Re: (ET) 12 volt batteries

[Jim <fiskfarm mediaone net>]

I had 3 deep cycle 12v batteries blow up on my E-141 WH. I don't think
they build a strong 12v deep cyc.. On the 141 they directly short the
armature leads when not running and I didn't know that! Tried to jump
start the motor to test it out when I first got the beast. Not a good
idea. The mushroom cloud of steam and mostly acid went a good 30 feet in

the air and I couldn't hear a thing for 10 minutes. Been finding bits
and pieces of battery for about 3 years now. After that I did some
testing and found the "on purpose" short. I am presently converting the
141 to hold the taller 6v batteries.

By the way I was standing right in the middle of the explosion with 2 to

my left and 1 to my right. I never got touched as tractor parts shielded

me. Somebody up there likes me!  I came away with a whole new respect
that day.

(The 141 uses 6 12v bats in 2 sets of 3 and balances (or tries to) the 2

banks. Weird!)

And yes Jim (Coate) these were old batteries and I figured that had a
lot to do with it as cells start to short themselves at the bottom of
the plates as well. There's a lot of bad chemistry going on in an old
battery and this is a good warning to all as we don't want to see any
obits on the ET list!!

Jim (fiskfarm)