From: michael@tsixroads.com
Date: Tue Sep 14 2004 - 20:43:49 PDT
Good points!
Also consider a battery disconnect switch on the ground side so even hooking
up the ground cable to battery does not complete the circuit until the
switch is thrown. Even then if there is a disaster you can throw the switch
and interrupt ground.
Another thought for folks who have rings they just cant get off is wearing
a pair of those mechanic gloves.
Hal
You would have to have a darn good switch to be able to close it to a dead short and still be able to turn it back off.
In trouble shooting my problem I tapped the ground wire to the neg terminal of the battery that didn't blow up and an impressive amount of sparks flew everywhere. That is when I went looking for the short. There is an impressive amount of power stored in a fully charge car battery. Double that in MVs and you can instantly weld connections closed.
I agree with the suggestion to always remove ground first and hook it up last. In the M35 the + and - slide up under the cab. I don't have a proper battery box but instead use two marine battery boxes. It is a little easier to attach the + , slide the battery in a little then make the - conection, slide that battery in some then connect the two together. Had I made the - connection last I would probably have been positioned over the battery more when it blew and gotten more acid on myself. Of course I might have gotten it unhooked faster and prevented the explosion.
The best solution would have been prevention. I plan the replace the affected wire and check all of the others. I put duct tape on it Sat as a field expedient temp repair and yes I know it won't last long.
Mike
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