Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Ground Cable Sparking and Shocking

[grimesja]

Okay, this has happened before and has recently starting doing this again. The ground cable sparks whenever I put the first one on regardless of key position. Saturday, I changed out the APPS and I laid my hand across the ground cable and the battery ground and it shocked the dickens out of me. what could be casuing this and I have a constant 0380 heater grid code. I pulled the grid and relays over a year ago. I would appreciate any thoughts on the electrical issues.

 

[JLandry]

That could be completely normal... assuming your battery isn't being drained quickly. There are capacitors in the airbag system that stay charged and other items which consume a small amount of current continuously even in standby. If you had the hood open (I'll assume you did) remember there's a light underneigth it that would also be consuming current when you connected the battery cable. Same thing with the interior lights if you had the cab doors open.



Best regards,



John L.

 

[BGlidewell]

What exactly is it you are touching????

it is very unusual to be shocked by DC unless you are wearing metal, then its a burn not a shock. I work in telecommunications with DC -48V systems that run many thousands of amps and can be in contact with the conductors bigger than your forearm without getting more than a tingle if I'm sweating.

Ever put your fingers on both terminals of a battery? Thats right, zilch nadda nuttin. Just don't put a wrench across them

 

[rluft]

I have laid my body across a 12 volt battery wearing a sweat soaked shirt and "zilch nadda nuttin" was not what I was thinking, "holy crap" was. ;-)

 

[BGlidewell]

I have laid my body across a 12 volt battery wearing a sweat soaked shirt and "zilch nadda nuttin" was not what I was thinking, "holy crap" was. ;-)

I guess some people are just more "conductive" than others



I've never been shocked by 12v, ever and I never worry about it. But I never wallered around all lathered up on top of a battery either.

 

[HBarlow]

Sometimes the sparks cause us to jerk involuntarily and strike an immovable object which makes us believe we were shocked. 12 volt DC electricity does not ordinarily cause "shock" to us humans.

 

[Bill Stockard]

That could be completely normal... assuming your battery isn't being drained quickly. There are capacitors in the airbag system that stay charged and other items which consume a small amount of current continuously even in standby.



Best regards,



John L.

I agree. There's a capacitor(s) somewhere discharging quickly when the cable is disconnected which temporarily creates a weak alternating type current for a millisecond causing a mild shock.



Bill

 

[BGlidewell]

Sometimes the sparks cause us to jerk involuntarily and strike an immovable object which makes us believe we were shocked. 12 volt DC electricity does not ordinarily cause "shock" to us humans.

Agree.
In addition I don't understand his description of the event. There should be no potential difference between grounds either.

 

[BGlidewell]

I agree. There's a capacitor(s) somewhere discharging quickly when the cable is disconnected which temporarily creates a weak alternating type current for a millisecond causing a mild shock.

Bill

higher voltage more likely than AC. It takes more than capacitance to invert DC to AC.

 

[mwilson]

DC can tingle you, this may sound a little strange but I test 9v batteries by sticking the terminals to my tongue. :-laf



It will give a little tingle when you place a full strength 9v on the ol' taster.

Try it if you doubt me.



It gets a little numb when I check all the smoke setector batteries in the house and camper, then my mixed drink tastes funny for a few minutes.



Other than that 12 or 24 volt has never nailed me and I used to do a lot of electrical work on trucks.



Mike.

 

[BGlidewell]

the higher the voltage the more chance there is of shock. Somewhere beyond 60V in most cases. My wife has 1 million volt tazer she keeps in her purse.
cussing in this:
Trailer Park Tazin' (1 Million Volts) - YouTube

 

[B.G. Smith]

If you are convinced that dc voltage wont shock you, pull a spark plug wire off(if you have a vehicle old enough to still have plug wires) and hold the terminal with the engine running. The shock as stated above is coming from a capacitor or a coil discharging. bg

 

[BGlidewell]

If you are convinced that dc voltage wont shock you, pull a spark plug wire off(if you have a vehicle old enough to still have plug wires) and hold the terminal with the engine running. The shock as stated above is coming from a capacitor or a coil discharging. bg

please take some time to read the thread. Coils increase voltage. None of the spark pugs in my truck are working though...

 

[Bill Stockard]

DC can tingle you, this may sound a little strange but I test 9v batteries by sticking the terminals to my tongue. :-laf



It will give a little tingle when you place a full strength 9v on the ol' taster.

Try it if you doubt me.



Mike.

A couple of years ago we were having intermittent problems with our DirecTV satellite reception. The repair tech that came used his tongue to test the voltage at the connections. The voltage to the LNBs on the dish varies from 9 to about 18 volts DC. (I won't go into to the details. )



I had already used my digital VOM (not my tongue) to check the everything out and knew it was a failing LNB, but he wouldn't take my word... "What does that guy know, he's just a dumb a** homeowner". After about an hour messing around, he finally decided it was one of the LNBs, replaced it, and the reception has been flawless since then.



Bill

 

[BGlidewell]

... The repair tech that came used his tongue to test the voltage at the connections. The voltage to the LNBs on the dish varies from 9 to about 18 volts DC. (I won't go into to the details. )



... .



Bill

did he have a mullet?

 

[Bill Stockard]

did he have a mullet?

No... :-laf:-laf:-laf:-laf

I should have made myself more clear. I didn't want to go into detail why the voltage varies. It varies to tell the LNB which satellite transponder to use for a signal.



Bill

 

[grimesja]

I just know that it zapped the dickens out of me. Remember these are high AMP batteries. I touched the ground cable and the ground post with my hand while getting ready to hook the cables back up.

 

[CrewCabDiesel]

Wow, you might be a red neck if ?

Fact DC voltage can Burn you.

Fact DC voltage was first used in electric chairs.

Fact one tenth of an Amp can kill you, batteries has 800 plus amps ??????

As for the question, getting a mild spark is normal hooking up the first battery on our trucks. if your batteries are drawing down when setting, then you have a problem.

I don't mean to be a jerk, but some of this was sounding like a 1000 ways to die. I have seen the results of some horrible electrical burns while on fire calls ( and expereniced it once with a metal wristband watch).

be safe,

Kyle

 

[HBarlow]

Amperage ratings don't mean anything in this discussion.

Think of amperage ratings as the amount of current that could flow with good connections and very low resistance. If a screwdriver or section of large diameter wire or metal with extremely low resistance to current flow is connected directly between battery posts extremely high current will flow.

On the other hand, the human body does not present the same low resistance and high current flow potential as a screwdriver. If the voltage is raised from 12 volts to 100 volts, the result would be different.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I just know that it zapped the dickens out of me. Remember these are high AMP batteries. I touched the ground cable and the ground post with my hand while getting ready to hook the cables back up.

Ever have someone hand you a charged up capacitor to hold in your hand? Same result.



Bill