What happens if you jump start your car?
If you make a mistake while jump-starting a car, you could do everything from short-circuiting your vehicle’s onboard computers to blowing up the battery, potentially causing serious injury. We began our review of car batteries last time, but there’s still much to cover.
How do you jump start a dead battery?
Connect a positive cable clamp to the positive (+) terminal of the dead battery. Connect the other positive cable clamp to the positive (+) terminal of the charged battery. Connect a negative cable clamp to the negative (-) terminal of the charged battery. Connect the other negative clamp to the metal ground of the vehicle with the dead battery.
Is it safe to hook a car battery to a jumper cable?
The opposite rule applies when using jumper cables and two cars, using one car to boost the battery in the other car. In this case, it is safest to hook the positive on the dead battery first, then the positive on the good battery, then the negative on the dead battery then on the good battery.
How does a jumper cable work on a car?
Jump starting your car with jumper cables is pretty straight forward. Simply connect like poles together. The positive jumper cable should attach both batteries’ positive poles while the negative jumper cable attaches the two negative battery poles.
What happens when you jump start a dead car?
Once the battery in the dead vehicle drops below 9.6 volts, the computers and modules often shut down. But the instant you connect the jumper cables, the dead vehicle’s electrical systems “wake up” and draw current.
What happens to the battery in a jump start car?
If you connect a scope lead to the positive battery terminal and ground and crank the engine, the scope trace shows that battery voltage drops to around 3-volts for about 15-ms before climbing back to 6-volts and then ramps up to 12-volts. See the chart below.
What should I do when I jump start my car?
Take care when jump-starting your battery, or pay the price. We’re all taught that when jump-starting a car, you must connect the booster cables in the right sequence. Connect the positive cables to the positive terminals on each battery, and then connect the negative cable to the negative terminal on the working battery. For the last step,…
Can a jump start damage your car computer?
I’m not talking about the kind of damage you can inflict by hooking up the jumper cables incorrectly. Crossing the jumper cables can blow fuse or completely fry the vehicle’s computers. . No, I’m talking about the kind of damage you can cause even if you follow proper jump starting procedures.