thanks roadworthy for your reply. so to be clear i remove the ground clamp/cable first that goes from the ground lock out switch to the negative post on the first battery, then remove the clamp from the positive post on the first battery and then remove the clamp from the negative post on the second battery. and then remove the clamp from the positive post on the second battery. and when hooking up new batteries i hook the clamps to the posts in reverse order of the way i took them off