Katie’s nap today was my designated time to go out and attempt to get the battery charger hooked up to Tom’s car (I was going to do it yesterday but it was FREEZING).
For reference: BatteryMINDer Charger/Maintainer/Desulfater – 12V, Model# 2012
Of course I read all the instructions—and if I ignored all the DANGER! IF YOU BREATHE ON THIS THING WRONG YOUR BATTERY WILL EXPLODE AND KILL YOU! warnings, it looked pretty easy to hook up. I’ll be using the quick connect first (since I know where those ends are since we just used them to jump the car last week) and then if it’s working and the battery is actually charging, I will change in a week or so to the more permanent hard-wired connections.
And honestly, it wasn’t TOO bad. I mean, I had a few minor snafus but I expect that with everything I do—nothing can ever be dead simple (though this came close).
One of the first instructions was “Keep the charger out of the rain and snow.” Of course. There are waterproof models but I didn’t get one of those.
I thought about trying to get the car closer to the garage (hoping the cables would be long enough to set the charger inside) but no, you cannot put a hybrid car with a dead battery into neutral (thanks Google). So the car was staying where it was.
And I had to use an extension cord—which of course isn’t recommended unless you have one with the correct voltage (what?!)—so I’m assuming a typical orange heavy duty outdoor extension cord is just fine. Ugh.
And it said to hook to the positive and negative, but there is no negative. And the bolt we used during the jumping process was too far away. So I Googled and yes, any similar bolt is fine (and then I saw an identical bolt much closer so used that).
Then the moment of truth—plugging the battery in—and….??? GREEN LIGHTS! Like they’re supposed to be! And the light for the Weak Battery is on. And other lights are blinking and pulsing. YAY! I didn’t blow up me or the car! /knock on wood
And here was my solution to make it weatherproof: a Rubbermaid tub in front of the car.
HOW SOON UNTIL TOM COMES HOME?!
I think I’ve been told it could take anywhere from a few days to a week to build up enough of a charge to start it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.