Vannin' Community and Forums Forums Thread Like Summary - A/C causing battery to get hot?

1998 Chevrolet Express 2500 passenger L31 front and rear a/c
I got home from work and was sitting in the driveway. I had front and rear a/c blowing. I was enjoying the cold air and out of no where Gordon shut off. I popped the hood and started looking around, I notice that the post on the positive side had melted. I got another bolt, (side post). Gordon started right up. Checked everything was fine. I'm a windows down, kind of guy. Rarely use the a/c. A few weeks later I'm at work and hot, I kick the a/c on. I sat their about 30 minutes and Gordon kind of missed fired. The positive side was loose and hot. I let it sit and tightened it. This morning I was thinking it had something to do with the a/c. I started the van let it get to temp and kicked on the a/c. I felt the positive side getting warm. It gets hot faster with front and rear running. Everything looks fine. Any tips

The compressor clutch plus the front and rear fans can pull pretty high amps but shouldn't cause that kind of situation.
Heat is always a poor connection. If it's not from the outside it's the connection inside. Are you sure the cable is good?
Be careful!
Could also be a dangerous battery to work on, wear your eye protection. I've had three battery explosions over the years and some scars to prove it. Take the battery to a shop and have it tested. Warn the tech ahead of time.

Unplug your compressor for a bit to see if the heat goes away. The clutch is just a big electromagnet with a wire coil inside.
There is a resistor built into the plug on the compressor clutch. It's there to bleed off the random current generated by the clutch when the pulley's turning and it's not engaged (ac off). That resistor is there to prevent excessive arcing of the contacts inside the compressor relay as the clutch is engaged. If that bleed resistor is bad (open) it could have fried the contacts inside the relay causing a poor connection.
Check your ohms to ground on the plug and on the compressor clutch itself. The clutch could be shorted to ground.

That is how your A/C works boys and girls.. CatFish has forgot more than I know.