Jump a Dead Car Battery

30 years experience as a mech ,my first concerns are safety .
ask questions ,your local mech will show details of what need to be checked .
boost boxes are a good way to start a dead car ,i included them as well as jumper start

Step 1 Safety first

eye protection only pirates look good with eye patches
hand protection use latex gloves like medics do
electrical protection short piece of broom handle
Acid protection >Baking soda (I store it in a m&m mini tube remove M&M first )

Comments

[werewolf23]

This is a little bit incorrect: If you would do it in this order, you could put the black '-' cable directly to the '-' terminal of the battery as well.
The point of putting the black cable on a metal (grounded) part of the car (like the motor itself) instead of the '-' terminal is to avoid the battery from exploding or leaking acid:
First you connect the red '+' cable to the '+' terminal of the dead battery and THEN you connect the black '-' cable to a grounded metal part of the car. That way if there was a lightning (the arcing), sparks won't be near the battery itself. This way it's safer!!

[Yerboogieman]

I always knew to ground to the engine or something, but never knew why until now. Thanks.

[tedsmokeone]

this is good for someone that needs to learn to jump start a car

[Punkguyta]

This is a good instructable, however I'd reccomend that you label your pictures to include different tips. While It is a good idea to clamp the negative to the frame, that's also that much closer to the hundreds of electronics you're also trying to power whilst the car turns over. Unless the clamps are crap and can't secure a tight grip on the battery terminal, it shouldn't spark ever.

[gog]

Glad to see your connecting to the frame and not to the battery of the car needing the jump. A lot of people try to jump through the dead battery despite the possibility for trouble.

[karcinagin]

Have never jumped using the clamp on the frame and it has always worked for me, dad, cousins, uncles. And the frame just get grounded to the battery. So way the frame?

[gog]

You connect the negative clamp to the frame of the car being jumped as a last step so if it sparks it has less potential to ignite any possible gas buildup from the old battery.

[bikerbob2005]

jumping can throw 300-600 amps at 12VDC .hooking up to the battery the recoil from turning the key from start to run is way to much power for any normal auto battery dont belive me?hook up an oscilloscope to the circuit and watch the spike. might get lucky 1000 times.might blow your arm off.7200 watts is nothing to take for granted

[Punkguyta]

How does someone have a 600amp alternator in their car? Even a big ford diesel can't be much more than 300 amps.

[bikerbob2005]

not the alternator its the transfer in the jumper cables .
the repair shops have load meters hook one up and then jump start the car 300 to 600 amps will flow from good car to dead car ( i have melted cheap jumper cables trying to start my diesel wrecker ) the problem is that when you stop trying to crank the car for a millisecond you get a recoil back from the huge amp draw were putting to the starter if battery is directl connection the recoil can bounce into the battery that might be full of hydrogen gas if the battery doesent have the cells covered in water/acid the cells can arc from the massive amp input ,this is why need to top off the battery before jump starting .a good friend lost the left side of his face this way.
GM/delco makes a 180 amp alt for boats it works on any car/truck/boat called "one wire "one wire

[Notn4]

People are way to dumb these days if theres actually a need for this instructable... it well done and all that but i don't see a point since i known how to jump start a car since i was 10 yrs old...

[Gjdj3]

These are some good instructions on how to jump a battery and congrats on finishing your first instructable. The pictures are pretty good too. Just remember... capitalize and use punctuation!

[bikerbob2005]

yes this is my first try,i composed it with open office cool bullet points too cutting and pasting it i have no idea where they went thank you for comments