Battery mistake

[jmorse1]

Now I've done it!...
I recently found my starting batteries in my 2015 Aspire getting weaker and weaker. They were the originals from 2015, so I decided to go with interstate AGM and replace them.
I was able to remove the old batteries following the Entegra procedure. Getting the new back in was a different situation tho...I hooked up the cables with the new batteries partially in the tray as I needed room/space to make the connections. All was well until I slid the two batteries to seat in the tray when the fireworks began! The positive cable of one caught the negative of the other!
Spark,smoke,fire...then silence...
I'm pulling the batteries out and will try to charge them and I can repair the burned insulation on the cable.
What else am I looking for as far as other damage the short might have caused?
Any suggestions on how to make this safer to do?

John
2015 Aspire 44b

[shootist]

Usually they are on a slide out tray. I doubt you hurt anything. Make sure all jewelry is of your hands and wrists. Tape up the free end of your wrench and have at it

[jmorse1]

Nope...no slide tray on the Aspire.
Is there a tray in the classic Anthem or Cornerstone?

John
2015 Aspire 44b

[jestal]

Since the shorting was confined to the immediate battery area I will hazard a guess that the obvious local burned cables and insulation are your main concern. You will probably have to replace the cables, not just the insulation or plastic armor. If a cable took this kind of load for a period of time it is likely damaged internally and replacement is the only option. just checking them for continuity will not prove they will work under load. Check any visible ground straps on the coach that go from engine to chassis or across parts of the chassis as they may have taken some current if a positive cable/terminal touched part of the structure and sent current back across remote ground straps but this is just a precaution. Not likely a problem. BUT if you do notice something not working electrically on the coach start checking the ground and common ground locations in that area.

Usually this type of incident results in a pretty Snap-on wrench welded to the chassis from a positive terminal.....

I experienced a thermal event in the chasis battery and chassis battery cable wire loom that resulted in all sorts of melted insulation and dead shorts and melted and ruined batteries and had no problems once the OEM cables were replicated, rerouted and new batteries put in.

I'll give your batteries a 50/50 chance or less of still being good. That much current flow internally will usually result in internal connection failure between the plates and cells. it's worth a try charging and trying them but they may have a short life if they do recover.

JMHO......

[donr103]

Do you have solar ?

[RayandWendy]

According to OP, it was his chassis batteries, so only 5 watt solar and usually no slide out tray. The biggest worry is messing with the Spartan Control Module.
Later...
Ray

[Arch Hoagland]

Show me someone who never makes a mistake and I'll show you someone who never does anything. Things happen!

Hope all turns out well for you.

[TandW]

What the douser said.

[chuckftboy]

The location of the terminals on the Interstate batteries isn't the best for parallel battery connections putting the positive and negative post very close to each other. Could have happened to anyone of us. Not fun when a battery shorts out.

[Mwoodofd]

John, are both images from the same compartment, or are the new batteries out and on a tray for you to inspect? Just curious.

I installed mine without hooking them up until they were in place, took a little time and cramped space, but got the terminals started, and taping a wrench with electrical tap is a big help to prevent a shock.

Did the terminals hit the top of the battery opening? Hopefully if all power was off, and the chassis battery disconnect switch was off, nothing on the coach side got damaged.

[jmorse1]

The first photo was the old batteries showing the limited working room and cable connections. The second is showing the new AGMs and positions of the terminals.
I had the batteries on a lift table positioned where the batteries were 1/2 way in the tray and 1/2 on the table. The cables were attached and batteries were in normal operation. The problem occurred as I was pushing the batteries back to fully seat them into the tray. Now that I've removed them and checked what happened, I can see that the insulating shrink wrap on both the positive and negative cables were cracked and rubbing where the two crossed each other. I made the problem worse by wrestling the attached batteries into place.
Tomorrow my new AGM charger arrives and I will attempt to recharge.

John
2015 Aspire 44b

[MRUSA14]

I replaced mine by lifting the batteries into position first and then attaching the wires. It is tight to work in there, but worked out well when done with caution.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

I replaced mine by lifting the batteries into position first and then attaching the wires. It is tight to work in there, but worked out well when done with caution.

Did the same thing. On one of the tight cable I wrapped the end with one wrap of electrical tape until I was ready to put it on the post.

[RVFunlovers]

I did the same thing on the batteries on an Army 5 ton truck back in the early 80’s.

Wrench was mostly gone. Battery box was burned but ok.
Batteries were fine. My shorts needed charging though.

Good Luck