Date:         Tue, 8 Feb 2000 01:05:37 +0100
Reply-To:     Per Lindgren <lindgre@ONLINE.NO>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Per Lindgren <lindgre@ONLINE.NO>
Subject:      Re: battery explosions + a theory
Comments: To: Woody Halsey <WoodyHalsey@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Woody Halsey wrote:

> My questions: why, according to Haynes and everyone else who knows,  should
> he have in fact attached the negative end of the jumper cable not to the
> strong battery's negative post, but to its ground on the frame; and why
> (and how) do batteries improperly jumped sometimes explode?

Because the battery produce explosive gases when charging, and sparks may occur
when you connect the clamp to the battery post. Sparks still occur if you clamp
the negative end to the engine case, but there's no gases there. Hard to do in
a Vanagon though.

PerL
87 Syncro 112i