Disconnect the positive or negative of my battery for drain issue car?

[IS300E30]

When my 87 325i convertible sits for a week the battery dies. I am heading out of town for a week and before I disconnected the battery, I decided to check if it was still charged and nope it wasn't.

So, I recharged the battery and would like to keep it disconnected, so it doesn't drain down while I am out of town for a week.

Do I disconnect the positive terminal, the negative terminal or does it not matter as long as one of them is disconnected?

[CW325]

negative. idk if it matters but thats what i did

[5Toes]

Negative is easier... lol

[Cybernix]

Careful, if you listen to 5Toes it might end up taking you 2 weeks to put that battery wire back on :)

[MR 325]

The answer is it does not matter.

Negative is easier and also safer because of no worry about sparking it on something. :)

[b*saint]

Positive. Tire conduct electricity now to reduce static when leaving a car.

http://www.hydro.mb.ca/safety_and_education/farm/myths.shtml

I would just disconnect the red.

[FLG]

you always disconnect the negative.

lets say you disconnect the positive but while doing so your wrench grounds out on the body your gonna have some sparks. If you had disconnected the negative first you wouldn't have had a problem.

[Jaxx_]

you always disconnect the negative.

lets say you disconnect the positive but while doing so your wrench grounds out on the body your gonna have some sparks. If you had disconnected the negative first you wouldn't have had a problem.

I guess that's true... but if I'm working near the battery it usually has the positive post covered if it's removed. It doesn't really matter to me either way, sometimes I disconnect positive, sometimes negative. Depends on the situation and what I feel is less likely to pop back onto the post when I walk away from the car.

[jlevie]

As mentioned above, you always disconnect the ground cable first then the positive cable. Installation is the reverse, positive cable then ground cable.

[b*saint]

I dont think he was wondering in which order does he remove the battery leads, just which he should keep off.

[FLG]

I dont think he was wondering in which order does he remove the battery leads, just which he should keep off.

The negative.

Were talking very low voltage here...you really can't electrocute yourself if you tried. You can grab both posts on a battery without issue.

[dsobering47]

Doesnt matter. Disconnect one of them. IF you want bonus points, disconnect the negative lead and put a voltmeter in series with the negative cable and observe your draw (amps, not volts). You can then start pulling fuses until the draw drops, then BOOM, you found your shitty draw problem.

[Jaxx_]

Were talking very low voltage here...you really can't electrocute yourself if you tried. You can grab both posts on a battery without issue.

Keep thinking that way and you're going to end up hurt. While I agree it's very unlikely that you will get hurt from a car battery's voltage passing through you, even 30V can be dangerous.

[b*saint]

Keep thinking that way and you're going to end up hurt. While I agree it's very unlikely that you will get hurt from a car battery's voltage passing through you, even 30V can be dangerous.

If you can concoct a way to increase the amperage through your body of the 12v, you're a brilliant fucking idiot.

[AndrewBird]

It all comes down to conductivity. EVERYTHING conducts electricity, given a high enough voltage (even things like glass and rubber). 12v is not high enough voltage to conduct through your skin. If you used needles or something stuck into you, then you would be able to get a shock, but even then it is a bit iffy.

And it's amps that are dangerous, not volts. 1,000,000,000v is just as safe as 12v if at a very low amperage. That's how tasers work. Extremely high voltage to be able to conduct through your skin, but low amperage so it won't kill whoever it is shocking.