Jump-Start a Car

Most automobile drivers will eventually encounter a dead or drained car battery during their experience on the road. It’s just a part of life. Automotive appliances, especially courtesy lights and headlights, can be left on by accident. Charging systems can and do develop problems. Batteries can and do go bad. It can be alarming to find one’s self in this situation, though. My hope is that these instructions encourage drivers to be prepared.

As a matter of being prepared, every driver should equip their car with jumper cables. Avoid the cheap cables, though. You’ll want the ones with thick sturdy cables that somewhat stiff at room temperature. Thin cables get hot and can be dangerous.

You can alternatively purchase a hand-held jumper system. These units include a small battery, built-in jumper cables having 2 jumper clamps. Some units come with optionally additional features. The featureless types are preferred because the battery in the unit can be unintentionally drained by overuse of the extra features rendering the charge for jumping a car battery useless. Featureless units only have one purpose, that of jumping. These units must be kept charged to be effective. When using one of these units, only refer only to steps 1a, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

First, please be aware of these safety precautions:

Caution:

Never let the cable clamps touch each other. Keep them separated at all times.

The motors of both cars must be off when connecting batteries with jumper cables.

Connecting jumper cables incorrectly is very dangerous and can cause a battery to explode and spread acid.

Never connect a single jumper cable of one color to a positive (+) and a negative (-) at the same time! This is always incorrect and very dangerous!

Here are the jump-start steps:

1. The helper battery provides power for the jump-start.

  a. When not using a hand-held jumper system, get help from another driver explaining you need a jump-start from their good battery and that you have cables. Their battery will be referred to as the helper, with a good battery.

  b. When using a hand-held jumper system, it will serve as the helper.

2. Park the helper car with their battery next to your battery. Don’t let the car bodies touch. About 3 to 4 feet between vehicles should do.

3. Ensure that both vehicles have the emergency break on for safety. If either of the vehicles is parked on an incline, please place a large sturdy object that cannot be crushed on the downhill side of a tire. This will act as a chalk to prevent the vehicle from rolling during the jump.

4. Connect the clamps of the jumper cable to the drained battery first like this:

  a. attach the black cable clamp to the negative (marked negative as -) battery terminal.

  b. attach the red, green or lighter color cable clamp to the positive battery terminal (marked positive as +)

A hand-held jumper unit only has one set of 2 clamps color coded just like standard jumper cables. The other ends of the jumper cables are already factory-attached to the battery inside the jumper unit.
 
5. Connect the clamps of the jumper cable to the helper battery like this:

  a. attach the black cable clamp to the negative (marked negative as -) battery terminal.

  b. attach the red, green or lighter color cable clamp to the positive battery terminal (marked positive as +)

6. Start up the helper car motor. Let it run for 5 minutes to partially charge the drained battery.

7. Check the cables during the partial charging. If the cables become too hot to touch, immediately disconnect any one of the 4 clamps. Either the cables are connected incorrectly or there is a short in one of the cars. If the heat results from correctly connecting the jumpers, it is likely that the car with the drained battery has a problem more serious than a mere drain and cannot be safely jumped.

8. Start the problem car with the drained battery using the battery power from the helper battery.

9. Remove the jumper cables quickly from the drained battery.

10. Keep then problem car’s motor running for at least 15 to 20 minutes to charge the drained battery.

11. Take the problem car to a auto parts store for a complete charging system and battery check. Most stores will gladly do this 2 minute test for free. The test can either determine if something is wrong or provide peace of mind about the problem car that the battery and charging system is functioning as it should.

Notes:
A battery that is fully drained about 3 to 10 times during its life can be ruined beyond repair and may need replacing.

Be sure to turn all lights and appliances off before leaving your car for long periods of time.

Most battery drains occur because something was left on.

Happy driving!