Heck yeah! The new "smart chargers" don't like to supply voltage when they don't feel a load. In my case, I got this run down Yamaha with an expensive battery that my charger said was bad. So I kept the charger on the battery, red lamps and all, and then applied the pos and neg leads to the tank and anode and just rolled with it. I kept my voltmeter hooked to it, and over time, the damned charger actually started charging the battery, and now suddenly I no longer have a "bad" battery! It now sits in the restored Yamaha, keeps a charge, and everything is hunky fricking dory! LOL, those who have these smart chargers and see their relatively new batteries fail will appreciate this.
So I recommend a battery for anyone doing this, if nothing else to maintain steady voltage, and it should trick your new smart charger into getting with the program, no matter what it thinks.
If I could only convince HP that my printer really does need new ink, despite the lies my printer is reporting via my band width to HP, who has taken control over my printer, and probably my smart charger, and several GFI outlets in the garage. (Psychic Spies from China)