First connect the red positive (+) charger output lead to the positive terminal of the battery. Then connect the black negative (-) charger output lead to the negative terminal of the battery.

2. In the interests of applying an increased measure of safety to this process, particularly when working with standard, flooded, lead acid batteries, UL recommends that the second, negative (-) charger output lead connection be made to the grounded equipment chassis rather than directly to the negative battery post.

3. In similar fashion, for positive ground systems, the positive post of the battery is now at the same electrical potential as the grounded equipment chassis. Therefore UL recommends that the positive (+) charger output lead connection be made at the grounded equipment chassis rather than directly to the positive battery post.

 

Electrically it should make no difference between hooking it to the battery post or to ground. However, you may get a spark when completing the circuit so it may be a safety issue to lesson the chance of igniting hydrogen from your battery.

 

I have the ring clips attached to both + and - of my battery. I have a Battery Tender Jr which has a quick disconnect, so it's always connected at the battery, even when I'm driving. There is a cover attached to keep dirt out of the plug and the AC part stays plugged in. When I park the car, I simply plug the ends together and I'm done, don't even have to open the hood.

(I promised pics for someone last time, but still haven't had a chance to shoot some)

 

You should tell your neighbors your vette is an electric car. Where is the a/c plug sticking out at? To use an extension cord, you've got the male plug in your fenderwell somewhere right?