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Why did I get a spark ... ?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Charley Gosse, Nov 8, 2019.

  1. Charley Gosse

    Charley Gosse Junior Member

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    Rainwater's been getting into my 12 v. battery well so, following posts on this subject, I decided to remove the 12 v. battery and drain and seal the well. When I put my ratchet on the bolt circled in the photo below, I got a spark. It didn't shock me, by the way.

    Not sure what was going on, I left the battery in place and used paper towels wedged down the sides of the battery into the water in the well to soak up the water. Once all the water was gone, I then went back and tried to remove the bolt again and this time there was no spark and I removed everything and am now in the process of sealing the well and the hatch door opening with Eastwood brushable sealer that people here recommended.

    My question is: why the spark? I am going to put the 12 v. battery back-in when everything's dry and, cross your fingers, I hope it still works.
    Charley
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    makes no sense. maybe just static electricity. otherwise, you'd have a short somewhere, which would cause problems i would think
     
  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    That bolt is bolted to the chassis so no reason other than static electricity to have a spark. Static is usually caused by charge built up on your body usually from wearing static producing clothing.
    If you don’t use bounce sheets in your dryer your clothes get fully charged in the dryer. If I don’t use bounce I can get a blue spark when I touch electronic racks at work.all our clothes are cheap rayon static producing
    Fabric.

    To prevent sparks when you disconnect the negative
    Lead that’s bolted to the car chassis unplug the 2 black powrer leads under the red cover. That disconnects the battery from the car, and then no sparks anywhere.
    In the bottom of the battery well there is a rubber plug there’s one under the spare tire also. There will be water under the spare tire.

    If the car is garaged you can remove both plugs. If car is not garage you can drill a hole in the plug big enough for water to drain out.

    Usually its leaking from the hatch are where the quarter meets the roof in the hatch area and drips down into the trunk area. Mine leaks too.
     
  4. smilyme

    smilyme Member

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    Were you all wet, where was your other hand?
     
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    What did you seal up in the well? Myself and others leave the drain plug out so water doesn't build up and drains out... The source of the leak is almost always in the roof seal under the black decorative rail strips on the roof of the car. Cleaning and inspecting under them helps. Also there's a seam you can see when the back hatch is up that needs to be clean and inspected. I've had intermittent problems with this leaking and the cleaning resolves it for a while, but not forever.
     
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  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    yeah sealing is not the way to go it will then just fill up like a birdbath. If you store the car outside just drill a 1/2 hole in the rubber plug battery well. You don't want to take the plug out if car lives outside as mice love love the Prius the wires are delicious. They will get into and infest the car and cause alot of damage by chewing on wires. Many post about that..

    If like me the car is garaged you can take the battery well plug out.
     
  7. Charley Gosse

    Charley Gosse Junior Member

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    Thanks Bisco. I am stumped !

    I think I had already disconnected the negative lead that was bolted to the car chassis. In the photo I posted you can see that the negative lead is still attached to the battery but I detached it from the chassis and you can't see that in the photo. My bad !

    Ok, I'll seal under the decortative slip and leave the plug out from the bottom of the well. That really makes sense! Thank you!
     
    #7 Charley Gosse, Nov 10, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 10, 2019
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  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The spark had nothing to do with the 12 volt battery. The bolt in question is bolted into the chassis. There's no potential there.
     
  9. smilyme

    smilyme Member

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    and He had mentioned negative was disconnected after my post
    "I think I had already disconnected the negative lead that was bolted to the car chassis."
    so without that knowledge, if his other hand was on the 12 Volt positive
    and he was wet ?
    static was brought up so
    whats left
    a little current can be confused for spark or if real wet

    he did say "i think"

    also would he not have discharged
    opening the hood
    or have discharged disconnecting the ground
     
    #9 smilyme, Nov 10, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2019