h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Eric,
I think you should put a warning in about the battery method.
If you short out a large battery for to long, it stands a good chance of exploding. This is because the battery will heat up exremely quickly.

Yes, i agree. The battery heats up very quickly, and it will explode very soon after.

Be very careful about disconnecting modern car batteries. Bad things happen to the on board electronics - radios lose their key codes, immobilisers activate, black boxes shut down. Sorting these are main dealer jobs and can get very expensive. What you can do is clip a small motorcycle type battery acros the terminals before you disconnect the main battery to keep all the electronics powered up. I do this when I want to use the car alternator to give a good blast charge to the boat batteries at the beginning of the season. Obviously never, ever use a battery still connected to a car unless you've got very good fire cover insurance and can run fast.
However, if you're careful and use the frayed ends method to create brief showers of sparks the battery discharge will not be much more than the normal drain of the starter motor.


Phil the Pyromaniac

THanks for the reply Phil,
Hmmm, I get your point about frayed ends, but I still wouldn't want to try it, except in extreme circumstances. Or about fifty feet of cable. Ha ha.