SER1. Today's cautionary tale.

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I got to work at 8:30 this morning and at 12:00  The receptionist rang me 
to say

"Tom there's smoke coming out of your car"

So I grabbed one of the Co2 extinguishers from the reception area and ran 
over to my 86". sure enough smoke coming from the engine bay and some small 
flames visible. A quick shot of Co2 through the rad panel and up from under 
the wheel arch seemed to kill the flames. Then I had a friend stand by with 
the extinguisher whilst I lifted the bonnet (hood). He chucked in a 
cautionary blast as I opened it.

No real damage, and the car still starts and runs fine.

Cause.  I had topped up the oil a couple of days ago and had left the 
filler cap on the battery and forgotten to replace it so when I drove it 
the cap had lodged between the live terminal and the inner wing. I guess 
the paint had held out for quite a while but after driving to work it must 
have started to arc and the cap as a result had got very hot. Hot enough to 
ignite the oil residue in the breather and melt a small hole in the wing 
where it had been arcing to.

A: GET A BATTERY TERMINAL COVER.
B: PUT THE CAP BACK.
C: DON'T USE THE BATTERY AS A TRAY.

I guess I owe the receptionist a drink or two. Especially as I'm parked 
next to the "VP engineerings" £40K Merc.





Regards.

Tom Wykes.



PCB Designer
Cambridge Broadband.
Tel.+44 (0)1223 703000
Fax.+44 (0)1223 703001
DDI. +44 (0)1223 703044
tw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
www.cambridgebroadband.com

If you don't live life on the edge, you're taking up too much space.



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