G'day Paul,



08 Mar 97 21:10, Paul Edwards wrote to Terry Smith:



 PE>>> The negative node/terminal (forget the proper name) on the

 PE>>> battery was very hot, too hot to touch.  The lights were still



 TS>> If it's your lucky day, the battery hasn't been charging because

 TS>> of the faulty earth contact.

 PE>     ^^^



 PE> "the" implies that there definitely is one.



Your battery only has one earth, doesn't it???



 PE> Why do I have a faulty earth contact,



Because it has probably never been cleaned.



 PE> and where is it?



On the battery...  the terminal marked "-"



 PE> Can you tell this from the fact that it's hot?



Can we tell it is a faulty contact from the fact it's getting hot?

Sure we can - a good contact doesn't get hot.



 PE> I'll have to see if my new battery is also hot.



The battery shouldn't get hot at all (unless you're overcharging it).

The terminal on your new battery shouldn't get hot like the old one,

'cos I assume that when you change it you'll be cleaning the contacts.



The reason it gets hot is all related to Ohms law...  a bad contact =

high(er) resistance, and for any given amount of current being drawn

this increases the power dissipated by this resistance..  the more

power dissipated (ie, the greater the resistance) the more heat will

be generated.

A good connection has a theoretical resistance of zero ohms, meaning

no heat will be generated at all.



Cheers,

Rod



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