Can I bend the terminals of my sealed lead-acid (SLA) battery?

No, you should never bend the terminals of a sealed lead-acid battery.

Sealed Lead-acid (SLA) batteries, like the Casil CA631 or the EnerSys NP4-6, have terminals bonded to the top of the battery with epoxy. Bending the terminals could cause the epoxy to rupture, which can let air into the battery and electrolyte fluid out.

If you're having trouble connecting your wire leads to these terminals, then you should re-orient the battery so the leads are easier to connect. Don't worry about how the battery is sitting because SLA batteries are leak-proof, and can be oriented in any direction. It just so happens that these batteries tend to be oriented upright when used as backup power supplies for security systems, like Honeywell Control Panels, or a range of other applications.

Similar Products:
Casil CA1240 (12V, 4Ah) SLA Alarm Battery
UltraTech Genuine UT-1213 (12V, 1Ah) SLA Battery