urgent
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,346
Likes: 4
From: Connecticut
urgent
I was disconnecting the battery on drivers side when my wrench that was unscrewing the positive cable hit the neg cable and made a spark...and now no power to vehicle... Fuse somewhere???Key was not in the ignition when this happened.....
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 17,988
Likes: 207
From: La La Land
Naaaaa, that doesn't sound right. This was just a wrench across one of the battery's terminals, right?
Check to ensure that all your battery connections are clean.
What's a test meter read, voltage-wise, across a battery?
Pop
Check to ensure that all your battery connections are clean.
What's a test meter read, voltage-wise, across a battery?
Pop
Thread Starter
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,346
Likes: 4
From: Connecticut
yea wrench was removing pos cable and the end of the wrench hit the negative side and a spark and out go the lights.voltage reads 12.33
Postmaster
Joined: Jan 2009
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From: AL, Reform
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,346
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From: Connecticut
Pop you made me stop and check the basics which I didnt do ...I just went out to make sure the connections were tight and guess what?nope..Tightened up the pos cable and wahlah ....Thank you ..I had visions of a fried pcm...Did that when I was 16 years old hooking up a battery backwards...
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,192
Likes: 7
From: Belgrade, MT
Just a guess
Just a guess, but I would venture to say most of us have done some arc welding with a wrench on a battery once or twice over the years, I know I have done it a time or two. Scares a person more than anything, absolute worst case is the battery explodes, hence a safety tip i will toss out.
I am sure most have heard more than a time or ten, always wear safety glasses when dealing with car batteries, I have a friend who still sees the scars on his eyes in bright light from an exploding battery 20 years ago, just out of high school.
I am sure most have heard more than a time or ten, always wear safety glasses when dealing with car batteries, I have a friend who still sees the scars on his eyes in bright light from an exploding battery 20 years ago, just out of high school.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 25,090
Likes: 1,111
From: Rio Rico, AZ.
Just a guess, but I would venture to say most of us have done some arc welding with a wrench on a battery once or twice over the years, I know I have done it a time or two. Scares a person more than anything, absolute worst case is the battery explodes, hence a safety tip i will toss out.
I am sure most have heard more than a time or ten, always wear safety glasses when dealing with car batteries, I have a friend who still sees the scars on his eyes in bright light from an exploding battery 20 years ago, just out of high school.
I am sure most have heard more than a time or ten, always wear safety glasses when dealing with car batteries, I have a friend who still sees the scars on his eyes in bright light from an exploding battery 20 years ago, just out of high school.
The whole top of the battery dissappeared and I ran for the sink to rinse off.
Went home that night with 100 little holes eaten into my t-shirt from the battery acid spray. It looked like I'd been shot at with a sawed off loaded with rock salt.
Post Fiend
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 6,096
Likes: 26
From: Mesa AZ
Glad you found the fix.
I always like to disconnect the negative cable first. On a two battery set up, I disconnect the negative cables on both batteries and then go back and remove the positive cables. Doesn't keep me from shorting directly across the terminals but it does keep me from shorting to the fender or radiator or anything else that is grounded.
I always like to disconnect the negative cable first. On a two battery set up, I disconnect the negative cables on both batteries and then go back and remove the positive cables. Doesn't keep me from shorting directly across the terminals but it does keep me from shorting to the fender or radiator or anything else that is grounded.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 17,988
Likes: 207
From: La La Land
OK, the "lesson for the day"
When working on batteries, ALWAYS REMOVE THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL FIRST!
In our case, remove BOTH the negative terminals FIRST!
Why? If you make a cross to ground while removing the negative terminal, nothing happens.
Then, after the negative terminals are removed, if you make an accidental crossing with ground while removing the positive terminals, nothing will STILL happen.
Of course, a terminal-to-terminal crossing, like in this case, will still get you a "hot" wrench. There's a remote chance of opening a path inside the battery, which thankfully didn't happen here, but that's pretty rare.
EDIT: gchavez, while I was writing, you were posting my sentiments EXACTLY! Kudos and reps go out to you!
Pop
When working on batteries, ALWAYS REMOVE THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL FIRST!
In our case, remove BOTH the negative terminals FIRST!
Why? If you make a cross to ground while removing the negative terminal, nothing happens.
Then, after the negative terminals are removed, if you make an accidental crossing with ground while removing the positive terminals, nothing will STILL happen.
Of course, a terminal-to-terminal crossing, like in this case, will still get you a "hot" wrench. There's a remote chance of opening a path inside the battery, which thankfully didn't happen here, but that's pretty rare.
EDIT: gchavez, while I was writing, you were posting my sentiments EXACTLY! Kudos and reps go out to you!
Pop
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 26,966
Likes: 50
From: Texas
Been there myself, except I was wearing eye protection.
The whole top of the battery dissappeared and I ran for the sink to rinse off.
Went home that night with 100 little holes eaten into my t-shirt from the battery acid spray. It looked like I'd been shot at with a sawed off loaded with rock salt.
The whole top of the battery dissappeared and I ran for the sink to rinse off.
Went home that night with 100 little holes eaten into my t-shirt from the battery acid spray. It looked like I'd been shot at with a sawed off loaded with rock salt.
I didn't enjoy the game either.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 17,988
Likes: 207
From: La La Land
Sometimes you can dry things out, and/or rinse and dry with deionized or distilled water, but once you "let the smoke out" by reversing the direction of the electrons, there's not much hope.
Once in a great while you'll find a designer who will put a protection diode in the circuit at the input to the box, but it's rare in a "cost-cutting" world.
I actually paint my positive terminals and battery post tops with red paint.
Heck, at this point in life, I need all the "help" I can get!
Pop