2003 Toyota Sienna

A plug-in battery charger failed. You may inspect it. It got hot and smoked, and I suppose was a fire hazard. The problem has not been confirmed nor inspected. There were no symptoms of the problem before the failure. - - - - I used the automotive charger to charge a battery after a light had been on overnight, discharging the battery. I removed the battery from the vehicle because the terminals might have been corroded. When I first put the charger on the battery it indicated full and did not start to recharge it, so I used jumper cables to charge the discharged battery from a good battery in my car and left the charger at 10 amps on the good battery at the same time so that battery would not become discharged. I left it to sit, figuring it would take several hours at that setting, and after about 5 minutes I saw smoke. Both 12v wires were hot and insulation burned or melted off. There is damage to the car where the wires rested on the painted plastic bumper and a plastic bit near the battery, and of course the charger is useless. I wrote to the manufacturer on March 28 to make them aware, and ask how to avoid it in the future, and ask if it can be repaired. I have not heard back. - - - - The user manual for this product is at http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/60000-60999/60653.pdf The current year model of this product is at https://www.harborfreight.com/10250a-12v-manual-charger-with-engine-start-60581.html - - - - The charger is sold by Harbor Freight Tools under the Cen-Tech brand.

I SECURED A BOX SPRING TO THE FACTORY INSTALLED ROOF RACK. THIS LOAD WAS WITHIN THE OWNERS MANUAL SPECS FOR WEIGHT AND SIZE LIMITS. AT APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH THE RACK SHEARED AT THE CONNECTION POINT WHERE THE RAIL THAT RUNS FROM BACK TO FRONT MEETS THE PLASTIC FOOT WHICH MOUNTS TO THE ROOF WITH 2 BOLTS AND EXPANSION NUTS. THE BOX SPRING FLEW OFF THE TOP OF THE VEHICLE AND WENT SKIDDING DOWN THE ROAD AND WAS DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR. SO FAR THE DEALERSHIP HAS REFUSED TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE ROOF RACK. ACCORDING TO THEM A BOX SPRING PUTS TO MUCH STRESS ON THE RACK AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LOADED ON THE VEHICLE. THE OWNERS MANUAL DOES NOT MAKE ANY MENTION OF THIS AND THERE ARE NO SAFETY LABELS ON THE RACK ITSELF. THIS LOAD ACCORDING TO THE MANUAL WAS ACCEPTABLE. IT WAS FORTUNATE THAT THERE WERE NO VEHICLES BEHIND ME AT THE TIME. THE BOX SPRING COULD HAVE CAUSED SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH IF IT HAD HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE. WHEN I FIRST CALLED THE DEALER AFTER THE PROBLEM I ASKED ONLY WHETHER THE ROOF RACK SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE HAVING A FULL SIZE BOX SPRING ON IT. THE PERSON I ASKED TOLD ME IT WOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE LOAD. I THEM LET THEM HIM KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. NOW THEY ARE SAYING IT WASN'T DESIGNED FOR THIS. BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE PRESSURE AND STRESS CREATED BY THIS ITEM. IT VERY WELL COULD HAVE BEEN A CANOE, KAYAK, BICYCLE OR ANY NUMBER OF OTHER ITEMS AND ALSO AT SPEEDS MUCH GREATER THAN THE 45 MPH THAT I WAS TRAVELING. *JB