# Battery Bungle



## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Well, with the rolling suite all winterized and tucked in for the winter I wanted to make sure all was good so I did a quick inspection of things and found that there was an Item or two that could be removed from the unit. In doing this I decided to take the 2 year old battery we have out of the box and give it a quick check to see how it was holding up. I found that the battery was in very good condition and the converter/charger was doing its job in good fashion.

I reinstalled the battery into the box and began connecting leadsd when I saw a really bright light! Yup Battery leads backwards. Stupid, dumb, ridiculous thing to do. After lambasting myself for not paying attention I inspected the terminal lugs and battery studs and found a bit of "welding" damage to the Negative stud. Whew. Horror stories of exploding batterys eminate from foolishness like this.

Anyway the next stop was the converter panel and a fuse check. Yup both 40 amp fuses were blown. Did I mention that I love fuses? Well I love them. Anyway a quick run to Walmart for some automotive fuses another battery check and a Positve to positive little + sign? yup... Negative to negative little - sign? Yup.. good to go. Everything is working properly.

I think the moral of the story is whether you're new to tinkering with your Outback or an old hand, things can happen. Even those things you feel you know like the back of your hand and have become quite a,b,c, 1,2,3ish still provide the potential for accident and injury.

Another side note is that both of my battery cables *WERE*  black. A little flagging will prevent this error from happening again. I have been an Aviation Electrician in the Navy for 21years and now work at a nuclear plant. Electricity has been a part of my everyday work for years. DC/AC 10, 20, 120, 125, 220, 440, 12KV, 1380KV. I am around it all. Sure would be ironic to get injured by a 12V battery at home. (Not to mention I would not live it down at work!)

I like the STAR idea. Stop Think Act and Review. *Stop* and think about what you are doing, *Think * about what might go wrong and what you expect to happen, *Act*: perform the step and *Review*: Did you get the results you expected? Yeah, It sows thing down a bit but if you apply this sort of strategy when doing something you aren't familiar with or with something that has POTENTIAL, you could save yourself some pain or heartache.

Just a note from Murphy!

Eric


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

OUCH!








But very lucky, Eric!

Last year before removing my batteries for the winter, I took photos of each battery that clearly showed the wiring configuration on each. I keep prints of those photo's in my folder with all the Outback manuals now, and will use them to verify what I am doing, each time I reconnect the batteries. Just one more chance to catch a mistake before closing that battery cut-off switch.









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## willie226 (Apr 4, 2006)

Glad everything worked out I have had a battery blowup on me 
before not fun

Willie


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Sure am glad to hear the only damage done was repairable/replaceable. We really like having you guys living nearby!


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Thanks for sharing.

I label my connections before I remove the batteries. Upon install I get my neighbour to double check prior to making the last connection.

Thor


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Check the radio. The inline fuse (it is behind the radio) for it has a tendency to pop when the battery is connected back wards.


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## h2oman (Nov 17, 2005)

I've done it too!


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

I did check everything in the TT just to make sure. And all is well. Like I said I love fuses!!











wolfwood said:


> Sure am glad to hear the only damage done was repairable/replaceable. We really like having you guys living nearby!










I think we like living MORE, near you guys! Thanks Wolfie!


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## bweiler (Sep 20, 2005)

I felt your pain...

As Andy said - check the radio fuse - It's a bugger to get until you remove the wiring harness!


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

PDX_Doug said:


> Last year before removing my batteries for the winter, I took photos of each battery that clearly showed the wiring configuration on each. I keep prints of those photo's in my folder with all the Outback manuals now, and will use them to verify what I am doing, each time I reconnect the batteries. Just one more chance to catch a mistake before closing that battery cut-off switch.


But Doug, that doesn't help when you keep that folder in the Outback and connect the battery in the Spring so you can turn on the light to read.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Moosegut said:


> Last year before removing my batteries for the winter, I took photos of each battery that clearly showed the wiring configuration on each. I keep prints of those photo's in my folder with all the Outback manuals now, and will use them to verify what I am doing, each time I reconnect the batteries. Just one more chance to catch a mistake before closing that battery cut-off switch.


But Doug, that doesn't help when you keep that folder in the Outback and connect the battery in the Spring so you can turn on the light to read.








[/quote]


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Close one Eric!

Glad everything turned out okay...

I think you need to find something else to do for the winter...how are your knitting skills?


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Shocking.......just shocking.









Ok, someone had to say it.

Consider it a jibe from a BB Stacker Eric.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I have a small diagram on the Outback (behind the propane tank) that I use to ensure I don't do exactly what you did. Get a bit more interesting with two 6v batteries as the wiring is different then you would normally wire a 12v battery.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Moosegut said:


> Last year before removing my batteries for the winter, I took photos of each battery that clearly showed the wiring configuration on each. I keep prints of those photo's in my folder with all the Outback manuals now, and will use them to verify what I am doing, each time I reconnect the batteries. Just one more chance to catch a mistake before closing that battery cut-off switch.


But Doug, that doesn't help when you keep that folder in the Outback and connect the battery in the Spring so you can turn on the light to read.








[/quote]
That's why I connect the batteries outside... In the daylight!








(Jeez, do I have to explain everything to you guys!







)

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

hatcityhosehauler said:


> Last year before removing my batteries for the winter, I took photos of each battery that clearly showed the wiring configuration on each. I keep prints of those photo's in my folder with all the Outback manuals now, and will use them to verify what I am doing, each time I reconnect the batteries. Just one more chance to catch a mistake before closing that battery cut-off switch.


But Doug, that doesn't help when you keep that folder in the Outback and connect the battery in the Spring so you can turn on the light to read.








[/quote]
That's why I connect the batteries outside... In the daylight!








(Jeez, do I have to explain everything to you guys!







)

Happy Trails,
Doug
[/quote]

What would we do with out you Doug?!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

egregg57 said:


> What would we do with out you Doug?!


...read a lot less?


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> What would we do with out you Doug?!


...read a lot less?
[/quote]

....and probably have a bunch more bandwidth for Outbackers.........











> There's always an AO in crowd somewhere! For those unaware, AO is a Rating in the Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman, BB Stacker, Knucle Dragger etc, etc, etc.


You forgot, Ordie, Brain surgeon, gorilla, red shirt, rocket scientist, etc, etc, etc.......

.....I forgot about knuckle dragger









Tim


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## tripphammer (Oct 3, 2006)

Because of this thread, I made sure that I put some duct tape on the end of each cable and then used a Sharpie to label them. Otherwise, I'd almost bet I might commit the same







next spring.
Take Care,
Tripp


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