Electric(Battery problem??)
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: Cornwall NY
Electric(Battery problem??)
Went to start the car the first time since putting it away for the winter. I took out the battery due to it being to low of a charge to start, I put the battery on a charger and when it reached full charge I went to reinstall it. When I tried to connect the neg cable it sparked a little. I thought no big deal, but when i tried to turn the nut with my fingers to start tighten the cable on to the terminal, the nut was super hot to the touch so I quickly disconnected the cable. What would cause this???
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: Cornwall NY
I remember last year if i didnt drive the car for a week, it would crank real slow due to a low battery charge. I wonder if that has something to do with a drain on the battery and the cable getting hot now???
Racer
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 270
Likes: 10
From: Macon Georgia
Are you sure that you didn't connect the charger backwards? If the battery was completely discharged, you wouldn't have struck an arc when you connected the charger cables backwards, so it could have happened. Lead-acid batteries can be reversed charged. Check the polarity of the battery with a voltmeter. Not sure why the cable would get hot when reinstalled in the car unless the diodes in the alternator are acting as shorts due to reverse polarity. Not that familiar with operation of an alternator with reverse bat polarity. Just for "shi_s and giggles", check the battery polarity.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 17,647
Likes: 189
From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Connect one end of an ammeter ( set on high ) to the neg batt post and the other to the battery cable. This is a "series" connection. Make sure nothing is on and see what the meter reads. It should read close to 0 or in the milliamps range 
