Subj : Rebuilding Battery Packs
To   : MATT MC_CARTHY
From : WAYNE CHIRNSIDE
Date : Mon Oct 02 2000 09:40 am

-=> MATT MC_CARTHY wrote to ELVIS HARGROVE <=-


 MM> After a few years though, I gave that up and went to direct zapping
 MM> from a 12V car battery.  You gotta wipe that cable FAST and FIRM
 MM> though, as it tries to weld itself to the cell, and they HEAT _very_
 MM> fast that way!!!

What do you do if it does weld, dive for cover. I hope you've
a good sense of smell as well as if there's any gas fumes about
you're courting losing your car to save a NiCad.

I remember one ridiculous episode I had riding a newly
acquired  TX-650 Yamaha I got for 300 dollars with a spare engine.
I hadn't gotten around to checking out the whole bike yet so
I didn't notice that someone had bypassed the fuse.
While riding with a friend on the back suddenly smoke came
rushing out from under the gas tank. I pulled the bike  to
an emergency stop and pulled the gas tank free of the bike leaking
raw gas all over the wiring that was red and white hot with
individual wires parting with attendant sparks. I handed the tank
to my friend and said get rid of it, he says 'where', I say
'ANYWHERE' shouting as I see the pyrotechnical display with both
liquid gas and gas fumes clearly in evidence. Finally after
a very long three or four seconds I manage to dislodge a main
wire and disconnected the battery. The gas fumes were so thick
it looked like a CO2 style special effect for a few seconds.
Why that gas never caught fire or exploded I'll never know but that 
was one heck of a motorcycle battery as when I went to rewire the 
bike I found at least 90 percent of the wiring had gone up with the short.
Spent around 16 hours making up my own wiring harness with bullet
style automotive quick  connects making sure all the hot sides 
were in the insulated female ends, using at least a gauge over wire
and routing the whole thing through a couple of lengths of
thick wall plastic tubing. I didn't wire the thing Japanese but copied
the wiring from a Triumph TR-6 but it worked as well or better until
the day I got rid of it. I also put in an automotive aftermarket
8 bay fuse holder using four of them as main, coils, lights,
accessories instead of the original one fuse and put four spares in 
the remaining unconnected fuse holders.
Thing ran like a bat outta hell but it didn't corner worth a darn.
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