12v symptoms I don't understand
Today while switching out 12v batteries my wrench momentarily shorted positive to trailer body (it sparked a little), I already had negative connected. Since then it appears that I only have 12v power...
Forum Discussion
scroller95969 wrote:
Wouldn't anything that was grounded to the frame have been briefly charged through the ground when the wrench touched the body?
No. The current would have flowed from the battery positive through the wrench to the frame and through the frame to the point where the battery negative/ground was connected to the frame, then through the battery negative/ground back to the battery. Devices connected to the battery positive and to the frame or battery ground would see a drastic lowering of voltage, followed by a rapid rise, but it wouldn't have differed much from what they see when turned on/off with a switch.
Due to the high current, points along the path of the current through the frame and the ground cable would have briefly had a raised potential (voltage), but not higher than the battery positive terminal voltage. It's possible that the very high current through the frame sought out an unusual path through one or more wires connected to the frame. Corroded connections could have exacerbated the likelihood of that and resulted in damaged wiring or other odd problems. Clearly something happened and troubleshooting should tell us what (we're all curious).
I'm embarrassed to say that I've accidentally shorted batteries to the frame (briefly) also, but I've never seen any damage from it - just sparks and a little weld mark on the wrench to remind me to be more careful.
