RXV, connecting battery

[jdunmyer]

I had the pack disconnected on my RXV and wanted to avoid the huge arc when reconnecting it. Hung my DVM on the main (-) and (+) connections and hooked up a resistor sub box across the disconnected mid-pack jumper. Set the Sub Box at 1 megohm to begin with. Voltage climbed very slowly, so I began to twist the switch to lower the series resistance. My expectation was that the voltage would soon climb to 50+ volts, but it reached 25 volts at 1000 ohms and didn't climb further. At that point, I went ahead and connected the jumper with no apparent arching.

Observations: At 1000 ohms series resistance and 25 pack volts, I'm pulling about 25 ma. The resistor was dissipating about .6 watts. ScottyB's meter is in the circuit full-time, I think it draws only about 5 ma.

Key was "off", but Tow/Run was in Run mode. (I know, I know, but I'm old and forgetful)

I have no questions, just thought I'd share this.

[Volt_Ampere]

The arc is a big cap charging. Your resistor charges the cap slowly avoiding the spark. That is a good thing. On my cart it's the voltage reducer that creates the spark when I connect it. I have a separate fuse for it and it sparks big time when I plug in the fuse with everything else already connected.

[jdunmyer]

VA,
I'm well aware of what causes the arc upon connecting the last cable, and of course, using the resistor was an attempt (successful) to prevent that. What I found interesting was the value of the resistor needed to charge the cap(s). I had kinda figured that a fairly high value would have been sufficient to charge 'er up to full voltage, and that was definitely not the case. The amount of current draw doesn't concern me too much, as I've read in the past that normal leakage across the top of a battery can easily be 50 ma or even more.