Here's some good smokin' pictures....

[suicideneil]

Nah, that must be an old wive's tail- I've shorted my packs before for a split second by touching connectors together accidently- no harm done. Many others have dont the same, with A123 cells too- a momentory short wont hurt the batts, but keepinf them shorted will cause them to puff and probably 'brew up'.