Fried my Battery

[Tom F.]

Installed my two batteries today and accidentally crossed the + and - leads on one of them and got the big spark before I shut it down. Melted out the leads on the smaller wires and now nothing works. Does anyone know how to rectify this dumb move??

[Dragos Filimon]

Inspect the wires, replace the burnt ones, get new battery, and when you feel like having fun, cross them again....

[seahouse]

So when you switch to just the properly connected battery only, still nothing works at all anywhere? Then there must be a failure in a fusible link or fuse or a diode meant to protect against reverse current that is fairly close to the battery (since it affects everything) that has opened (after some other things burned out first). If you disconnected it immediately you might not need a new battery (if it's not too old) charge it and see.

There are a lot of possible variables that could affect how complicated this is and how to fix it, like exactly how you crossed the wires, how the Perko switch was set, how the wires are connected, and which wires got crossed. Some circuits are protected from this by a diode that is deliberately placed to burn out before other things in the circuit do.

[mrron_tx]

So when you switch to just the properly connected battery only, still nothing works at all anywhere? Then there must be a failure in a fusible link or fuse or a diode meant to protect against reverse current that is fairly close to the battery (since it affects everything) that has opened (after some other things burned out first). If you disconnected it immediately you might not need a new battery (if it's not too old) charge it and see.

There are a lot of possible variables that could affect how complicated this is and how to fix it, like exactly how you crossed the wires, how the Perko switch was set, how the wires are connected, and which wires got crossed. Some circuits are protected from this by a diode that is deliberately placed to burn out before other things in the circuit do.

And..... by getting Yourself a multi-meter ,You can find all those hidden fused links etc etc. Best of luck. Ron.

[seahouse]

So when you switch to just the properly connected battery only, still nothing works at all anywhere? Then there must be a failure in a fusible link or fuse or a diode meant to protect against reverse current that is fairly close to the battery (since it affects everything) that has opened (after some other things burned out first). If you disconnected it immediately you might not need a new battery (if it's not too old) charge it and see.

There are a lot of possible variables that could affect how complicated this is and how to fix it, like exactly how you crossed the wires, how the Perko switch was set, how the wires are connected, and which wires got crossed. Some circuits are protected from this by a diode that is deliberately placed to burn out before other things in the circuit do.

And..... by getting Yourself a multi-meter ,You can find all those hidden fused links etc etc. Best of luck. Ron.

Yup, good suggestion. That or a test light. (Which, in a pinch, you can make yourself from a 12V car light bulb and a couple of pieces of wire).

[Mark]

So how comfortable are you working around batteries in general, present day fireworks notwithstanding?

Without seeing a picture, I'd hazard a guess that even though it looks kinda horrible at the moment most of the time most likely you can replace the wires, the circuit protection device, and recharge the battery and be off just a little bit wiser for the experience.

It sounds like you need some guidance in selecting some tools. As mentioned already, a multimeter and test light are both quite helpful to have. Each one can do the job of the other within reason and also each one does it's own job quite well.

Th test lights are nice and fast when something does not work, just hook the test light clip to a terminal then touch the light to the other terminal. It should light up. Now just follow the wire until you get to a place where the light does not go on when it should, and hopefully you can find the break in the connection that is causing the problem.

You can also use a multimeter for the same thing, but the light is both faster and more convenient. You can also buy both of them off ebay from US sellers for less than $10.

In regards to your battery, crazy as it sounds often a lot of times after a heavy discharge like that long as you recharge the battery promptly and not let it sit flat for a week or two they pretty much recover. I would at least put a charge into it and see what it does.

If you are still confused about where the fault is, you could take a picture or two of the burned wires and possibly the problems can be seen.

Good luck! Just realize you are not the first person to seriously smoke some wires and you won't be the last either!