[Buick]

Hi guys,

A wire connected to the positive battery terminal caused a short circuit. I moved it around and it hit the body :-( Yes, stupid.... Hadn't install a fuse yet and didn't disconnect the battery... I was a bit in a hurry.

It was a nice spark and everything seems to be working, but can the battery be damaged?

[edit]
Battery is a Century Overlander 4WD and the indicator used to be green but is now black. Hence my concerns....

 

[OILRIG]

should be fine mate, maybe throw it on charge overnight then take it to battery world or somewhere like that and get them to load test it and. will tell you if its ok or not.

 

[drivesafe]

Hi Buick, ask most mechanics and they will show you a spanner or some other tool they have dropped over a battery’s terminals and while the tool will show some scares, the battery is very rarely damaged.

In your case where you have shorted a wire connected to the battery, the current load would be much lower than that when bridging the battery’s terminals at the terminals.

So unless your battery is on it’s last legs, you will have caused no harm to the battery.

 

[Derb]

battery short

Hi Buick. Any battery worth it's salt will blow away a fault/short circuit unless it's a very heavy cable. If the battery dies - it was "Ted" anyway. Cheers, Derb.

 

[Buick]

Thanks guys.
After a night on the charger the indicator is green and the car still starts.

 

[smiffy3011]

I did something similar today and have a burnt finger to prove it.
Battery seems fine though.

 

[jimako]

The batterys can take a fair bit of punishment, Ever tried arc welding with a battery ?

 

[mad-marc]

I did try it once. great for bushcraft.

Here's a tutorial.
YouTube - Arc Welding with 3 Car Batteries (Tutorial & Demo)