Battery connections

[Jason Dunkin]

I'm a diy guy and trying to put my system together. Learning a lot, in videos i watch on youtube, Will Prowse and other folks I see the battery terminals are exposed, the bus bar is exposed, youtubers touching the terminals etc during their install and explanation. From what I understand these are high voltage DC devices. Why isnt there a risk of shock/injury from DC devices like batteries that have high DC voltage and high current ?

 

[MurphyGuy]

I'm a diy guy and trying to put my system together. Learning a lot, in videos i watch on youtube, Will Prowse and other folks I see the battery terminals are exposed, the bus bar is exposed, youtubers touching the terminals etc during their install and explanation. From what I understand these are high voltage DC devices. Why isnt there a risk of shock/injury from DC devices like batteries that have high DC voltage and high current ?

They are not "high voltage" DC.. DC isn't even remotely dangerous to human contact until it's above around 60 volts, and even then, most people won't feel anything until well into the 70 vdc range.

The biggest danger is your watch, necklace, or the screwdriver..

 

[629658]

IMO they should not be left exposed EVER. Biggest risk as I see it something falling against or brushing up against will result in something very bad happening.

 

[Jason Dunkin]

Maybe I'm overly cautious but I will handle DC devices just as I do with AC devices. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[SeaGal]

V=IR. As the 'R' of a human body is quite high then, at around 50V dc, there's not going to be much 'I' flowing to harm you.

Just avoid putting your tongue directly across the +ve and -ve terminals.

Or anything metallic, as stated above.

And cover them up when you're done working on them.

 

[Jason Dunkin]

V=IR. As the 'R' of a human body is quite high then, at around 50V dc, there's not going to be much 'I' flowing to harm you.

Just avoid putting your tongue directly across the +ve and -ve terminals.

Or anything metallic, as stated above.

And cover them up when you're done working on them.

Thank you

 

[TomC4306]

As a general practice I try to only use one hand at a time and as stated above, cover when done

 

[629658]

It doesn’t make you nervous that you have your batteries in a wood enclosure?

 

[TomC4306]

Not at all. Ignition temperature of plywood is 250F (125C).

 

[629658]

Normal operation isn’t what concerns me. Something goes wrong your house is 100% toast. I would put them in a metal enclosure to give myself a chance. Nice job but I couldn’t sleep if those were in my home. One other thing my wife brought up I case of fire your battery disconnects are too close to your batteries. They would be in the middle of the bonfire

 

[TomC4306]

Normal operation isn’t what concerns me. Something goes wrong your house is 100% toast. I would put them in a metal enclosure to give myself a chance. Nice job but I couldn’t sleep if those were in my home. One other thing my wife brought up I case of fire your battery disconnects are too close to your batteries. They would be in the middle of the bonfire

No. Automatic sprinkler system. It'll be a mess but it'll be contained.
Best practice for fuses is put them as close to the batteries as practicable.

 

[629658]

Sprinklers I like that. Everything else I really like and you did a nice job. I might have put them into a metal cabinet, truck box or job box if it were me. But overall I like it

 

[Tim Tim]

Read about a case where someone working on a car battery had a spanner in his hand whilst doing up a terminal connection. He was wearing a ring which touched the other terminal and provided the circuit through the scanner to the other terminal. If I recall he lost at least one finger.

 

[time2roll]

It doesn’t make you nervous that you have your batteries in a wood enclosure?

As opposed to plastic? Or a conductive metal? I would love a granite enclosure except for the weight.

 

[32 volt boater]

Read about a case where someone working on a car battery had a spanner in his hand whilst doing up a terminal connection. He was wearing a ring which touched the other terminal and provided the circuit through the scanner to the other terminal. If I recall he lost at least one finger.

Those batteries all look so benign till they are not.

 

[SeaGal]

Read about a case where someone working on a car battery had a spanner in his hand whilst doing up a terminal connection. He was wearing a ring which touched the other terminal and provided the circuit through the scanner to the other terminal. If I recall he lost at least one finger.

Rule 1: Always remove jewellery or, if not possible, cover rings ?with insulating tape before working with batteries and spanners ? ... or even scanners ;-)

 

[TomC4306]

Those batteries all look so benign till they are not.

True. But there is nothing magical and unknown about this tech...
Failures have an origin. Monitoring and constantly testing (connection temps, voltage drop, re-torque, etc) reduces dramatically the opportunity to be surprised by a failure. I assure you that every single battery fire or failure in a non mobile application was avoidable with adequate testing and monitoring.

I don't still wear a mask, either.

 

[SamDeleted]

It doesn’t make you nervous that you have your batteries in a wood enclosure?

You've obviously never had an RV ? Or a boat ?