Stupid question re battery

[poplars]

OK.. so which is positive and which negative.. just so I know when I need a new one.[frame][/frame]

[tysonn]

There should be a plus or a minus sign on the battery next to the terminal.

[poplars]

Yes could't see it.. but then that may be me not seeing stuff right in front of my face!

This Morris Minor stuff is addictive.. keeping me away from my work. Now I have my traveller Id love a car too like I had for a while from my father in law. In my 30s and just a real treat to know I could keep something running for years to come! Better save my pennies!

[davidpidge]

I can see the +/- symbols on the battery. They're right in front of the terminals. The negative is on the left and positive is on the right in the photo.

Looks like it's positive earthed as well. Have fun with that. If you have to jump start it from another car then make sure you connect it up properly. Can someone confirm the correct connections for jump leads from a negative earthed to positive earthed car?

[katy]

The positive(+) post is also larger diameter than the negative (-) one.

[poplars]

None so blind as them who dont want to see.. I wanted to but clearly I am stupid

OK positive earthed thing.... yes... what does that mean? Hmmmm

[GBond]

In order to reduce the amount of cables in a car the car's body is used to transmit electricity (earth). So say for a bulb you only need to connect one cable and the other end to the car's body. On positive earth vehicles, the positive terminal on the battery is the one connected to the car's body while on negative earth the opposite is true.

[bmcecosse]

So -with +ve earth you won't be able to fit an alternator - or a modern (last 30 years..) wireless. And take extreme care if connecting up a socket for charging phone or sat nav.... It would be much better to swap to negative earth, and in fact that battery is designed to be connected -ve earth - when you turn it round it will move the terminals away from the restraining bar, although they are not dangerously close at the moment anyway. Read up on it before doing it though...to avoid any problems.

[poplars]

Again.. not being mechanically minded, it wouldnt be something I would be confident in doing, so will leave as is.

[bmcecosse]

Which is fine ! Provided you don't want the wireless etc...

[poplars]

Would love a radio - but wouldnt know how to swap the battery around

[tysonn]

Well all the info how to do it is on this forum!

[Chipper]

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/index.php?page=322

[poplars]

Thanks for the link... easy when you know how You are probably seeing the level of my mechanical expertise!

[bmcecosse]

Hopefully, you are here to learn!

[poplars]

Of course .... though we are all skilled at many different things. And lets be fair. A list of what to do would in no way equip anyone without any knowledge of doing it before to do a decent job.

I am more than happy to see how its done and then have a go.I could happily produce a list of how one would go about influencing Government by lobbying them... but i wouldn't expect them to go off and do a good job of it from the list

Though if you want me to practice on your car just say the word

[bmcecosse]

Influence Government by lobbying.....aye right..

[poplars]

Aye right what? Just saying cars not my areas of expertise.. but then my area of expertise may not be that of others Takes all sorts to make the world go round.

[kennatt]

wasn't it also said that negative earthing helped prevent rusting,or is that another myth

[tysonn]

Probably.