Battery spark when connection is made?

[sar3195]

If my starting battery is disconnected and I connect it there is a small spark when I connect it. I also notice that one of the zinc anodes will start to give off a small amount of powder dust on the lower unit.

Everything else is shut off.

Is this a normal discharge or is something shorting out?

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

Hard to say without more info.

What boat/motor combo?

How big is the spark?

What other electonics are hooked up to it? i.e. stereo, fish finder, vhf, pumps etc.

Does the battery die if left hooked up?

If so how long does it take?

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

also in what order are you connecting the posts?

 

[sar3195]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

Pathfinder 15T 2006 and a 40hp Yamaha 2 stroke. I hook up the + first then the -. The spark is very small. There are other items like fishfinder, bilge pumps, and lights hooked up all are off. At least the switches are off. My battery does not go dead even after a week.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

Get a meter and measure the current between the battery and the cable.

You are putting the battery cables on in the right order however that has nothing to do with getting a spark or not.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

If you have a fuse block you can pull the fuses and place an ampmeter (current meter) across the same terminals where the fuse was. This will tell you what the current draw is on each particular circuit. This test should be performed with everything switched OFF so you can tell which particular circuit is pulling the current. This same technique can be used with in-line fuses.

Make sure everything is OFF before you start the test however, as certain items such as bilge pumps can draw a lot of current and possibly exceed the capacity of your ampmeter. If that happens, then you'll be opening up your meter and looking for that darn little fuse that just burned out.

 

[joed]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

A spark indicates something is drawing power. You need to figure out what that is. I don't believe it is normal. With the ignition and everything else off there should be no current draw.
I had a similar problem on my Smokercraft boat with a wire that goes up towards the front. I left it disconencted and eveything still works so I can't figure out what the wire is for.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

A spark when you make the connection does not necessarily mean a problem. When you initially make a connection, you are likely charging up a small capacitor. This is what we in electronics refer to as a transient condition. What is important is that the steady-state current draw is very small (on the order of 1 milliamp or less is probably normal).

As long as you are not seeing the battery go dead, you probably don't need to be concerned.

By the way, you will often see the same behavior in an automobile.

TerryMSU

 

[BeerMonkey]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

but in a car there are things that you cannot turn off with out removing fuses or unplugging things, like the radio or the cars computer, im pretty new to boats but i dont think theres anything on a outboard that uses power all the time. but if the battery is not going dead i wouldnt worry about it to much

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

BeerMonkey...

Depends on what is on the boat. If you have a radio that has a clock, for example, it will always draw a very small amount of current.

TerryMSU

 

[drewpster]

Re: Battery spark when connection is made?

I think the main point here is that a small spark does not necessarily mean there is a problem. Do not let the spark alone freak you into thinking something is going to draw you battery dead or that a short exists. All electrical circuits have some degree of flow. Even vapor in the air or water on the top of your battery can cause some degree of flow.