What would caused the battery to melt like this? I put a new battery in last August. Took it to the lake for 2 days and then it's been sitting in my garage since. I went to pull the battery today and this is what I saw.

Wow.

That takes a few amperes to generate that kind of heat. Look for pierced insulation on the positive lead.

That would've started a fire, no problem.

Hey Mrwoo. A loose terminal arcing will do that in a heart beat.

1. So it was just a loose connection? When I pulled the battery they were screwed tight.

2. Is my new battery toast?

Make sure the cable is secure in the connector, and all the insulation is intact. As far as the battery, charge it up, and give it a test.

Cables look good. So weird this happened. Battery has been on charger all night. I think it's toast. So pissed only used this 1 time last year.

Vinny: My, those protons were...
Gear:... Making hot love to the neutrons?

Vinny: I'm positive the travel is from...
Gear:... Don't tell me. Neg(-)>>> flows to >>> posi(+)

Vinny: Correct. Look at the green posi deposit on the (+) battery eyelet.
Gear: That looks like no traveling from neg>>>to>>>posi is reversed back to its source and began to...

Vinny:... Well, that could be, but how about a parasite in the loom?
Gear: When I connected the posi side and the the ground eyelet dropped on the post, I did not see spark.

Vinny: Well darn, that says no parasite draining battery down.
Gear: So about my battery, I think I forgot to charge it every so often since new and me waiting for the lake to thaw.

Vinny: I thaw so. Kiss that baby goodbye short of a testing box like see for spark in a huge way if key is turned on.
Gear: Okay, I'll look for that again and I'll dip the eyelets in tonight's salad dressing is you did piss on my garden, right? Vaseline or electric grease my eyelets so it does not turn green again. I now have raw metal contact after I neutralize with water.

Looking at what is left of your negative post, I'd say you're not going to get a good connection on that again. I'd bin the battery and get a new one. Then like hub is suggesting, the terminals look corroded too. Clean up (wire brush and flood with water) and check all your terminals before connecting a new battery. Make sure the wire and insulation connecting to the ring terminals is also not damaged or corroded away. A terminal that's only hanging on by a few threads will cause a lot of heat as the power flows though. Vaseline or electric grease to protect from future corrosion.

Clean up (wire brush and flood with water)

I lay a steel brush on your body, are there gaps between brush hairs? If I lay in water, is not every pore wet with a surface contact? So I brush and miss millions of inches next to the other brush line I never really clean what I can't see. Even under the plastic coating what I can't see. but the water could enter with that 5% chemical reaction, not what the brushing missed in other words.

I'm going to clean up this coating process by science alone; don't even think about a brush sending tension on that wire end.

My terminals do not clean like clean-CLEAN, really. Think like this. What is going to burn more, water in the eyes or 5% acid in the eyes? So, you want a cleaning agent where water is not it. We work with battery oxidation, or any oxides, this baking soda or vinegar is the neutralizers or cleaning agents, or corrosion stoppers.

Y0u had Vinny and Gear speaking to each other. Not Wad and Tear speaking like someone needs a bath and a back scratching or a nice colonic acid bath. Dip the eye terminals in a dixie cup filled with vinegar, watch the bubbles stop eating the green away. Use water to wash away the vinny and oxy. Why? You cannot create or destroy vinny or oxidation, but wash it off something as water is the most corrosive, but it needs to be moving if you want those parts cleaned, like steam clean the the green off, hello? Leave the harness in the running stream for a few hundred years so water moves over the green eye, hello?

No offense, but someone is going to lose in the micro inspection of it. And if Vinny has anything to say about it, my money is on turtle's move.

Signed,

NOLTT

* Last updated by: Hub on 7/10/2014 @ 6:46 PM *

Yup. I stand corrected. I recall using a baking soda and water mix (or vinegar) in the past to neutralize acidic deposits, before rinsing with clean water. The brush type I was referring to using, is the little brass brush type, like a tooth brush, or steel wool. Not some spikey foot long hardened steel brush. Not all chemical reactions are completely effective without some agitation also. We don't just get in a soapy bath and jump out all clean. Main point here being..... make sure like alg8er said, your terminals are clean & solid, dry and corrosion free before refitting. IMHO, I would not trust the battery again because the plastic casing has melted around the post area.

Found my receipt for the toasted battery. Ya it was under warranty. Will clean the terminals and check all wires. But scared to install battery. Don't want to have this happen again.

1. When I remove a battery, I remove (-)ground first. Why? I do not want to arc (+) directly to ground with my bare tool.
2. When I install a [new] battery, I connect (-)ground last. Why? I am scared of a spark so I want to run a fan over the battery, or a windy towel to move air and lean out the gas off the battery if any.
3. When I touched ground to the battery post, this made me look for a parasitic draw of current with key off. I should see none wattsoever.
4. When I do see this slight arc, do I have a computer controlled jetski, and if that is the case, I remove the ECU connectors off the black box, contact the ground strap onto the (-) post again and find no spark, then I am seeing the ECU using current with key off.

Make sense?

5. What happens if I see a spark with the ECU not connected?
6. Huston, we have a problem.
7. Why, I have yet to use an ohm meter or an amp gauge. Why?
8. Why, we may not have a problem wattsoever, lets see the spark if any.
9. Wear glasses. Why?
10. Why, lets salvage the eyelet and damage the tip of some worn out screwdriver blade doing all this testing.
11. I am going to wear a glove, hold the eyelet on the shaft, let the arc eat the driver's worn tip instead.
12. I am not going to be electrocuted by DC volts. I may feel the heat from the blade, but nothing wattsoever as if touching the wires out of a wall socket, then yes, AC is going to jolt me.
13. I am taking a swipe across the least amount of lead so my post stays new looking. If I hold down on the post I may cause more damage holding down than keeping the blade moving.

Does the rest make sense we are not out of the woods yet?

* Last updated by: Hub on 7/11/2014 @ 1:10 PM *

Hub you might have nailed it on 1-4 if there is a problem. From the day I got the jet ski the fuel gage didn't work. Something with the ecu. Ski ran perfect just had to pay attention to fuel. So ecu could possibly be the issue.

Terminals are clean now. So i will start from #1 and work my way down the check list. Hopefully I don't get to far down the list.

Thanks Hub...sometimes I gotta use my decoder ring to understand you :)

'sometimes I gotta use my decoder ring'

Hey hub, wouldn't a clock/memory cause a constant draw with the key off? Would it be enough to spark? Just curious.