Cheap battery disconnect

[WelmoedJ]

I've seen that neg. terminal recommendation elsewhere but can not see any truth to why it is stated.

On other - non fiberglass bodied - cars there's a risk of shorting the battery if the pos terminal is taken off first.
And while doing so accidently touching any ground on the car with the tool used to remove the terminal.
It also seems of influence on the car's computer.
That's why, however you already knew that.

[DMCMW Dave]

I don't want to be a teacher lecturing, but:
Shouldn't a disconnect be in the negative line?

(On most cars having a negative to ground instructions tell you to disconnect the ground terminal before disconnecting the positive terminal).

Welmoed.

Electrically it makes no difference. Disconnected is disconnected. Since it's inside a plastic/wooden housing the ground safety is not an issue. The disconnecte would be very difficult to reach if connected on the back terminal in this installation.

On a "normal" car with the battery under the hood and many grounded metal parts in the area, it would be advantageous to disconnect the ground connection.

[DMC5180]

the rule is as Dave says
Always remove neg first and install last. It has to do with accidentally swinging a wrench on the pos side and creating sparks insta-welding things together. Not good

A switch or disconnect like Dave uses (and me) is one of the best little items I've purchased for the car.

Btw, their is a rule for connecting jumper cables. Pos. first at battery Neg. second away from battery (eng preferred) in the event of possible gases exploding (rare but possible)

[Farrar]

This is the kind I have.

Farrar

[jawn101]

A PO installed a really nice one in 2100 by removing the rear bulkhead (the wooden panel behind the seats to which the battery compartmrnt door attaches, forgive me if I used the wrong word here) and drilling a small hole just above and to the right of the battery compartment towards the center tunnel. It's a heavy-duty low profile cutoff, and it's hooked to the negative terminal. All I have to do is reach underneath the carpet that covers the battery door and switch it on or off. It's so easy that I find myself doing it every time I get out of the car. Can't even see that it's there.

[TEXSIX]

 It's so easy that I find myself doing it every time I get out of the car.

Doesn't that screw up your radio settings every time?

[DMCMW Dave]

Doesn't that screw up your radio settings every time?

Depends on the radio. If it's OEM Craig/ASI, yes, it forgets everything. Newer radios seem to have a better memory.

[jawn101]

Depends on the radio. If it's OEM Craig/ASI, yes, it forgets everything. Newer radios seem to have a better memory.

Bingo. My JVC doesn't lose anything, but my console clock is always wrong I can't see the darn thing anyway so that's not a huge issue.

[AdmiralSenn]

You could also get a battery disconnect with a "standby" connector that powers things like the clock and radio that require battery connections to keep their memory. Just a thought.

[Evildeli]

This is the kind I have.

Farrar

I've got the same one on the neg.