wrote

Jack Painter wrote:
wrote
I was wanting to use the marine battery I have but someone else
posted
a negative experience with the fumes ruining part of their house and
their own health. It scared me a little.

Starting with a new battery, I have used a 12v marine deep-cell with
small
float-charger to power a 25w VHF transceiver for over two years. For
short
periods, this will handle 100w xmit on an HF rig that draws 20-30amp.
When a
charger is connected to a battery, adequate ventilation must be
provided,
and the smoking lamp is "out". There is nothing wrong with using an
emergency backup battery as part of normal (indoor) operations. It
will
provide hundreds of hours of monitoring and several minutes of
low-power
transmit w/o requiring a charge.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia

How do you "vent" a batter thay is constantly hooked up to a trickel
charger?

First, mine is not constantly connected to the charger. When it is, I have a
window open and a fan circulating air in the station. Battery vents in an
automotive or outdoor environment often become sealed-shut. This is not the
case with a clean battery used indoors-only. A very small amount of moisture
is sometimes visible on the surface of the battery around the vents
following use of a powerful charger. This has never been my experience from
the trickle-charger, however. Keep the battery surfaces clean, verify that
the vents exist, then leave them in their normal (not loosened) condition
and all is well. Not all batteries are vented and I would avoid using any
charger indoors in that situation.

Jack