Battery Charger use

I know that when jump-starting a car, you're not supposed to hook the clamp on the dead batt directly to the negative battery post b/c of the hydrogen gasses that build-up in the area, & the spark that would occur when removing the cable could ignite said gasses HOWEVER, If my presumption is correct, it would be ok to clamp DIRECTLY to both POSTS if I were to use a plug-in battery charger (that has an "Engine Start" option), just as long as I turned OFF the power to the charger BEFORE disconnecting the clamps-- as there'd be no chance of sparks or arcing, that way... right? AND, should the car crank right-up using the "Engine Start" option, or do I have to wait a few minutes for it to charge the batt? (I lost the owner's manual to the charger, & cant find one online ["EverStart Charger50"])
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Uggs (http://uggstoreshop.com/)

I've got a smaller model EverStart and have charged as you described with no issues of sparking (clamps on battery terminals and unplugged before connecting and disconnecting). Mine does not have a starting capability, but I have done so after letting it charge a few minutes just as when using a second vehicle...but I don't make a habit of it. I should probably read the instructions again as a refresher....(prepares for flaming)

However, manuals that I've found describe attaching to solid ground away from battery terminal for charging and starting. Here's a link to a site with free manuals, this one for a similar Schumacher brand (and possibly the same model just rebadged). You can search for one that matches your unit's specs:

http://manuals.batterychargers.com/manuals/00-99-000297.pdf

Hope this helps!

Conceptually you're correct, you could connect directly to the battery if you're sure there is no current available from the charger. But, if the battery is in the car where there should be plenty of available grounding points other than the battery, why not use a solid ground? I say this, but admittedly do not practice what I preach....

I have a Vector SMPS smart charger with the engine start feature. On my charger, once I enable the engine start feature the display begins to count down from 10. When the count reaches '0' it's ready for me to crank the starter over. Depending on the residual charge in the battery, the countdown is not necessarily 10 seconds, the time between sequential numbers varies slightly from battery to battery.

-Rod

It is generally accepted as good practice to ground to something other than the battery whenever you jump or charge a battery. If you ever have a battery explode on you, you will not deviate from the generally accepted practice :P

As long as you're sure there is no juice from the charger, clamp it directly to the battery. No reason to potentially hinder the flow of juice if there is no risk of spark.

With jumper cables, the only way to prevent spark near the battery is to make the last connection a ground OTHER than the battery, but for 30 years I have been connecting the charger directly to the battery and then plugging it in. No explosions... yet :)