Battery care

[Hoopy Frood]

Yeah, it seems engineers rarely think about those "Oopsies" when they design engine bays. I've had bikes that the positive lead had to be removed first, and it was about a half-inch from the frame rail.

[IBEW Sparky]

@jjbbrewer

I was just wondering if someone knew of any electrical reason for doing this. There really isn't any

The possibility of shorting out the battery to ground IS THE ELECTRICAL REASON!
The immediate rush of current to ground can cause serious burns or injuries.

[huntindog]

@jjbbrewer

I was just wondering if someone knew of any electrical reason for doing this. There really isn't any

The possibility of shorting out the battery to ground IS THE ELECTRICAL REASON!
The immediate rush of current to ground can cause serious burns or injuries.

Not to mention that sparks around a LA battery can under certain conditions cause it to explode causing disfigurement, blindness or death.

[huntindog]

Ok, I got the "oopsie" part.

A few things I work on (vintage cars, race motorcycles, dirt bikes) have the batteries tucked into corners where you have to take off the positive before you can get to the negative terminal (think of a battery tightly tucked into a horizontal box).

Also, if I remember right, my old girlfriend's '58 Morris Minor was positive ground, which would mean you need to reverse this "Auto Mechanics 101" rule-of-thumb.

I was just wondering if someone knew of any electrical reason for doing this. There really isn't any.

But I do get the newbie/klutz/shorting-with-a-wrench concept.

If need be, remove the other end of the neg. cable from ground and isolate it

[jjbbrewer]

The possibility of shorting out the battery to ground IS THE ELECTRICAL REASON!

C'mon, be nice. You know what I mean.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

[IBEW Sparky]

C'mon, be nice. You know what I mean.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Haha I thought I was being nice.
I myself just have a personal pet peeve about battery safety. Had two different friends that both lost fingers due to neglecting battery safety.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too and to all of the rest of the forum members!

[jjbbrewer]

I myself just have a personal pet peeve about battery safety. Had two different friends that both lost fingers due to neglecting battery safety.

I understand for sure. My grandfather was a electrician and amateur radio operator in the '30s. (he was later fast tracked through Annapolis and became the head radio officer on the USS Lexington until it was sank at the Battle of the Coral Sea .. but I digress ..)

He taught me about electricity, electronics (tubes, then), & radio wave transmission starting when I was in 2nd grade. He was such an inspiration that I later got a BS in EE and went into a 34 year career designing CPUs at HP, Intel and AMD.

Anyway, to teach me the difference between current and voltage, he would lick his little finger & thumb and put them across the terminals of a car battery. After seeing sparks, melting of shorted wires, and the discharge on a car coil, I thought he was crazy. But he did it to give me (as a grade schooler) a comprehension of resistance and it's relation to current and voltage. He'd also scold me if I went into his radio room barefoot .. but that's another story.

Hope you're having a good one, too.