WHATASITUATION

My great mate Steve Phillips coined this phrase and right at that point when everything has gone to shit, Steve has that amazing ability to drop a word like this and put a smile on everyone's face. So as a tribute to my mate Steve and when it has all gone badly wrong, I give you....WHATASITUATION

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Photo's taken by Jason Marshall at Battery World Hervey Bay

Oops Bang Barry

I happened to be in Battery World Hervey Bay one day (big shout out to Mary and her crew) when they showed me a golf cart they were attending to. Story goes old mate went for a round of golf and half way up a hill there was a massive bang. He claims the seat lifted an inch or two and the cart stopped. WHATASITUATION

Turns out he had not put water in the batteries in a quite a while. The level dropped and the tops of the plates got exposed to air. Electrical load created by the cart (and no doubt the reduced battery capacity) was enough to create a spark between the exposed plates. When batteries are worked they create hydrogen, which was ignited by the spark and...BOOM. As you can see by the images it has completely blown the top out of the battery.

Its common to see watering systems on golf carts or commercial equipment like forklifts so that this doesn't happen. Its a good reminder to regularly check any flooded batteries fluid levels.

Regular maintenance of battery terminals is also important. These VERY green terminals are a dead giveaway that a battery is not happy and working very hard OR very poor maintenance.
You can watch our 12 Volt Shed video on battery terminal maintenance HERE

If you own a golf cart and would like to understand more about your batteries and how to make them last longer then watch our 12 Volt Shed Golf Cart video HERE

Lithium Jump Pack vs CTEK 25 Amp Charger

Pure gold this story! My old mate Neil from "unnamed battery shop" is curious what happens when you put a 25 Amp CTEK directly on the positive and negative clamps of a lithium jump pack. Well, after charging for a while there was a VERY BIG BANG and this was all that was left of the jump pack.

No fault of the jump pack or the CTEK charger, Just the wrong application. Neil was TESTING but it does go to show how badly things can go wrong and why certain Lithium jump packs should NEVER BE LEFT CONNECTED TO THE BATTERY WHILE BEING CHARGED BY THE ALTERNATOR.

Picture of what's left supplied by "unnamed battery store"

Photos supplied by young fella's Dad

Dangers of Cheap Aftermarket Tail lights

Here are some photos of a young fella's car. He had fitted the new sexy aftermarket tail lights and was off for a cruise from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. Along the way other motorist noticed smoke billowing out of his boot and flagged him down.

Non poly-carbonate tail light lenses had caught fire just from the heat of the parkers being on. Not cool and one to be careful of. I can here my old Dad now "Poor Pay Twice".

Photo taken by Jason Marshall

Always use a dedicated Lithium charger on Lithium Batteries

So old mate has a race bike and buys a lithium battery for it (but not a dedicated charger). After a few race meetings and before going out to dinner one night, he thinks "should put that battery on charge". So he does...and goes to the pub for dinner.

On returning home he opens the door to a bad smell. Goes out into the shed to find the battery on fire...or at least smoldering badly. Now the only thing he could think to do was grab it with a large pair of multi grips and drop it in a 20 litre drum outside that was full of rain water. The thing boiled up like there was a scuba diver in the drum and three days later when the bubbling stopped, this is what came out.

ALWAYS USE A DEDICATED LITHIUM CHARGER AND IDEALLY ONE RECOMMENDED BY THE BATTERY MANUFACTURER.

Send Us Your WHATASITUATION...

Share your story with us and others so that we can add it to the page. Your (or your friends) misfortune could be a valuable lesson for others. Happy to keep in anonymous if you'd like.

Please note that we don't aim to embarrass anyone or run anyone products down.

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