12v battery dead/recharge, neg. terminal sparks

Before reconnecting the neg cable, check the date code on the 12 battery as it could be the original and will need replacing.

How many hours per week are you currently driving?

FYI : your posts are being moderated until you've posted 5 times.

 

As long as you are trying to reconnect the neg cable to the neg post, a spark is ok and normal

If the battery is older as SFO mentioned, more than likely this will cause problems.
And if it has been sitting a while, then time to change it anyway. That could mean a year or more huh?

Yes use gloves if you must, but not necessary.

 

If the sparking on reconnection of the battery were going to harm anything, you already would have when you saw it spark.

There are electrical loads in the car, and some of them even contain power regulators with capacitors; it's not very surprising to see a bit of a spark when restoring the connection.

A charger can just as easily be connected to the jump points in front. There's nothing between that and the battery itself besides a fat wire and a large fuse. Naturally, it can carry the current of an actual jump from another car battery, and the small current of an appropriately-sized charger is scarcely anything in comparison.

If you have a very smart charger that would be confused by having car loads present at the same time, then you might want to disconnect the battery, but the easier way in a Gen 2 is just to squeeze and unplug the large cable connection at the battery + terminal. No fussing with a wrench.

 

There's 2 black cables plugged in to the assy on the top of the 12 volt battery assy. One thick one one smaller one. If you get a little screwdriver and and press there release lock clips they pull right out then the 12 volt battery is disconnected from the car. No sparks.

I've been charging the 12 volt battery on my bought new 07 for 14 years. Its the front jump point its designed to jump or maintain the battery. Don't have to disconnect anything. Stop watching that video its nonsense.

 

AND if the charger you have really IS a "trickle charger", you might need to leave it connected for DAYS to get a full charge.

 

If there'd be a spark when reconnecting on the − side, there'll be a spark when reconnecting on the + side. The electrons don't care.*

But those plug-in connections on the + side are easier to make, no fussing with a wrench, and kind of enclosed. More like plugging in a regular plug. So maybe you'll be less likely to notice a small spark.

The smaller of the two is just a voltage-sensing connection that runs back to an input on the car's DC/DC converter. You can unplug it too for completeness, but unplugging the fat one takes the loads off the battery.



* "Elk don't know how many feet a horse has!"