Battery for BMW E46

[ZHPizza]

@dpark awesome work. I don't remember what the issues are with not venting the battery outside of the car but I know they aren't good.

[dpark]

@dpark awesome work. I don't remember what the issues are with not venting the battery outside of the car but I know they aren't good.

It's just amazing what you do when you "don't know what you don't know". Worked at a gas station all through high school. I remember "topping off" batteries all the time with distilled water from a special dispensing canister that you just inserted the tip of the nozzle into the screw top opening of the cells. But never even heard of "venting" battery gases before this weekend. Would never have even noticed the ports on the side of the battery.

I am NOT a big fan of "government mandated" warning labels (don't have your child lean against the window screen, it will not prevent them falling out the window, no duh!), but in this case, it would seem that some sort of label to tell people that if installing the battery into a trunk instead of the engine compartment that it should be connected to a vent tube. And to block the other vent hole that isn't connected to the vent tube. If it really is that important, it certainly isn't intuitively obvious that this should be done.

Oh well, it's done now...