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Battery conection


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#1 miniman5

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Posted 30 June 2004 - 05:02 PM

Yo peeps! i no that when you take a batery out of a car/bike you take the earth of first but when you put it back on do you put the + on first then the earth??????????

#2 philster

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Posted 30 June 2004 - 05:10 PM

don't suppose it matters really i usually put the + on first just because thats the most fiddly lead.

#3 pierce

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Posted 30 June 2004 - 08:09 PM

I've always been told to put + back first

#4 miniman5

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Posted 30 June 2004 - 08:10 PM

yea i new it was i just waned to check (dont wana get ZAPPED!) :tongue: i put the + on first any way lol

#5 dklawson

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 12:30 PM

You know... I've never understood why it would make any difference which side of the battery is disconnected/reconnected first. It's an electrical circuit and you're breaking it... that's all. As for getting zapped... if you have current flowing (i.e., switch was left "on" for headlights, radio, etc.) when you reconnect the battery you will get a spark/arc. This is bad in that you don't want this happening near the battery cells which produce Hydrogen. However, you personally aren't going to get "zapped". Around the world, unprotected, bare, exposed DC control circuits aren't an issue until you exceed 24 volts. In fact, you won't start to feel pain from DC until you exceed 40 volts. (Trust me).

The important thing to do is have all loads turned/switched off before you disconnect or reconnect the battery.

#6 P91MER

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 03:47 PM

I second what you are saying, but it does make you jump and bang your head on the boot top when it sparks!!!

Rich

#7 Pavel

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 03:57 PM

Lol i find it worse when it doesn't spark and i start wondering whether i have a dead battery or not :\

#8 mikesitalianjob

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 05:02 PM

that situation tempts you to see if you get a shock almost like the sirens on the rocks. i did manage to get a shock off a 12v moped battery but my neons were on my own fault really, a 240v shock is worse trust me. when people tell you not to create a connection with your finger in a lamp don't. plus don't burn oot leds in a powercord to a ps1 or ps2, that hurts and you blow the fuse in the socket.

#9 Badger

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 05:17 PM

Guys, if you connect the earth first & it doesn't matter if it's + or - earth & you then short out your spanner against the body when doing up the other terminal, there will be a god almighty spark & the possibility of serious burns, fires, explosions etc.

NEVER EVER CONNECT THE EARTH LEAD FIRST!

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Nick

#10 dklawson

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 05:24 PM

Well... that IS a situation I hadn't considered. I always thought that the arguments for hooking up one lead vs. the other first were based on the electrical circuitry... not the possibility of shorting out a tool to ground. Very good point indeed.

As for getting hurt with 12v... I'd like to know how Mikesitalianjob did it. I guess if you have wet, salty, hands you might feel a tingle but that's about it. That said, it is worth mentioning that you should never be holding onto the wires for a 12v relay when you de-energize it. The collapsing magnetic field works just like an ignition coil and will "zap" you. Mind you it doesn't feel like getting hit by a spark plug... but it does smart a bit.

#11 P91MER

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 06:12 PM

thats the one, i was trying to think what happened to me once, i didn't get electrocuted or nothing, but a huge spark happened once when i was tightening up the + which on my car is towards the back seats, and when i moved the spanned i clipped the back of the seat, and a massive spark appeared!

Thats why i always put the + on first nowadays, and make sure the earth hasn't moved its way over the the terminal and resting on it while i am tightening the + up!

Rich

#12 cowboy

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Posted 01 July 2004 - 08:04 PM

lets make this point simple

when disconecting undo the negative first, then the posative.

when connecting, connect the posative lead to the battery first, and tighten.
then when you are tightening the negative terminal, if your spanner (or wrench for our oversea's clientel) touches the body of your beloved mini, it can't spark as the lead is creating a path for the enegy.

WARNING WARNINGas a few people have pointed out they have had a few sparks when connecting wrongly, this can be a majar disaster waiting to happen, the gasses from your battery ARE VERY DANGEROUS, AND THAT LITTLE SPARK CAN CAUSE THE BATTERY TO EXPLODE so please all of you out there, take car with battery's, yes they are only 12v, but battery acid burns




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