<VV> Battry Spllosions

[Rick Norris]

Way back at my second job ever, lot boy and general gofer at the local 
Pontiac dealer (early sixties) I saw my first battery explosion.
The used car manager always had one or two pre-owned units that were hard to 
start. His usual habit was to jump the
batteries in series instead of parallel to make 24 volts instead of 12. I 
was amazed at the speed increase of the starter motor.
Of course it would overheat the starter quickly if you engaged it for too 
long a time.
On this occasion I was in the car turning the switch while he held the 
jumper cable clamps firmly on the terminals.
This was because the clamps were mangled from misuse. For some reason he 
decided to pull the clamps off while I still held
the switch to the start position. This caused a large arc which blew the top 
of the battery off in his face! Luckily he was not
seriously hurt but the acid damaged the paint and the dealership owner 
chewed his butt out about being told not doing that anymore.
I learned by others mistakes!

Rick Norris
#36 Sunoco Corvair
www.corvairalley.com