I am looking for any information from the people in the field about disconnecting the battery. Our dept disconnects the Positive side first. Is this wrong? I have heard that diconnecting the positive can set off some air bags. Has anyone got any suggestions or answers? Thanks
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Battery disconnects at car wrecks
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Fairly simple reasoning here. If your craftsman wrench is on the positive post and the handle bumps against the fender or any other metal you will get a spark. Positive to negative equals short. However a cross connection between the negative post and body equals nothing. My rply, always go negative first.
Zmag
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ZMag hit the nail squarly on the head. We always go for the negative side first, unless it is somehow obstructed leaving the positive as the only one we can get to immediately. Even then, we will disconnect the negative as soon as we can access it.Richard Nester
Orrville (OH) Fire Dept.
"People don't care what you know... until they know that you care." - Scott Bolleter
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Seems like everyone's on the right track here. The negative side is always the way to go. The reason is that the negative, or ground of the battery is bolted directly to the frame or the body of the car. The only way to prevent accidental electrial discharge from the battery is to eliminate the ground connection. <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">Crasher
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Personally, I prefer to cut out a small section of the negative cable. I do it because I don't want to disconnect the cable only to have it move and ground out on something else. I usually cut out a section just long enough so that the 2 ends will not touch.The comments made by me are my opinions only. They DO NOT reflect the opinions of my employer(s). If you have an issue with something I may say, take it up with me, either by posting in the forums, emailing me through my profile, or PMing me through my profile.
We are all adults so there is no need to act like a child........
IACOJ
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The November '01 University of Extrication article took an interesting look as the problem of 'partial' battery shutdown. The bottom line of that article is that the negative(ground) cable(s) should be cut or disconnected first. This action, however, must be followed with cutting or disconnecting the hot (positive) cable(s) as well.
In the article, there are several case study examples of real-world cases where the battery kept current flowing through the vehicle even though the negative cable was disconnected or the battery severely damaged in a crash.
In addition, if your department's battery policy is to cut cables, "double-cut" the cable. Take away that one inch of cable with a double cut so that the fresh ends will never be able to make contact.
Ron MooreRon Moore, Forum Moderator
www.universityofextrication.com
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I don't know how much your cars differ from ours, but we ALWAYS go for the earther battery terminal first.
On some cars, they have a +ive earthm and others are a -ive earth. (Check out all your dealers, some manufacturers are still making a +ive earth, whilst others are doing -ive earth. We can't just assume they're all the same)
I agree with others about the risk of shorting whilst disconnecting, thats why we go for the earthed terminal.
With regards to disconnection versus cutting a section of lead out, we always disconnect on the chance that for some unforseen reason we may need to reconnect the battery to get power back to the car, such as for electric seats, etc.
Our unit is now placing the disconnection of the battery terminals a little lower on the priority list until we are ready to begin the extrication so as we can move seats, windows, etc. before we begin metal movement. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">Luke
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Remember if you cut the negative to cut it twice to keep it from coming back together. What I like to do if possible is disconnect the positive also,to be sure. The negative is the first to go tho. Also remember that if dealing with airbags that doesnt guarantee a deployment of the SRS system.
God Bless America and those who protect it.
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