Tips to install a new battery?

[Danno1]

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And one thing no one else mentioned. When I put my new batt in a few months ago, I replaced both batt cables. The old ones were seriously undersized. The new ones are seriously oversized!

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[dbdartman]

OK, I need a clarification...I was taught to remove the hot wire first then the ground.

When replacing I always connect the ground first then the hot.

Have I been doing it wrong for 30 years? I grew up in a junk yard and that's the way my step dad always did it when working on cars/trucks. Is there a difference between tractors and cars/trucks?

If you're working with AC voltage with 3 wires (common, power, ground), that's correct (or at least that's what I remember). You want the ground complete before handling the "hot" wires so if they hit anything, HOPEFULLY the power goes direct to ground instead of through you. With 12v DC you unhook the ground first & attach it last to keep from grounding the hot lug through your wrench (I had to teach my electrician this when we were setting up the generator a couple years ago).

 

[3RRL]

One thing to clarify,
I was taught you don't want grease or spray "between" the battery terminals and cables.
That should be a clean metal to metal connection. Then you can apply the spray over both once connected together. Clean the metal to meal connections periodically because somehow they always get corroded? Replacing the cables is a good point too. Sometimes corrosion forms inside them underneath the plastic sheathing causing poor performance. Over sized cables is a good point too.

 

[joe48]

Like RUNNER in #18, I was brought up with vaseline, but my Dad mixed in baking soda to nuetralize the acids. Worked good at the time and there wasn't anything else available commercially, like todays felt washers and sprays. Which is what I usually use unless they aren't handy, then I just use spray grease until next time,( red spray grease seems to work better than white !?), and I spray it all over the post and clamp, never seemed to cause a problem.
On the farm we always took the batteries out of equipment when done for the season. We labeled them and kept them on a heavy wooden shelf in the shop. Once a month we hooked up a trickle charger and brought each one up to full charge. Can't remember haveing to replace a battery on anything with this method.