The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
Much has been said and written about car batteries and how to jump start a car
that has a dead one. The thing is, a lot of this info is either incomplete or wrong.
The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
Sooner or later you will find your self in a car with a dead battery. So please read on.
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The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
Here I will give you the right and up to dated way to jump-start a car safely. Of policy this is if you are stranded away from home. When you are at home the best thing to do is use a charger, not a booster or cables.
First of all I don't propose jumping cables to the motorist, second the best options are to use a booster or just call (an master mobile service) or take the car to an master shop. If the battery is older than 3 years or so, it could be bad.
If you must use jumper cables then here I will show the right way to do it.
Read the whole description since the info is all over the same.
The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
First some information about batteries.
I mend many vehicles with bad batteries. The reasons the battery went bad can be many, so after jumping a car you should seek professional help. Here I will tell you what can make a battery go bad, what to do to forestall it and things to do in an urgency situation.
Why a battery goes bad:
o Bad alternator.
o Bad or loose serpentine belt or off or missing serpentine belt due to someone else bad component.
o excessive heat or cold.
o Age.
o Defective Part from factory. (Rare).
o Leaving the car sitting too long or driving the car in short trips not
allowing the battery to recharge.
o Too much drain, like the battery is too small for the demand. Or maybe
there are add-ons like monster stereo systems etc.
o Parasitic drain. Or just leaving the lights or something on.
o Dirty connector/terminals.
o Vibration. When there's no hold down.
o Using the wrong fluid to replenish it, like tap water instead of distilled water.
o Bad computer. The voltage regulator is there in some cars.
o corporal damage. Car accident, being dropped.
Taking care of your battery.
The best way to forestall battery failures is by doing quarterly maintenance on the vehicle. When quarterly maintenance is done the battery should be one of
the main items checked. They should clean terminals, top off the fluid if possible using only distilled water, do some tests on it, and of policy test the charging theory etc.
Even the best batteries will meet their maker sooner or later. They can "die¬hard" or die soft but they all die. The average life of most batteries is about 3 years, believe it or not. Some top of the line batteries can last a bit longer. I have noticed a decline on the life of batteries lately. So if your battery is about that age, have it checked or just change it to have peace of mind specially if you're development a long trip.
What to do if your battery is dead.
In an urgency when a battery is dead, the first thing that comes to mind commonly is to "jump" the car. Well I don't propose this. First of all this is a potentially risky action. (Doing this can cause an explosion and injure you or unmistakably kill you (pieces of plastic going off at very high speed can cut your throat), blind you, or deafen you). The best thing will be to call man to come and check the car or take it to a shop (there's a chance the alternator could be bad, so replacing or boosting the battery may not solve your problem). If you happen to have cables in your car then you have to find someone else car to boost you. This is risky too, because in doing so you can damage very expensive parts in both your and the assistant vehicle. There's a change of connecting the cables wrong if you're not well-known with the process, if this happens you can disable any of the two cars complicated for good and incur in more expensive repairs. The best way to do this if you choose to boost the car is with a movable booster. Some have a switch that will forestall you from causing sparks. Also some models have a gismo that will polarize the theory automatically. So it will be impossible to connect it the wrong way. Some can be linked right at the lighter port, but this takes more time because you have to let the booster charge the bad battery for a while, if you try to start the car right away you could blow the inline fuse or burn the cable.
Also after you get your car running, if you disconnect the assistant car and leave the car running to recharge your low battery this will cause serious damage to the alternator. The alternator is not designed to charge batteries that are too low or at zero volts but to keep them charged. The right way to do this is when using a movable booster to leave it linked to the car so the alternator will charge both moderately and not stress it self. The alternator has the ability to sense the battery state of charge and also the theory voltage demand. It will charge accordingly. If the battery is very low it will charge continuously, hence straining it self and overheating. After 30 minutes or so you can then disconnect the booster and keep driving the car for some more time to charge the battery fully. Good yet just drive the car to the nearest assistance place or call a mobile assistance when you get home. If you're driving at night or your car has day driving lights this will take a tiny longer. Of policy after having any question with a low battery and getting the car running, the bright thing to do is get your popular tech to check you theory fully to have peace of mind.
Another thing that you need to know is this, sometimes you have a battery installed and it fails soon after (one or two days) why? Well there are separate reasons, the battery could be defective (very rare), or there's an intermittent question with the charging theory or a gismo that is putting a small drain after you turn the car off. New cars have many computers and they use a small estimate of vigor after the car is turned off, but it is a very small estimate and it should not drain the battery in less than 3 months approximately. If it does is because one of the computers could be staying awake too long or has an intermittent short. If this happens to you, don't get upset mental they sold you a bad battery, or that the mechanic is incompetent. The carr has to be diagnosed again to see what happened.
