Shocked Touching my 12v Car Battery

[MtnXfreeride]

Joining together 10 random advice from 10 random people on the internet without this work is going to end badly

I was hoping for more consensus and that it was a common easy explanation. I agree here.. its a mix of people saying I should ground something and others saying that will smoke it. I know its probably because of my lack of knowledge and probably equipment to test. I ended up grabbing the door buster deal from sams club on a small inverter pure sine generator so at least I can plug that in and get 1500 to 1700 watts charge speed somewhat efficiently.

 

[Brucey]

I was hoping for more consensus and that it was a common easy explanation. I agree here.. its a mix of people saying I should ground something and others saying that will smoke it. I know its probably because of my lack of knowledge and probably equipment to test. I ended up grabbing the door buster deal from sams club on a small inverter pure sine generator so at least I can plug that in and get 1500 to 1700 watts charge speed somewhat efficiently.

Those quiet small inverter generators are always useful. Could even throw it in the EV with a gas can if you like to extend you trips to the ragged edge of possibility.

 

[Hedges]

I was hoping for more consensus and that it was a common easy explanation.

DC water heater element?

Inverter? You are hooking up DC elements to an AC inverter? Or are you talking about an solar converter? I have mine hooked directly to the panels bypassing everything.

diysolarforum.com

I agree here.. its a mix of people saying I should ground something and others saying that will smoke it. I know its probably because of my lack of knowledge and probably equipment to test. I ended up grabbing the door buster deal from sams club on a small inverter pure sine generator so at least I can plug that in and get 1500 to 1700 watts charge speed somewhat efficiently.

Bonding car chassis, inverter chassis, and house ground together will make it touch safe.

But most inverter instructions say to not ground PV-, and we know many are non-isolated, so we expect it to do something like shorting AC output to chassis.

A bit of speculation, but we know of similar issues for cheap inverters that can't have neutral bonded.

 

[efficientPV]

I'd like to think everyone has at least a cheap voltmeter. Measure the AC volts to a grounded electrical outlet. Even without that an E26 10W LED light should work to indicate voltage. LEDs will start to light with just microamps, far less than will give you much more than a tingle. Plugging your car charger (it wouldn't have to be on) should ground the vehicle. If you get a tingle then you have house problems.

 

[corn18]

I was working on my truck yesterday and got a slight shock when I touched the positive terminal on the battery. I was standing on the ground in rubber shoes, not moisture. I tried it several ways by touching different things on the truck and always got shocked. Just posting this becuase it is normal if you touch the positive terminal on a vehicle battery and then touch the frame.

 

[mrzed001]

I was hoping for more consensus and that it was a common easy explanation. I agree here.. its a mix of people saying I should ground something and others saying that will smoke it. I know its probably because of my lack of knowledge and probably equipment to test. I ended up grabbing the door buster deal from sams club on a small inverter pure sine generator so at least I can plug that in and get 1500 to 1700 watts charge speed somewhat efficiently.

We all say you should ground everything ... but first buy an isolated DC/DC converter.
And everything will be fine

 

[HarryN]

I was hoping for more consensus and that it was a common easy explanation. I agree here.. its a mix of people saying I should ground something and others saying that will smoke it. I know its probably because of my lack of knowledge and probably equipment to test. I ended up grabbing the door buster deal from sams club on a small inverter pure sine generator so at least I can plug that in and get 1500 to 1700 watts charge speed somewhat efficiently.

This seems like a good idea. Just in case their is a power leak through the inverter case, perhaps put the inverter in a plastic box to keep it from touching the car.

We don't want any chance that you will get hurt, so no bare feet. I force customers to wear enclosed shoes at my shop when they are here, even in the summer.

I will think about some other inverters as well. Try to run it as half power if possible.