I store a car through the winter with the negative cable unhooked. This last winter I decided to just hook the charger up to the battery,and shut off the power to te building at the fuse box. That way, when Ido go into the building now and then, and turn on the breaker, thebattery will get a shot of charge during that time, keeping it toppedup. I just went in there and turned on the breaker, and it looked like thebattery was drawing a surprisingly high amount of amps, almost as muchas a dead battery would draw. The charger is a decent booster/charger, a Schauer I believe, notreally a cheapo. Battery's not very old, maybe a 2 year old Die Hard Gold, and Isuppose the battery could have gone bad. But is it possible that leaving the charger on the posts all the timewas giving some continuity between positive and negative terminals,drawing it down the whole time?

Put an ohmmeter on it and find out for sure.

On Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 5:50:14 PM UTC-7, blowout preventer wrote:

Does leaving unplugged charger hooked up to battery drain it?

Mar 15, 2012 Last reply: 6 years ago 23 Replies

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repairman54 14 years ago

If badly sulfated they are, I've brought back a partially one with the conditioner. It pulses AC to break up the sulfation.

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trip.smith110 6 years ago

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wingingit2006 6 years ago

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wingingit2006 6 years ago

Just disconnect a lead, (negative) when not using and be safe.

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