Before doing my recent amplifier cabling there would be a tiny spark sometimes when I would go to reconnect the negative cable to my battery terminal, but never anything that would cause me any concern. Now though that I've added 1/0 gauge to the mix for both the run to the trunk & for the battery grounding, I can't seem to reattach the negative cable without a minor spark shower.

For the ground I am using one of these terminals :

Note the screw top where I had been disconnecting & re-connecting the ground wire during the installation of my system. If I place the grounding wire directly onto the terminal while the terminal is already connected to the battery I do not see any sparking & the system voltage stays level @ 12.87, but the problem happens only when I try to reconnect the cable with the bolt dangling thru the connector. Is it simply a spacing issue where full contact is lost between the bolt, the wire & the terminal as I go to connect it?

FWIW... I had a bad electrical shock as a kid so I've always had paranoia issues when ever I have to deal with situations where I may get shocked. Stupid I know, but I keep throwing the bolt into the engine each time it sparks just when I think it wouldn't.

Would it be better to connect the wire to the terminal & then try connecting the terminal to the battery or would I still be looking at the same problem?

 

The terminal can spark because when you reconnect the negative, you are once again closing the circuit between the pos. and neg. on the battery.

Dont know of any real way to avoid this, thus this is why I dont recommend you disconnecting any terminals if its not necessary. Now if you're upgrading all the vehicles electrical wiring, such as adding an upgraded alternator or battery or both, which would be the reason for the larger wiring, its almost unavoidable.

The reason you shouldnt disconnect any terminals from the battery if your only adding your amps power wire is so you can avoid any potential dangers from that spark, such as the battery exploding in your face. This is of course if you have a old and improperly functioning battery that may be leaking, etc.

Its one of those things that may not necessarily be an immediate danger, but theres always a chance. Just use caution while working around the battery and leave all the terminals connected as normal. You would most likely still get a small spark when connecting the power/ground at the amolifier...but you'd much rather have it there than at the battery. Just make sure you connect the pos. on the amp first, then the ground and the spark you get from closing that circuit will be very small or even not occur at all.

 

Whenever you work on car electricals, you ALWAYS disconnect a terminal, especially if you are not a pro.

 

Why Dave... wire insulation never melts, mistakes never happen... Well at least in shifty's case. He's the wiring god.

DaPutster - You should always disconnect the NEG. side of the battery. Its just safe and smart. If shifty was so great he would have told you that. There's just some things you always do when install aftermarket electronics into a car and that's disconnect the battery. You never know when you might 'burn' the shealthing of the wire, cut something by mistake, whatever the case may be, its just smart to protect yourself and the car from any damage. The cost of repairing damage that could be caused is not worth it compared to the 60sec it might take to disconnect the battery.

 

it's going to happen when you break a circuit and reconnect it.


i also always advise people when disconnecting power if you're diving in, especially a beginner/intermediate. pull the negative/ground terminal.


the best thing to do to avoid this spark is to put it on using as little 'fitting' as possible. just go in, and get it done. everytime you jiggle, wiggle, move, or break that contact, it's going to spark again. the sooner you get a solid connection, the less sparking you'll have.

one way of avoiding some of this sparking, depending on what's causing it, is to pull the main fuse at the battery on the wire running to your amps. of course, it's always possible the fuse will spark a bit when putting it back in.... *shrug*

really, there's no way to completely get away from it.

 

Thanks everyone. I just sucked it up, put the hex wrench into the bolt, the bolt into the wire terminal and put it all to the battery terminal as quickly as I could. There was a bit of a spark, but since I didn't hesitate, it went away as soon as I had it firmly set into the bolt hole. Considering this only really happens when I have the 1/0 gauge positive connected, I guess it just goes to show the difference in overall power going thru the car.

Now I just need to move the 1/0 coming down thru the driver's side footwell because my boot keeps getting stuck between there & the clutch pedal...

 

*nods*

glad to hear it went well.


and yes, you want to get any and all wiring out of the way of your feet and driving controls. honestly, driving like that can be dangerous, but you probably already knew that.

 

Its definitely not wrong to disconnect the negative, there is no wrong way to do it, but if you can just be careful around the positive wire while connecting your power wire, its just quicker and you dont get a potentially hazardous spark. Then again, if you dont disconnect the neg. and you touch some form of ground while your ratchet or what not is on the positive terminal, you'll get an even nastier spark.

This is of course rectified by using rubber insulated tools on all handles, etc.

Its just quicker to not disconnect them.

either way you do it just be careful...