Minor, or major, oops when hooking up batteries?

[DuneElliot]

I was hooking up my battery system in parallel. I probably should have hooked up the ground wire first but I didn't. I hooked up all the positives in parallel and was just getting started on connecting all the negative terminals when one of the negative wires fell and connected with the positive terminal of the battery next to it. It sparked pretty good and managed to melt a portion of the terminal and the cable eye, and caused a little fire (which I put out quickly). It only sparked for a few seconds before I could grab it. Have I completely ruined my brand new batteries? And if so, all of them or just the two that connected?

I didn't blow a fuse or trip the GFCI is in the fifth wheel or at the outlet in my house.

Any info would be helpful.

 

[BradKW]

Until someone gives a more definitive answer, I'll just say that I'm pretty sure you're ok, batteries should be fine...

 

[John61CT]

Wow! Lucky. . .

Only way to tell is to live test, I would say separately just in case.

What voltage? Flooded or sealed? What chemistry? How big?

Fully charge, rest a couple hours, check voltage, charge some more until up to spec a really full.

Put on a large load, see how long it takes to get down to 50-60% or so.

Re-charge back to full as above.

Are they broken in yet?

If all seems OK, connect up the whole bank and keep close monitoring while in use.

If you don't have the tools, maybe take them to a pro.

 

[Wabbit]

Not sure because I can't see what happened, but I have had jumper cables hooked to a car battery and accidentally crossed the side of cables, lots of sparks, but didn't blow up or ruin battery. However, if components were hooked up, that might be different.

Fuses. Solar to charge controller should have a fuse(close to CC). Charge controller to battery should be fused(close to battery). All power leads from battery to whatever should be fused. Again close to battery. This is just my limited knowledge.

Someone else with more knowledge might be able to help with your question. Hope its all OK!

 

[DuneElliot]

Wow! Lucky. . .

Only way to tell is to live test, I would say separately just in case.

What voltage? Flooded or sealed? What chemistry? How big?

Fully charge, rest a couple hours, check voltage, charge some more until up to spec a really full.

Put on a large load, see how long it takes to get down to 50-60% or so.

Re-charge back to full as above.

Are they broken in yet?

If all seems OK, connect up the whole bank and keep close monitoring while in use.

If you don't have the tools, maybe take them to a pro.

I have absolutely no idea how to do any of this.

They were fully charged and are brand new as I was putting them in...only received them yesterday. Sealed AGM 100AH batteries. I don't have any components hooked up to them

 

[Wabbit]

Finish your install, replace melted\damaged parts. If it was just for a second, you should be fine, but I don't used sealed batteries.

 

[SternWake]

The batteries are fine if it was just a few seconds.
Nothing need be done, but be more careful in the future.

If other decives were hooked to them at the time, they might not appreciate the shorting at the battery.

 

[DuneElliot]

Finish your install, replace melted\damaged parts. If it was just for a second, you should be fine, but I don't used sealed batteries.

Sadly the posts of the battery are not removable. It is still solid, just a little melted up one side.

The batteries are fine if it was just a few seconds.
  Nothing need be done, but be more careful in the future.

If other decives were hooked to them at the time, they might not appreciate the shorting at the battery.

Yes, just a few seconds. Trust me, it wasn't intentional...cable just slipped out of my hand and made contact. Thankfully nothing was connected.

 

[highdesertranger]

you are fine. remember you can stick weld with batteries, which is basically a dead short. highdesertranger

 

[DuneElliot]

you are fine.  remember you can stick weld with batteries,  which is basically a dead short.  highdesertranger

I did not know this. Thank you.

Y'all have given me some peace of mind.

 

[GotSmart]

Sadly the posts of the battery are not removable. It is still solid, just a little melted up one side.


Yes, just a few seconds. Trust me, it wasn't intentional...cable just slipped out of my hand and made contact. Thankfully nothing was connected.

Pictures please.  I had an old Italian Bus Mechanic that reinforced by smacking me and yell Ground Immediately.  Fuse everything. Its cheap insurance.

 

[John61CT]

I have absolutely no idea how to do any of this.

Well, do what it takes to start learning, Google, YouTube, post and ask. That is, if you want to get the value you've paid for, get them to last for years rather than months.

Don't exceed the mfg voltage charging (14.7?), but do make sure they get to true 100% (not 97%) every other cycle if not every.

Low absorption voltage and too short a time before going to float will murder them. Don't let them sit discharged, refill ASAP.

You're not just charging off the alt right? Use shore power overnight and/or solar. Get a big charger, amps 20-25% (up to 40% is OK that's *minimum* for Odyssey) of bank's AH rating. Proper voltage and temp sensing directly on the battery.

Don't draw them down too low (40-50% max), get a good SoC monitor like Balmar SmartGauge.

Don't let them get too hot, etc etc. Read your docs!

-----
And do be sure to **break them in** properly before putting them into production.

http://www.amplepower.com/primer/break-in/index.html

AGM, I'd say 6-7 cycles.

 

[Wabbit]

...Y'all have given me some peace of mind...

Good to hear! Although I seem to remember a story about a mechanic who was giving a jump to a bus filled with some elementary students heading to a national spelling bee. Well, long story short he accidentally crossed the positive and negative posts for just a sec, there was the big spark but he just corrected the jumper cable connections and got them back on the road. Later, all the kids and the driver DIED!

It was like 80 years later they died, but still...scary stuff man!

*crickets*

 

[GotSmart]

So how bout dem Yankies?   

 

[Txjaybird]

Ummm............How do you know they were fully charged?  Just asking.

Jewellann

 

[DuneElliot]

Ummm............How do you know they were fully charged?  Just asking.

Jewellann

I'd charged them all with my charger the night before when I unpacked them, or at least I put them on my charger and after a few seconds my charger said they were full. I have a reliable charger so trusting what it said...also all reviews on these batteries commented that they had arrived fully-charged, although I checked and charged for myself to be sure.

 

[bullfrog]

Well look at it this way, you just had your first welding lesson and didn't mention getting burned!

 

[DuneElliot]

Well look at it this way, you just had your first welding lesson and didn't mention getting burned!

Lol...I'm actually not a completely terrible welder, although only with wire-feed so far and nothing structural

 

[IGBT]

You really should treat the batteries like they are a stick of dynamite and not be quite so careless.   If you ever drop something with a really low resistance that can handle a lot of amps, like a wrench, across the battery terminals in a parallel banked system, it could explode into hot fragments (the wrench, not the battery).

Power = I^2 * R.   If R is 0.01 ohm and I is 2000 amps, the power dissipated in the wrench is 40,000 watts.  The wrench will heat up very fast since it cannot dissipate 40,000 watts into the air fast enough.  When it gets past the melting point of the Chinese alloy that was used to make it, globs of white hot metal are going to spray all over your hands and face.

So cover the positive terminals with a plastic insulator and keep all of your 12V connections as insulated as possible so things cannot short against them.

 

[Wabbit]

...not be quite so careless....

....it could explode into hot fragments (the wrench, not the battery)...

My dad always said, accidents don't happen if you're careful, I believed that when I was a child, but after I grew up I realized that sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are, accidents can and do happen.

But the battery would still be OK...good to hear, Wrench's are cheap...