Battery posts reversed.

[HSV_MIkeJ]

Discovered something today, that I had never noticed. First I replaced the battery in my 2021 Lariat with an Interstate H8 battery, so my factory battery was just laying around my garage. A friend's battery was bad and about the same physical size so I told him he could have the old one to try it out. Well took it over today, pulled out his old battery, got ready to drop my old truck battery in and notice the + and - poles are on opposite sides. I had thought all batteries were the same. In the picture the 2021 F-150 battery is on top and the + pole is on the left, on the other battery the + pole is on the right. Guess this is nothing new, but just never ran across it. I looked at the battery in my 2008 Express van, which is a sidepole design but the + is on the right side.

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[powerboatr]

my battery in the 2022.

 

[Buyer2021]

.... pulled out his old battery, got ready to drop my old truck battery in and notice the + and - poles are on opposite sides. I had thought all batteries were the same.

Congrats, you learned something new today

There's never been any 'industry standard' for which corner gets which pole on top-terminal automotive batteries, ya gotta pay attention when sourcing a replacement lest you find yourself inconvenienced by cable shortcomings.

For a given battery brand and spec most offer different pole locations to match different applications, all else being equal.

 

[HSV_MIkeJ]

Congrats, you learned something new today

There's never been any 'industry standard' for which corner gets which pole on top-terminal automotive batteries, ya gotta pay attention when sourcing a replacement lest you find yourself inconvenienced by cable shortcomings.

For a given battery brand and spec most offer different pole locations to match different applications, all else being equal.

Yeah, Guess I got lucky when I bought the Interstate H8 battery to replace the stock battery in my 2021.

 

[Snakebitten]

I believe there's an R in the model number of a battery with "reverse pole"

 

[HeadBanger]

Here's another interesting battery post find.. A brand new, never charged battery, can be charged in reverse, resulting in the terminals being backwards..
I heard about an RV'er who bought new batteries and couldn't connect them without errors. Upon testing, he found that the terminals on one of them were reversed.. Red was Negative.
Apparently, this happens from time to time, especially with the Chinese budget ones.

 

[Pedaldude]

This is why I hate that newer vehicles have the battery cables pulled tight , even with the correct OEM battery.

Back in the day, there was usually enough slack in the cables that you could use anything that was lying around or spare as long as it fit.

Not to mention, nowadays, if the wires at the battery are corroded in any way; you’re stuck replacing them vs. just cutting out the bad section and having them a few inches shorter.

Today, it’s a good idea to have a set of terminal extensions in the breakdown kit for those times that you have a mismatched battery, or need to cut out some badly corroded leads that finally won’t let the vehicle start because they no longer conduct electricity.

 

[Mszczewski]

This is why I hate that newer vehicles have the battery cables pulled tight , even with the correct OEM battery.

Back in the day, there was usually enough slack in the cables that you could use anything that was lying around or spare as long as it fit.

Not to mention, nowadays, if the wires at the battery are corroded in any way; you’re stuck replacing them vs. just cutting out the bad section and having them a few inches shorter.

Today, it’s a good idea to have a set of terminal extensions in the breakdown kit for those times that you have a mismatched battery, or need to cut out some badly corroded leads that finally won’t let the vehicle start because they no longer conduct electricity.

Where would one source cables like that? My quick Google search turned nothing up...

 

[UGADawg96]

Where would one source cables like that? My quick Google search turned nothing up...

Took a bit of googling, but found these from links on the forum shown in the google image search:

https://remybattery.com/top-post-to-side-terminal-conversion-cables-5505.html

https://remybattery.com/side-terminal-to-top-post-conversion-adapter-5515.html

 

[Pedaldude]

Where would one source cables like that? My quick Google search turned nothing up...

A good hardware, or truck supply store should have all the parts to make your own.

Just make extra because they tend to wander off and get utilized for more than just emergency use.

Also, be super careful that the positive side is protected from arcing against a ground!!

 

[Gros Ventre]

The plates in a battery are interleaved. You can place the terminals wherever you need to. Batteries are set up for a specific car, truck, etc. The vehicle maker sets up the wiring as they choose, but if you look at the engine compartment layout I think you'll see a logic for the wiring.

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