The right way to jump-start a car.
This is the way I propose to perform a battery jump with cables. This takes a tiny longer than what most publications recommend, but is the safe way to do it. I am a professional mechanic with 28 years of experience.
Before you even think about getting your jumping cables out you should:
First of all it will not hurt to read your owners manual, there you can find lots of info pertaining the procedure. Like where the battery is "hidden" etc.
Make sure both cars are close enough for cables to reach with out cars touching.
Inspect the battery for signs of damage. A broken battery case is not a good sign. Do not jump if case is cracked or you see fluid leaking.
Set the urgency brake on both cars and turn off both ignitions and any other accessories other than the flasher as mentioned.
Keep at least one of the vehicles flashers on and any other safety gismo like flares etc displayed.
Battery terminals should be free of dirt and or corrosion. Use at least water and a wire brush to clean them.
Make sure both cars are of the same voltage and polarity. Some cars are grounded at the inevitable instead of the negative although rare. Most cars in the road have 12 volts batteries. With the coming of hybrid vehicles I will strongly propose you just calling an expert. Hybrid cars have very high voltage batteries. 12 volts batteries won't harm you even if you touch both terminals but hybrid use much higher voltage. Also avoid connecting the cables backwards; very bad things can happen if you do.
Wear at least eye safety that includes a face protector. Gloves will be nice too. Do not allow battery fluid to touch you, your clothes or the paint job.
In very cold weather make sure the electrolyte is not frozen. (Use a flashlight etc to inspect, not a lighter).
Be very faithful not to touch any bright part of the motor like belts, fans, etc while performing the policy either with the cables or your clothes or jewelry etc.
Now the cable part, (see illustration at the end of article) before you connect any of the terminals make sure they are not touching each other to avoid any sparks. Batteries give off very explosive gasses that can kill you if they ignite. Also if the cables get hot be aware that they could be too thin or the motor could be dragging for some reason. The starter could also be bad (grounding it self). Also may be you have cranked the car too long. Check to make sure the clamps are attached properly. Let tem cool off a bit.
If anything like dome lights come on after the cables are connected, the cables are linked correctly.
The first terminal to be linked as recommended is the inevitable one in the donor's car then at the disabled car (both at the battery if possible).
Then you connect the negative cable at the battery terminal of the donor's car and make sure you can access the motor at the disabled car to connect the cable there.
When the cars finally starts, keep at least the headlamps on to aid in holding any voltage spikes from damaging the delicate circuits in the many modules on today's cars.
(+) Is the inevitable terminal (usually red). (-) Is the negative terminal (usually black). This cable goes to the car chassis and the motor block from the battery.
Disconnecting sequence is the reversal of the connecting sequence
Smoking is not recommended any time you are working near cars.
More about this.
Never hook up batteries in a series circuit way, you will get twice the voltage and blow many things including computers.
This will unmistakably damage your electrical theory to say the least.
Some cars with antitheft systems will activate it whenever the battery is low or disconnected. Again read the owners hand-operated for info on this and how to reset them.
Every constructor use separate systems.
When jumping a car you have to first charge the battery with the "donor" car for at least 5 minutes or more if possible, then try, with the cables disconnected to start the car. If the car doesn't crank or cranks moderately then recharge some more with donor car, then with cables linked try to crank the disabled car.
When selecting a set of jumper cables make sure you get a good ability set. The thicker the cable the better. Saving money here will prove a very bad choice. Cheap cables can overheat and in many cases burn or just don't work when you use them (cheap building colse to the clamps). Also don't get the shortest or the longest. The middle will be best.
Never crank a car more than the recommended lapse in the owner's hand-operated (usually no more than 10 seconds) to avoid damaging the starter. If the car cranks for very long periods with out starting then you could have more serious problems than just electrical ones. All the time wait some time before trying again to avoid damaging your starter or damaging the donor's battery.
If when you connect the last cable at the disabled car you see a lot of sparks make sure there isn't anything on, or the cables are linked properly (polarity), otherwise some sparks are normal since the disabled car's battery is probably very low or just dead.
There are some top-of the line cables that feature a foolproof gismo against connecting them wrong.
Every time the battery goes too low it gets weak. separate from deep cycle batteries on boats or Rv's, car batteries are not designed for this and will after a few discharges just quit altogether
Batteries used to be Good known as "accumulators" and you can guess why don't you? Yes they store electricity and the alternator's job is to keep it expensed not to charge it from 0 volt, that is the job of a charger.
