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Jim Hawkins · 05-10-2020, 12:38 PM

Alan, I work on electric forklifts and all kinds of dc battery powered industrial equipment. From your description the problem was what you found, the solenoid or armature in the starter. Usually the contacts weld and will not turn off. Direct short to ground not very common.
Did the cables start to overheat? Seems like it took your battery down real quick.
The short must have created a open circuit in your battery, inner cell connector burnt open. If the battery reads 0 volts and will not charge it has a open circuit internally. Probably a better situation if that is what happened, acted like a fuse rather than something else like the cables melting and catching fire until the battery current flow dropped.
If the problem originated at the battery should not have damaged the starter. Path of least resistance would have been in the battery itself.

05-10-2020, 12:38 PM	#5
Jim Hawkins Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 198 Likes: 89 Liked 115 Times in 35 Posts	Re: Weird electrical issue. Alan, I work on electric forklifts and all kinds of dc battery powered industrial equipment. From your description the problem was what you found, the solenoid or armature in the starter. Usually the contacts weld and will not turn off. Direct short to ground not very common. Did the cables start to overheat? Seems like it took your battery down real quick. The short must have created a open circuit in your battery, inner cell connector burnt open. If the battery reads 0 volts and will not charge it has a open circuit internally. Probably a better situation if that is what happened, acted like a fuse rather than something else like the cables melting and catching fire until the battery current flow dropped. If the problem originated at the battery should not have damaged the starter. Path of least resistance would have been in the battery itself.