Help
My wife has a 2007 XK convertible she has only 12K miles on it so uses it very little subsequently the battery goes down from time to time
The hand book says NOT to charge the battery while in the car because charging produces Hydrogen. The battery is in a very enclosed location and hard to get at. The car has remote jump starter terminals in the trunk. Is it safe to charge the battery with these terminals without taking out the battery?? I recently replaced with battery with one from Auto Zone Thanks
This car gets driven VERY little. Normally the use of a low amperage battery charger known as a Battery Tender would be just the thing to keep the battery up so the car is ready whenever you are. Obviously, Jag did not vent the battery location very well so I wouldn’t recommend charging in the car against Jag’s recommendations.
The exception would be using a special kind of battery called an AGM or Absorbed Glass Mat battery. These do not vent nor can they spill acid. They can even be installed upside down. That is the only type of battery I would leave in this car while charging. It should also be charged with a charger specifically designed for AGM batteries. Sorry you just bought a battery, hopefully it is an AGM but likely not. They are quite a bit more expensive but for this car and how you use it, the best product, in my opinion.
Mustangman’s suggestion of getting a Battery Tender is a good one. My mother drives her car very little and I got her a Battery Tender Junior to keep it topped up. It works great.
I wouldn’t be concerned about hooking up a battery tender with the battery still in the car. As long as the battery is not run down, the charger will put out only a trickle charge and will shut off when the battery is topped up. So the rate of hydrogen generation will be miniscule, slow enough for it to disperse.
I presume you mean you’d like to charge the battery with a battery charger, not a jump start.
It might be ok to charge the battery (from the point of view of H2 production) with it in the car as long as where you are connecting the charger too is far away from the battery. And you use the low charge rate setting, around 2 amps.
However, since there’s an apparent safety issue documented by the manufacturer, I wouldn’t do it without first consulting a dealership shop and hear what they say about the idea. There may be other issues beyond H2 production, like the potential to damage expensive and sensitive engine electronic parts. In which case it would be better to do it like the manufacturer says and remove the battery first.
Edit: I’ll add that I always remove the battery from both my vehicles before putting it on a battery charger, for the same reasons.