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..............

I've been using batteries in the house for 15 years or longer. Never a
problem,
and I've never noticed the fumes. You only get heavy fumes when really
heavily
charging, or when overheating, from overcharging. I use a 12/2 amp
automatic
charger to keep the battery up. It's on 24/7. The only real drawback to

batteries is the corrosion that builds up. It's no big deal really, but
it does
have to be cleaned off from time to time, and also the connectors will
need to
be cleaned from time to time. That crud is highly corrosive, and
probably would
eat/stain carpet, etc...So keep the battery on some kind of pad, if not
in a
battery case. I have an inverter for emergency 117v use...Have used it
quite a
few times when the lights go out do to powerline problems, blown
transformers,
etc..I'm still on the air, plus can use a lightbulb, watch TV, etc..MK

P.S. When using batteries, always use the proper safety
precautions...Batteries
can explode. Don't unhook, hook hot radios, chargers, to cause a spark.
Turn
them off first, hook up, and then turn back on. When I hook up my
icoms, I have
to actually unhook the cable from the back of the radio, if I don't
want a spark.
The finals are always hot on the icoms, and will draw current/make a
spark, even
with the radio off. So I'll hook it all up, and plug the cable to the
706 last.
My IC-730 is the same way. Blowing up a battery in the house could be
nasty...
But saying that, I wouldn't let that scare you...I've never had a
problem...You
can always keep it in a battery case, under a table, etc, for extra
protection.
MK