A battery won't get damaged if kept in the concrete floor instead of on top of a piece of wood. The way batteries are constructed today prevents this.
You don't need to go and spend big bucks for a battery at the dealer, not to mention towing costs. Any battery that meets the specification of your car will do well if maintained properly. The trick here is to get the right battery, meaning the right capacity. Never use one that has less than what is required. A tiny bigger is better.
Some batteries have a tiny window that has a green or black indicator to tell you if the battery is good. Well this indicator is not very spoton for this, since it only measures the state of charge of only one of the battery's 6 cells. someone else cell could be bad and you could get a "green" indicator even tough the battery has only about 10 volts, which is not enough to properly start a car. Some of the devices on your car might still work tough. The car will crank very slowly.
If by any chance acid gets in your eyes, do all you can to get it out pronto. The more it stays there the bigger the chance for cornea damage.
If you intuit a bad association on the jumper cables, do not wiggle the connector while connected. Disconnect one on the disabled car first then wiggle the intuit ones then reconnect the rest. Remember you want to avoid development sparks.
After using the jumper cables wash them with water if possible and store them in the bag they came in. This will avoid damage to your trunk from the acid that gets stuck to the terminals.
Always work on a well-ventilated area.
The alternator. The heart of the system.
If your alternator is bad, it was the cause of the dead battery in the first place; so jumping the battery won't get you too far. As a matter of fact you probably won't be able to drive even a mile more. You could end up at a neighborhood where you don't know anything that will be too wiling to help you.
If the battery or alternator or charging light was on before the battery died, then it is still on after you jump the car then the charging theory could have a problem. It will be a good idea to perceive a professional.
An alternator could be malfunctioning even if you don't see a red light in your dash telling you so.
If you are knowledgeable and want to test your charging theory with a voltmeter, consider this, some carmakers have systems that will not charge when the battery is found to be full. This is done to forestall overcharging and also to increase miles per gallon (The drag on the motor is less) This also helps the durableness of the alternator.
Alternators are not designed to "charge" batteries (specially newer cars, they are commonly weak in this area). Their job is to keep a fully expensed battery that way.
When a battery goes down for any reason, the alternator has to work overtime to bring it back to normal. The use of day driving lights is one of the reasons many alternators fail prematurely, the alternator works harder than in a quarterly system. But they do offer a good safety measure. Also accessories not installed at the installation like monster stereos will also put an extreme demand on a stock theory not designed for such loads. There are some high amp alternators ready for these cases. Also the use of many batteries helps. Consult an master in this field for assistance.
Never disconnect a running car battery terminal to "test" the charging system. This was done long ago before cars started using computers. But today doing this can and will damage very expensive components. Also it can create sparks that could cause an explosion. Believe me, many habitancy still use this formula to test the alternator, yes even habitancy that "think" they know, like some airplane mechanics.
Starting a car with the cables linked and letting it run could damage systems in either car. Things like computers etc. I have fixed many vehicles with bad alternators and computers due to this. That is why I propose charging the bad battery by letting the good car charge the bad one for at least 10 minutes. Then you can disconnect the cables and start the car with out damaging anything. There's a theory that running two cars with the cables linked can damage the alternators. I will up date this description with some facts about this.
Push starting; it may not get you too far either.
Another way to get a car running is by push starting it. This is not recommended either. First, damage to the drive train is possible, (Expensive) especially if done often. Second, as I mentioned before, if the car doesn't run because the battery is dead, the alternator will work too hard to charge the battery when you get it started. If the question is the alternator, the car won't run too far at all because the battery is not getting any charge so it will be depleted very soon. Push start should be done only in extreme urgency situations. As I said, be bright and call an expert.
I hope the information here was of help to you. As All the time no one is perfect. If you think there's a mistake or want to add something to this article, by all means perceive me directly.
Considering the low cost of replacing the battery with a new one and after reading this information I am pretty sure you will rule not to risk performing a jump instead of replacing the battery. Unless of course, you are a professional and/or already know what I wrote here.
Today's cars are very complicated machines; it is Good to leave things to the experts when it comes to dealing with them. You will unmistakably save more money (or even your own life) that way by avoiding precious mistakes.
Cmt of Miami works on all brands and models of vehicles. We specialize on battery installation and alternators. When you use our services you can rest assured that you will get the right battery and professional assistance right at your doorsteps for a fair price.
The Right Way To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery
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