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in my vehicle i was hooking up a new car battery and put positive on first and then negative second. everything was all well however i wanted to adjust the battery hold down metal and was moving it around however for a brief second i hit the positive terminal to the metal bracket. it wasnt even a second it was just a scrape by for like a few milliseconds etc.

it was just a tiny tiny spark and vehicle started after and everything was fine

but was wondering what damage could have been caused? some people say this is super dangerous and i read some other people have blown batteries or parts but wondering how some people have really bad outcomes and some people get no symptoms

is it guranteed that my new battery life went down? i checked with multimeter and shows 12.6 with vehicle off which shows correct however i remember it was 12.8 before anything was connected but i assume theres some drainage from stuff being connected etc

thanks!

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  • $\begingroup$ you drew less current than the starter does $\endgroup$
    – jsotola
    Commented Oct 16 at 6:09
  • $\begingroup$ BTW, it's would have been much longer that a few milliseconds ... tens of milliseconds, maybe even over a hundred $\endgroup$
    – jsotola
    Commented Oct 16 at 23:05

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It's fine, don't do it again. If you leave the battery terminals shorted you release huge amounts of energy, probably melt the tool, and release a lot of hydrogen gas.

A short spark is fine.

Let me repeat because you seem to have trouble with the answer. It's fine.

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  • $\begingroup$ thank you and don't mean to beat a dead horse but during that short short spark that happened does the battery end up discharging by a noticeable amount or the inside cells take a hit or something? or is it all external spark etc $\endgroup$
    – cat
    Commented Oct 16 at 11:41
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    $\begingroup$ @cat did you read either answer? $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Oct 16 at 11:48
  • $\begingroup$ I edited just for you @cat $\endgroup$
    – Tiger Guy
    Commented Oct 16 at 13:22
  • $\begingroup$ thank you my apologies $\endgroup$
    – cat
    Commented Oct 17 at 0:39
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If the battery had just come off charge and was gassing then you could have had a VERY different experience...

I had a colleague who did exactly what you did, but the battery was gassing and it exploded. Covered him and 3 cars with battery acid which needed respraying. He was lucky - we got his eyes and face washed in good time so he had no effects.

As it is you have learned to be more careful, but no other damage is likely in your case.

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  • $\begingroup$ thank you and don't mean to beat a dead horse but during that short short spark that happened does the battery end up discharging by a noticeable amount or the inside cells take a hit or something? or is it all external spark etc $\endgroup$
    – cat
    Commented Oct 16 at 11:41
  • $\begingroup$ You can also get a bad burn when the wrench jams and turns red-hot in your hand. (Generally, "wrench turning red-hot" happens before "flattening battery") $\endgroup$
    – david
    Commented Oct 22 at 21:42
  • $\begingroup$ @David also when the metal watch strap gets caught between the pos starter terminal and the block... one way to remove a hand... $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Oct 23 at 6:55

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