Battery housing melted, hand burned

[AcidBurnISU]

Ok, I have been over and over the tutorial. I can't find anything wrong. I tried 2 different brands of batteries, both heat up so much they melted the housing and burned my fingers pretty bad. Nothing on the board itself heats up at all though. Not a single piece heats up.

So why are the batteries melting the case (2 of the batteries literally melted themselves too)? Is there something not installed correctly? Defective piece?

[adafruit_support_rick]

Sounds very much like the batteries are short-circuited. From the photograph, it looks like the leads on the solder side haven't been trimmed very short. If any of the soldered leads are in contact with metal while you're doing your testing, then it could explain the symptoms.

Otherwise, from the pictures, I can't really see anything wrong with the assembly. With your multimeter, check for continuity between the red and black battery wires - there shouldn't be any.

[AcidBurnISU]

I had it sitting on paper so it wouldn't come in contact with anything. How would one check the continuity of the red and black battery wires?

[adafruit_support_bill]

If you have a multimeter, measure the resistance between the red & black wires where connected to the PCB. If it is zero - or very close - you have a short somewhere.

If there is a short. Disconnect one of the wires from the PCB and measure the resistance between the wires again. If it still measures zero, the short is in the battery case. Otherwise, it is somewhere on the PCB.

[AcidBurnISU]

I had my wife test it. She said it's registering .200 at both the leads on the board and on the battery holder.

[adafruit_support_rick]

0.2 ohms would indicate a short circuit. The next thing to do is disconnect one of the battery leads and test again, as suggested by adafruit_support. That wil tell you if the problem is in the board or in the battery holder.

[adafruit_support_bill]

it's registering .200

.200 ohms?

at both the leads on the board and on the battery holder.

Can you post a photo of the inside of the battery case where the wires attach to the battery spring contacts?

[AcidBurnISU]

I am assuming its .2 ohms. Here are some pictures of the battery housing, including where it melted. Does that tell you anything?

[adafruit_support_bill]

It does not look like the contacts are shorted inside the battery holder. Did you measure the resistance with one of the wires detached from the PCB?

[AcidBurnISU]

I will have to do that when i get home from work. i will need to unsolder it from the board first. Ill post what happens tonight.

[AcidBurnISU]

I tested it. I get absolutely nothing now even when I touch the leads on the pack itself.

[adafruit_support_bill]

I tested it. I get absolutely nothing now even when I touch the leads on the pack itself.

What do you mean by "absolutely nothing"? Zero resistance, or open circuit? And where exactly are you measuring it?

With one of the battery wires disconnected. Measure the resistance between the two battery wires.
Also measure the resistance between the "+" and "-" pads on the PCB.

[AcidBurnISU]

I did both of those. I get no reading at all. I'm setting the voltmeter to ohms and 200. Only one that would give a reading when it was all connected.

[AcidBurnISU]

Ok I retested. Put the multimeter on the leads on the board with only the black wire soldered on.mfluctuates between 0.01 and 0.02

[adafruit_support_rick]

OK, then the short is on the board someplace. Touch up any solders that look rough or frosted. Trim the component leads short on the solder side, and examine everything carefully for any bridged solder connections. Check on the component side as well - sometimes excess solder gets sucked up through a hole and causes a bridge on the component side.