What does shorting a battery mean

But there are also other factors that can cause an internal short. For instance, if sloppy manufacturing caused the plates to touch each other, that can lead to a short circuit. This connection will cause an unusually high thermal buildup that will ruin the rest of the battery.

If this is the problem, then there is nothing else that you can do about it. Another cause of an internal short, albeit considered a soft short, is when large growths of sulfite crystals are formed as the plates contract or expand during charging or discharging.

Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for electronics and electrical engineering professionals, students, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I understand that low resistance through a circuit will create a short circuit but what combination of voltage and amps which causes this? For example, if I had a circuit with just a wire and a battery and it had a high voltage and low amperage, would this cause a short circuit in comparison to a circuit with low voltage and high amperage?

In the context of a battery or any power source , we usually mean it to be a load that is far too large for the source. Any battery, whether a high voltage or low voltage battery, will be 'short-circuited' by putting a low or zero resistance load on it. A short circuit usually produces damaging conditions for the battery, and the load, if maintained for enough time. At best, the battery will be run down quickly. At worst, the battery may catch fire, burst itself or its container, or the load start a fire.

The wiring to a high current battery, like a car battery for instance, will invariably be protected by a fuse, which opens in the event of a short circuit. The wiring to a low current battery may not need protection, if the short-circuit current is low enough for any practical wire.

Given this, there may be some sense, hinted at in your question, that for high current batteries, a short circuit is an issue, where it is not for low current batteries.

For instance a PP3 or CR battery, while it will be run down by a short circuit, is most unlikely to start a fire as a result. In circuit analysis, a short circuit is an ideal zero resistance, that will support any current with zero voltage across it.

Outside of formal circuit analysis, there is no universal definition of short circuit in absolute terms of voltage, current or resistance. In most contexts, a short circuit is not a mathematical function or limit, it's just a general term for a type of failure or behavior.

Current tends to prefer the path of least resistance, which can also be thought of as the "shortest" path. That would create a circuit loop that runs through both cells with nothing in between them except for the bus bars. That would be a short circuit that could begin to overheat and destroy the battery cells, potentially resulting in a fire or explosion.

This type of short circuit can occur more easily during your pack construction. Something as simple as dropping a busbar on top of a partially finished battery can easily create this short circuit if the busbar lands between two cells that are connected in series on the bottom of the battery. Even a screw driver or hair pin could create a short circuit between two or more cells like this — anything metallic or conductive that could bridge that gap. Believe it or not, a sweaty palm could create a short circuit between battery cells if the conditions are right.

All the more reason to wear gloves while building your battery! Before you start working on your battery, you should have prepared your work area by removing any unnecessary metal and making sure you have a fire extinguisher nearby, just in case. You should also have a clear path to the outdoors, if possible, just in case you need to remove your battery. Do not panic.

If the short circuit was a glancing blow, as in the conductive material was removed immediately, then it is likely that no harm was done. Sometimes, a short circuit can weld itself together. To find wires without any power one of the handiest tools is an electronic stud finder. Most stud finders are equipped to handle finding wooden studs in the wall, but some can also be used to find wires as well. The procedure for proving dead is to take your voltage indicator and check it against a known source, such as a proving unit, then test the circuit, then test the voltage indicator against the known source again to prove the tester has not failed during testing.

Dead testing is, as it sounds, performed on the circuits when they are de-energized, and form the initial testing of the circuits.

These tests will outline the insulation resistance of the new circuits, and the continuity of the ring circuits. Use the approved voltage indicator device to verify circuit is dead. There can be a number of reasons a receptacle stops working. The problem could be as simple as a loose connection; the wires could also be damaged, which might require a brand new circuit.