On Wed, 3 May 2017 12:25:05 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 2 May 2017 13:21:05 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
...
The engineers tried out my new tester on a fuel injection computer
and
blew it up when the protection Zener overheated and failed after a
few
load dump cycles. I think that's why they went to side terminal
batteries.

? What's the difference in transient voltage handling between top
and
side term batts? I thought the difference was merely physical
config.

Bummer on the quick trashing of your tester.


The fuel injection computer was destroyed, not my tester. The solder
holding a thick solid wire to the top of the stud-mount clamp Zener
melted and the wire popped off. The next high-voltage discharge
wrecked the module before I could run around the engineers and stop
it.

Do side terminals corrode?

-jsw

Yes. Just not as quickly and as seriously.