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MG TD TF 1500 - Leave charger on or not?

In the newest version of my Hagerty (insurance) on-line newsletter there was a story of a Corvette that burned up because of a short in a charger left on. The article then states "Most importantly, never leave a charger unattended or go to sleep with it on...". They also warn about mouse damage to these wires causing such a short.

Well, I leave a "trickle" charger on most of the winter even when we leave town and we do have mice (D-con, etc. used as well). I also have a full charger that automatically goes into "trickle mode" when charged so I assume it's safe to leave on as well. I thought that was the purpose of a trickle charge, no?

What do you guys do? On or off?

Ed
efh Haskell

Ed - If you are using a Battery Tender, Battery Buddy or other such maintainer, they are designed to be left on all the time. They cycle the battery over time to keep the battery in top condition. If the charger you are using is nothing more than a trickle charger, then it will eventually overcharge the battery and boil it dry (I did that back in the day when I was using a battery as the power source for my fuel pump test site - caused quite a stink - literally - when the battery was boiled dry. As for mice - hire a cat. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

i do as david says. regards, tom
tom peterson

I keep (expensive) automatic chargers on all of my cars permanently. The only "concession" to possible damage I make is to put them on "trays" hanging from the roof of my garage (in case they catch fire and it also keep them out of the way). On older MG's I use the dashboard sockets and on MGA's and the like I have installed little two-pin sockets (purchased from a shop which stocks computer parts) in the sloping panel behind the seats.
Barry Bahnisch

Guess no matter what you do, you will find examples of where it went wrong. I agree with the above. Battery maintainers are relatively low power and all the ones I have cut out if they short. Could one fail and catch fire? Probably, but it beats the alternative for storage in the winter, that is a battery that freezes, cracks and then leaks all over your firewall and fender (been there, done that).

If this were my large battery charger, I would be in agreement. A few hours is mostly all I leave these hooked up for.
Bruce Cunha

I have several battery tender chargers and I did keep them on all my cars until I discovered an exploded battery on my 68 Corvair Monza. It blew the top and side of battery case off. I still have tenders on my TD and others but only plug in when working in my shop. I checked the this specific tender after explosion and it still functioned so the only thing I can think of was an isolated spark during a charge cycle. Anyone else experience this?

Good news is that the battery is in the trunk fender well so damage was minimal -- with the TD where it is located that acid would have done a job on wiring, paint and whatever.
Russ Little

I had a "tender" take out a garden tractor battery.
That was enough for me to decide: charger only when I'm in the shop....just not worth the risk IMHO.
Slightly more hassle checking batteries, a good trade off when compaired to replacing wires & paint.

(Sold the "tender" on CL for 1/2 what I paid for it.)
David Sheward

This thread was discussed between 06/08/2012 and 07/08/2012

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