That was old video. Sadly, the "MISSILE WORKS" decals were in clear sight.
IIRC The guys had the wires backwards on the batteries. When they didn't hear beeps, they didn't stop and check things out. After a while, things overloaded and charges fired.
If you twist the wires or flip the switch and you get nuthin', don't just keep doing whatever it was you were doing. That could have been way worse.... shrapnel, or the guy who fell off the scaffold could have busted his neck.
On the upside, it looks like they had sufficient bp.
J
Put the battery in with the wrong polarity and I guarantee you that will happen with an RRC series altimeter. Ask Jon Skuba sometime...
Warren