GEL battery post repair advice needed

thetoddjohnson

Today I picked up six new gel cell batteries to put into a GEM car. I had contemplated replacing the original gels with lead acid batteries. Two of the six batteries are difficult to access so I knew that I wouldn’t properly maintain water levels so I decided to go with another set of gels.

Normally I use a nut driver when tightening cables. I don’t like using a ratchet because of the potential of having the handle of the ratchet make contact with “the other post” of the battery. Since these batteries were pretty expensive I wanted to make sure that I made excellent connections so I reached for my clicker torque wrench. In order to eliminate the “shorting risk” as described above I used an extension bar. Here is the wrench:



Like I said above, it is difficult to access some of the batteries. You can see here that the GEM frame has a crossbar that is directly above some of the battery posts:



So for some posts I needed to remove the extension bar from the torque wrench. You guessed it, I caused a short. I ended up putting 24V through the wrench. The wrench is now permanently welded to the 120 inch pounds setting!



As you can imagine there were some sparks. The automotive style post melted, and the threaded post was glowing orange for 10 or 15 seconds after I removed the wrench. Here is what the battery looks like now:



The threaded post will no longer accept a nut. I’m not sure how much of that is (1) because there is dried “splatter” from the automotive style post that is now on the threads or (2) the threaded post itself changed shape because it got so hot.

So my questions are:

(1) Can I simply use a die and cut new threads on the post?

(2) If I do cut new threads and use that existing post, is it possible that I annealed the post such that I should torque it to a different spec than the original 120 inch-pounds?

(3) Would it be better for me to drill and tap into what is left of the automotive post and put on a new threaded post?

(4) Is there any way to test the battery to see if it has been damaged in such a way that it would damage the others if I use this one? After everything cooled I used a DVM and all six batteries measured 12.7 volts each.

All thoughts are welcomed and appreciated,

TJ

BGW

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teecro

Try running a die on the buggered threads.... Move it to an easy to reach location so that the connection is easier to make and keep an eye on...

teecro

Wait are those Marine Deep Cycles from NAPA ???

thetoddjohnson

Teecro,

Thanks for your comments.

(1) It isn't possible to move the batteries to make them more accessible. The GEM's frame is such that there is only one layout possible.

(2) The batteries are from NAPA. They are the NAPA branded version of the Deka 8G31 which is the OEM battery for the GEM. For an extra 50 bucks each I could have purchased ones that have a GEM logo on them, but I'm fine with the NAPA logo.

TJ

teecro

No you missed my point; move that one battery to an easier to access location since you've already compromised the integrity of the connection it may require more attention its entire life...

As to the NAPA name I've no issue against it; I'm sitting 3 feet from 4 of their batteries right now. My concern was that they appeared to look a lot like their Marine Deep Cycles which will not last long in a golf cart... If they are not MDC batteries and are GCDC then carry on...

thetoddjohnson

Yes, I did miss your point. I'm glad you clarified because it is an excellent idea. Thanks.

TJ

TopherAndTick

I'm thinking maybe the lead splatter will cut off if you try an rethread it.
If you ruin it, well, its almost ruined already right?

Good luck!

thetoddjohnson

Just to close out the thread, I'm happy to report that using a die I was able to cut new threads and all is good-to-go.

TJ