Sparks when doing the right order, no when not

[Golitan11]

Each time I disconnect my battery, I do it the right way: negative first and then positive. However, when I reconnect the battery, I cannot reconnect the positive first and then the negative (right way) because it is doing sparks (small ones) and it is melting the terminal each time (even when I touch it only a few milliseconds). So, I connect the negative first and then the positive (bad way, I am really careful with my wrench though) and I get only a weak spark sound and that's it. Any idea why it is doing this? Thanks.

P.S. I don't know if it change something but my amplifier ground is always hooked up (I had to fix it in a really deep section of the trunk).

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[robert420 10+ year member]

i could be from the amp being grounded out. just hook the battery up and leave it alone if theres nothing wrong with it...

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the spark is caused from capacitors charging. you can prevent that by connecting through a small resistor or incandescent lamp ahead of time to re-charge the caps before making the permanent connection.

 

[Golitan11]

LOL did I say I had capacitors? I did not actually...

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

LOL did I say I had capacitors? I did not actually...

Most electrical devices have them inside on their board, so yes... you do actually. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sneaky.gif.7189749b3a3f769e8815b47e8ae87f88.gif

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

LOL did I say I had capacitors? I did not actually...

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif educate yourself

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

all amps have capacitors on them that have to be charged. the spark just means things are trying to get electricity, like dome lights and what not. larger sparks are from adding amplifiers.

 

[Golitan11]

So if it is normal why is it melting?

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

The terminal is metal, it takes a god-awful amount of electricity to melt metal. Waaaaay more than your car will ever be able to make. What exactly is melting?

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

The terminal is metal, it takes a god-awful amount of electricity to melt metal. Waaaaay more than your car will ever be able to make. What exactly is melting?

lead acid batts have lead terminals on top. lead having a very low melting point it is more than possible to melt down a terminal with what some guys have in their cars today.

 

[Golitan11]

I did not try to touch directly the terminal but I touched the steel bolt on the brass aftermarket battery terminal (to hold my ring terminal) and it was melting (the bolt).

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

disconnect amp power wire from amp before connecting to batt and see if you still melt stuff. if you do then you have something shorting out. but if you have a fuse inline on the power wire that should be popping before you melt anything. So if you have no fuse holder get one. if you do have one then you probably have something serious going on and might just have to take it to a professional.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

severe sparks or melting indicates a short or reversal of power/ground wire (common mistake when wire colors are the same for both power and ground).