Green Ringer and Melting Battery

[chromesphere]

Hi all,

Had an interesting one last night.  Finished a green ringer build for a friend, temporary hooked it up with jacks and a 9v rechargable battery.

After a couple of mins of trying to get the sound out of it (wasn't giving me any signal -> silent), realized i could smell a burning plastic sort of smell.  Checked the soldering iron.  It was ok.  Went back to the circuit on the floor infront of my amp and realised the battery was starting to melt / plastic warp.  It was VERY hot to touch.  Even 15 mins after i disconnected it i still had to pick it up with tongs / too hot to touch.

I checked the circuit and noticed there were a few bridges (cant remember exactly where) which i fixed, and eventually got going (yay!) :-)

Has anyone else had this happen before or know WHAT could cause it to happen, like, if +/- were shorted together or something?  Or could it have been a faulty rechargable 9v battery? (it was only a week old).

CS

[El Heisenberg]

Ive accidentally left a battery with a clip attatched on my work table. The leads were touching and the battery melted. So yea, you shorted the battery.

[chromesphere]

Dam!  I was hoping i could blame it on the battery and return it to the shop...well...could still try i suppose :-)

Those 9v rechargables arent cheap!

Oh well, live and learn, thanks for the response!

CS.

[Paul Marossy]

Yep, that is the classic shorted 9V battery. I think probably everyone here has done that at least once.

[jkokura]

I had a similar problem the other night. Essentially, my +9v on my pcb was grounding, creating a short.

Jacob

[MikeH]

I was on the way to a gig once and I stuck a 9v battery and a slide in my pocket as I was running out the door.  The slide caused the battery to short out in my pocket and damn near scalded my junk as I was driving down the road.  I learned that lesson the hard way.

[El Heisenberg]

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Venusblue]

I used to lick them when I was a kid if that counts.

[caress]

I was on the way to a gig once and I stuck a 9v battery and a slide in my pocket as I was running out the door.  The slide caused the battery to short out in my pocket and damn near scalded my junk as I was driving down the road.  I learned that lesson the hard way.

amazing   

[Kearns892]

I had a 9 volt in my pocket I had taken out of a pedal I was showing to a friend before a gig. Right before we started playing I realized something warm against my leg... Apparently some change or my keys or something had shorted the battery. I'm just glad I caught it before we started playing or I probably would have ended up like Mike  .

[chromesphere]

Not only will I be checking for shorts when i test a new build, i've also learned another thing today;  keep 9v batteries away from your privates.