Extremely hot battery post

[cableguy_hd]

Any way to fix one? ive cleaned it but I still get some corrosion on one post. It burned my finger when I touched it. My duaghter was driving around the house at half trottle so I guess thats what made it over heat too. The cable jacket actually started to defrom some. Is that battery shot??

[gornoman]

No, the cable is shot. Replace it with the CORRECT part and the problem should go away.

[Coltf1991]

Or, you had a loose connection.

[cableguy_hd]

ok, the cable was brand new. I replaced all of them a month ago beacuse a few ends looks bad, this end was one of them. All have stayed cool but this one since the new cables were put on. I'll check the nut to see if it loose. It was to hot to check last night. Would a wing nut be better than just an ordinary bolt?

[scottyb]

A regular nut torqued to about 15 ft pds is best. If this persists, assuming the cable is the correct type, gauge, and secured properly... there is a possibility that an internal short exists in that battery.

One simple way to determine a battery problem is to move the battery to another location within the pack (connecting to different cables) and see if the problem moves with the battery or stays with the cable location.

[cheapjeep2]

Originally Posted by scottyb

A regular nut torqued to about 15 ft pds is best. If this persists, assuming the cable is the correct type, gauge, and secured properly... there is a possibility that an internal short exists in that battery.

One simple way to determine a battery problem is to move the battery to another location within the pack (connecting to different cables) and see if the problem moves with the battery or stays with the cable location.

Instead of going to the work of moving a battery, simply move a cable..... much easier...

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by cableguy_hd

ok, the cable was brand new. I replaced all of them a month ago beacuse a few ends looks bad, this end was one of them. All have stayed cool but this one since the new cables were put on. I'll check the nut to see if it loose. It was to hot to check last night. Would a wing nut be better than just an ordinary bolt?

New doesn't mean Good.

Could be a bad terminal on battery.

The stud is actually a hex-head bolt embedded in lead, so a little too much torque at some point in time might have caused a wee bit of wiggle room for corrosion to get into.
Attached it a chart with battery terminal torque specs. The SAE torque specs are in in/lb rather than ft/lb, so the highest one is only 15 ft/lb, which isn't much more than finger tight.

FWIW: I use Stainless Steel nuts and use a nut-driver with a screw-driver handle to tighten them.
I coat the threads with Vaseline before installing nuts and coat the terminal lugs before installing also, but others use a spray on corrosion inhibitor.

You can check the conductivity of your battery terminals and cables by putting a small load on the battery pack (an amp or so) and measuring the voltage between the lead battery terminal and the steel stud. Ideally, it would be -0-, but you might get a Milli-volt or two since lead and steel aren't the best of conductors.
To check the cables, measure from one terminal lug to the other. Again, there shouldn't be many Milli-volts, or the cable is bad.

An ordinary 100W 120V light bulb jumpered across the battery pack B+ to B- will probably be enough load to identify what is causing the amount of heat you are getting.

[simple man]

Heat is caused by resistance. Resistance being a poor connection at the battery terminal itself, the connector that is attached to the cable, or corrosion in the cable wire. I would do a voltage drop test from the actual battery terminal ( the lead part ) to the cable connector and then from the battery terminal to the wire in the cable itself. Somewhere in this area you have a high resistance connection causing your problem. You should show 0 or very close voltage when you do this test. Any reading over a couple of millivolts is a bad connection! You will need to have a load on the batteries to do this. Having the cart on stands, partially apply the brakes while cart is in forward with the accelerator pedal partway down. Do not brake so hard as to stop the motion of the wheels. Just a little brake. It's easier with two people, but you can do this by yourself if you're a bit flexible! :)
You stated that you replaced your cables. Are they made for a golf cart and what gauge are they?
Also, once overheated, the cable connector may no longer make a good connection to the wire itself.

[cableguy_hd]

thanks for the replies. I will check in the morning. i'm thinking its a bad terminal tho.