yep.  yep.  No problem.

Now, why wait for a battery charger to do it's job.  General concensus in
Minnesnowta is the following:

        -  Drive at Freeway Speeds (50 mph+) without headlights on
           for 10 to 15 minutes and your battery will be charged up
                            AS MUCH AS IT CAN BE.  -

So if you got it started, then went off on your business, you probably got
the battery charged up enough.  If you continue to have problems, you would
need to be look at charging system problems, or a failed battery.

HOWEVER, I don't think that your problems are a. over; or b. identified
properly yet.

Looking at Bently pages 97.180 and 97.182 I note that the heated seats get
their power from current track 15.  Current track 15 is hot ONLY when the
IGNITION IS ON.

That would mean that when you stated "I inadventantly left my seat heater
on and it drained my battery", this should not have made any differeence to
the battery because the seats would NOT have power applied if the ignition
switch was off!

Here's hoping your problems are resolved, and you didn't rewire the seats
to be hot all the time.

on-on

Ch

'89 SyncroBeast Vanagon - Soon to come - New Shocks for the Syncro!
                                 Soon as I get rid of the rust.  ugh - rust
'87 16V GTI
'80 850 Yamaha Special
'87 16V GTI w/ hale damage - parting out - body gone, parts remain
'89 16V GTI w/ toasted motor
'86 Scirocco (8 valve w/ auto) - SO's

Prior Lake, MinneSnowta

**** SNIP ORIGINAL ****
>SUBJECT: Can you charge a battery that is still in the vehicle? (Was: Cold
>         Start problem)
>
>Why do I blame my van for things that are my fault? I inadventantly left my
>seat heater on and it drained my battery, hence my start problems. I broke
>out my trusty 20' ONE GAUGE (!) jumper cables (on sale at Canadian Tire
>until this Friday) and she started right up.

>This may be a silly question but I'd like to charge the battery on my
>external caharger but I'm wondering if I have to pull it out to do so? Would
>it be dangerous to leave it in while its charging? Keep in mind it is pretty
>damn cold in my carport (-6C)...
>
>Thanks,
>Chris Gronski
>Toronto, Ontario,