Need to disconnect the battery from the inverter?
It can be a little intimidating, especially if you didn’t install the system.
Plus you might be worried about making a mistake when disconnecting the negative and positive cables.
For example, making sure you do things in the right order.
Well, let’s go through the step-by-step process of how to disconnect a battery from an inverter.
Disconnecting a Battery from an Inverter
To disconnect a normal inverter you simply need to switch it off. Then unhook the negative wire (black) from the battery followed by the positive wire (red) from the battery.
Here’s the step-by-step process for safely disconnecting an inverter from a battery. Before you start it is a good idea to wear protective safety glasses in case of spark or acid escaping from the battery.
1. Switch Off Inverter
The first thing to do is turn off your inverter. This will stop anything drawing electricity and stop electricity from passing around your circuit. You still need to be a little careful as there will still be a charge in your cable, especially with more powerful inverters and batteries.
2. Connection Type
Next assess how your inverter is connected. If it is just using alligator clips then you can simply unclamp the negative and then positive cables.
If you’re reading this it’s probably a more permanent setup. The cables should be connected by an O-ring and secured with a nut.
3. Disconnect Negative
You can go ahead and disconnect the negative cable. Ensure you have dry hands and you can happily touch the battery terminal and metal connection. As it’s 12V DC it won’t electrocute you.
Although, don’t touch both negative and positive terminals at the same time or connect them directly with a metal object. This will short circuit your battery.
4. Disconnect Positive
Now you have removed the negative cable the circuit is completely broken so you can happily unscrew and unhook the positive cable.
If you have a low-powered 12V inverter then you’re all done now. You can happily store you’re inverter away or hook it up to another battery
5. Discharge Inverter
If you have a high voltage inverter of 24V or more then it’s a good idea to discharge the energy potential in the machine and cables. You can do this by connecting a resistor to the negative wire and then touching the resistor to the positive input on the inverter. Now everything is discharged and ready to be stored or used elsewhere.
Here’s a handy video on inverters, batteries, and resistors:
Final Words on Disconnecting an Inverter
Disconnecting an inverter and battery is very easy.
There is not much of a safety risk for 12 volt systems as they are not powerful enough to electrocute a human. It is good practice to wear safety glasses to protect your eyes in any case.
If you have a more powerful system it can also be handy to use a resistor to help discharge potential energy from your equipment before you store it away.
Need help connecting an inverter? Read my simple guide to hooking up an inverter to a battery.
