NEVER Lift or Carry Your Battery By The Terminals

We're not sure where or when someone came up with the idea to create a strap for carrying car batteries, that attaches to the positive and negative terminals, but we can't think of many ways to carry a battery around that are worse than using such straps. Whether they are located on the top or side of a battery, battery terminals should be treated very carefully and never be used to lift, move, carry or secure a battery.

The first obvious danger with using such a strap is the potential of having the battery arc, if the strap contains any material that allows an electrical connection to be made between the two posts. Generally, these straps do not contain such materials, but it is far better to be safe in this instance, than sorry.

Another risk of carrying, moving or lifting batteries by their terminals is that doing so can cause permanent damage to the battery. Most car batteries are very heavy (30 pounds or more) and attempting to control all that weight from two small points of contact can result in internal damage to the cells. Another risk is that if the strap isn't securely attached to one of the terminals, all that weight could potentially be placed on one terminal. If neither connection is secure, the battery could be dropped and damaged.

The fact of the matter is, battery terminals were simply never designed to be used in that manner. We don't even suggest securing your battery inside your vehicle by the terminals, as repeated tugging by the cables can also damage terminals and batteries. All OPTIMA® batteries come with either integrated carrying straps that can easily be removed and re-inserted or convenient handle-like positions, where the battery can safely be lifted by hand.

We're not alone in this position, as evidenced by so many other battery manufacturers that include some form of integrated carrying handle into the design of their batteries. The only things that should be attached to battery terminals are safety covers and battery cables. Next time you need to move your battery, play it safe and protect your terminals!