
If you touch a live wire carrying 12 volts, you will get an electric shock, or possibly you could get burned. Since the red terminal carries the higher voltage, it means the voltage of the red terminal is higher by 12 volts compared to the black terminal. If the voltage of your battery is 12 volts, this means there is a 12 volts difference between the red and the black terminal. Why is this so important? The positive or red terminal of a car battery is the one that carries the higher voltage. It is always safer to inspect the battery for this symbol before disconnecting or connecting its terminal to another terminal. Or perhaps, the battery casing itself has this (+) sign. If this protective casing is missing from your battery, look for the (+) mark or symbol on the terminal post itself. Battery manufacturers are placing these protective covers to prevent accidental shorting of the terminals. Typically, you will see a red protective casing over the battery’s positive (+) terminal. This symbol is etched or stamped in almost all types and sizes of automotive batteries in the red terminal. Is the Red Wire Always Positive on a Car Battery?īetween red or black, which of these two colors is positive? Which one is negative?Ĭonventional standards declare that the red terminal of an automotive battery represents its positive (+) terminal. So, if you misconnect battery terminals, you will damage the battery and your car and may even cause an accident. The stored energy in a fully charged automotive battery is so great that you can be injured if you will create a wrong connection. If you don’t know this, you might cause an accident if you wrongly connect a battery terminal to the wrong terminal. Is black or red negative? The red (+) and black (-) symbols are designed so that you can easily understand how the battery circuit is wired. Knowing the colors of battery terminals is essential because you never know when you will be forced to disconnect, connect, replace, or jumpstart your car battery. Why Is It Important to Locate Positive and Negative on a Battery? If you do that, you will cause an accident. You should first make sure that you know the (+) or red terminal and the (-) black terminal of the dead battery and the jumpstarting battery.ĭon’t ever connect the (+) red terminal of the jumpstarting battery to the (-) black terminal of the dead battery or vice versa. In jumpstarting a dead battery, you should never connect its red terminal to the black terminal of the jumpstarting battery. Connecting the terminals in the wrong way will result in an accident. Knowing this standard in interpreting the colors of battery terminals is essential because there are times when you need to jumpstart or replace a dead battery. This standard is followed in most batteries used in all motorized vehicles worldwide. The conventional standards of automotive batteries declare that the red-colored battery terminal is the positive terminal and the black-colored terminal is the negative terminal. Is it black or red? Is Black or Red Positive on a Battery? Read on to learn more about which color is the positive terminal in a battery. This is the conventional meaning of the terminals designed to help people understand how the battery circuit is wired. Don’t ever connect the red cable of the jumpstarting battery to the dead battery’s negative terminal.Īll automotive batteries are marked with symbols (+) and (-). In most automotive vehicles, the red terminal is the positive terminal, and the black terminal is the negative terminal. If you are stranded somewhere because of a dead battery, and another motorist passing you by is offering to give your car a jumpstart, do you know what to do? Do you know what is positive or negative in your battery? In this article, I’ll answer the question: “Is black or red positive on a battery?
