Backwards battery hookups...

[Howard Sterndrive]

Is it just me... ? or have I just read way too many threads with this theme...

If you aren't 100% sure....please don't make the connection

For one thing- Frying the boat's entire electrical system is no fun.

But, When you start to add a second paralleled battery to the picture (as many boats have), you can lose your face, and other valuable assets like your eardrums and lungs....

You don't want to be head first in the bilge when one of these "bombs" goes off.

Remove all rings and other jewelery, remove pens, glasses, tools and keys from breast pockets, and never set wrenches or other tools on top of the case.
Wear safety glasses and never smoke around batteries.

Never intentionally short a battery- e.g. click jumper cable ends together to check for power... that's bad news

 

[jimiceman]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

did he get hurt

 

[seaboo]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

"Remove all rings and other jewelery, remove pens, glasses, tools and keys from breast pockets, and never set wrenches or other tools on top of the case".

+1
Once my watchband hit the positive post on the battery, and the metal frame (I was working on a motorcycle, but the principle applies), by the time I unhooked my watch the band was glowing red and I sported a nice burn on my wrist. Despite the fact that battery maintenance is kinda simple and a common event, RESPECT it and don't make a stupid mistake.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

I've never had it happen to me, but i've heard of it happening to others. I think it was rodbolt who said it happened to him once (exploding battery, not hooking up wires backwards). He also said it's a reminder to remember our own mortality.

I do loadtest 100's of batterys a year though, and I will tell anybody this. If you go to loadtest a battery, and you hear it start to boil, the battery is shorted internally. Don't even disconnect the loadtester, just put it down, and walk away quickly. Give it whatever time your comfortable with to go back to it, then go back with heavy clothes on and remove your load tester and dispose of the battery asap. As old as a lead acid battery is technology wise... they can can be bombs and blow up in your face.

 

[Bill Kilgore]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

I heard a story once of a man who wanted to check the water levels in a battery. It was dark, he had no flashlight, he did have a Bic Lighter, the Bic lighter worked, there was an explosion, he now uses a flashlight. I did not see it myself so who knows how accurate the story is, although I am related to some people I who could have easily done it.

 

[blairjbyrd]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

I have seen my buddy get hit by a battery, was not pretty. He had electrical burns up and down his arms. Scared me enough to pay attention to what im doing when messing around with batteries

 

[jack gardner]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

i never wear a ring wedding or not .saw a mechanic friend have his burnt into is finger watch same story i do work on all srts of vehicles wives never complained just there sisters and mothers did eaven after explaining

 

[ifallsguy]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

Many moons ago (back when the dinosaurs swam in the lakes) I worked in a garage. A guy comes in just before closing, needing a new battery in his car. The boss tells me to pull the old battery while he went for a new one. The boss comes back, tells me to get the pump readings and he will put in the battery. I tried to warn him the cable were in backwards (black=positive, red=negative), but he said just go read the pumps. About 30 seconds later, BOOOOOM.

Boss comes out, sprayed with acid, chewing me out. The car owner came to my rescue when he said "the kid was trying to warn you when you told him to get out".

Learned by lesson to backtrack EVERY cable to make sure they are right. I've seen a number of boats up here with both cables the same color. I have no idea why or who hooked them up, but I never hang around when they play with their batteries. More than one has had a cloud of smoke when they smoke their electronics.

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

I honestly think people who cannot manage to hook up a battery the correct way really should just stick to being dumb.

In my opinion 98 % of us can hook the positive to the positive, etc..

The 2 percent who can't......well I just think they should pay everyone to do work for them. I don't know how anyone in their right mind would screw that up.

 

[skargo]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

I honestly think people who cannot manage to hook up a battery the correct way really should just stick to being dumb.

In my opinion 98 % of us can hook the positive to the positive, etc..

The 2 percent who can't......well I just think they should pay everyone to do work for them. I don't know how anyone in their right mind would screw that up.

Yup. And what kinds of batteries are these backwards geniuses using. Mine all seem to have a bigger diameter positive terminal.

 

[Doug N.]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

Okay. Here is where I paid the stupid tax. I put a 9 volt radio battery in my pocket and it grounded against change to give me a quarter size burn. The embarassing thing was to drop my jeans in front of my buddy's sister. But that's better than a battery blow up.

 

[roostonu]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

You don't have to hook them up wrong or even be jump starting for them to blow. I have seen a battery blow up just because of a bad connection while cranking. Batteries produce a flamable gas, more so when discharged. You always connect negative last because there is less chance of a spark there. That is also why you try to connect the ground clamp on the dead vehicle to somewhere other than the battery itself.

 

[mciaio]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

Remove all rings and other jewelery...

LOL, nice screen name, anyway... "big fan, big fan"

I went to tech school upstate NY with a dude who lost the ring finger on his left hand. He was changing a starter under a truck on a lift. His ring got caught between the frame rail and the starter battery post. It get red hot in an instant and cut his finger off. Never bled, sealed shut the instant the ring cut through.

You know, it sounded reasonable when he told me... now I am not so sure! Cut through bone and all??

 

[z1nonlyone]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

You don't have to hook them up wrong or even be jump starting for them to blow. I have seen a battery blow up just because of a bad connection while cranking. Batteries produce a flamable gas, more so when discharged. You always connect negative last because there is less chance of a spark there. That is also why you try to connect the ground clamp on the dead vehicle to somewhere other than the battery itself.

Spoken like a true mechanic!

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

"Doug aren't you glad it wasnt your front pocket?
ALWAYS TAKE THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL OFF THE BATTERY FIRST AND PUT IT BACK ON LAST, THIS WAY A SLIPPED WRENCH TO GROUND WONT MAKE A SHORT CKT FROM THE POSITIVE TERMINAL

 

[DrWiffel]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

The embarassing thing was to drop my jeans in front of my buddy's sister.

Yeah right; you know you wanted too...
lol

 

[roostonu]

Re: Backwards battery hookups...

Spoken like a true mechanic!

You got it. Used to be full time but only part time here and there for the last 9 years. If I was really on top of it I would have remembered what gas it is that the battery produces. I'm thinking it's hydrogen gas isn't it?