The Cellar - "proper" use of jumper cables

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- - "proper" use of jumper cables (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=3414)

Then what the hell am I doing wrong?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

Can I still put one on each nipple?

Sure, if that's what it takes to get you started...:shock:

Vroom, baby... vroom-vroom!:drool:

Quote:

Originally Posted by KatPhys1

I've only heard that one needs to hook up the red cable to positive and the the black cable to negative. But if they're just cables, why couldn't you hook up the black cable to positive and the red cable to negative?

I learned about cars due to attitudes by so many others. Some cars (with cables replaced) even had black to the positive terminal and red to negative. If you matched jump cable colors to battery cable colors, the results were destructive.

Yes, match colors. And then like anyone must do, have some other method to confirm your assumptions. So include following that battery cable to what it connects to. Find the + and - markings on the battery. Use a meter. But you must always have some separate confirming method even when only jumper starting a car. Nothing new. It goes right back to lessons learned by doing things and constantly asking why. An educated human never does something catastrophically dangerous without some separate confirmation.

It's also called a parking brake. Same concept.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

Then what the hell am I doing wrong?

I bet you're clamping to something that looks like it is bonded to the block but isn't. Do you see any arcing when you make the last connection (always on block so no boom boom)? If not at least one connection is bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

Then what the hell am I doing wrong?

It could also just be crappy jumper cables. They can wear out after a few years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff

I bet you're clamping to something that looks like it is bonded to the block but isn't.

Once cables have been attached, then move / shake the clamp on engine block. If cables are making a sufficient connection, then that movement will create some sparks. If the block has some sealer or paint, or if one of those connections on the battery is not sufficient, then no sparks when the cable is moved.

That sparking will also 'clean' the electrical contact.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

It could also just be crappy jumper cables. They can wear out after a few years.

Most of the cheap cables I see on the market are of limited value at best. :(

Welcome to the Cellar, Kacgekcad. :D
Could you please expand on, "sick", a little?
Just enough so we can figure out what you're talking about, ya know.

Or, was that just the prerequisite post to spam in your second post?

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Or, was that just the prerequisite post to spam in your second post?

I was thinking the same thing. :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aston (Post 1006466)

According to most manuals, connect positive terminals first then negative terminals.The battery forms hydrogen, and that's the reason why for connecting the negative to the chassie, and not to the battery negative.

That spark exists if connecting direct to a battery or indirectly via a chassis. Hydrogen has nothing to do with it.

Positive is connected first so that either + terminal does not accidentally connect to most everything else. 'Everything else' is connected to the - terminal. Firmly attaching those red clamps before making any other connection makes an accidental short less likely.

Connecting to a chassis - not battery - is so that an accidental short circuit is less likely to cause a battery explosion. An explosion not due to ignited hydrogen. A battery that is shorted can get so internally hot as to explode.

Why do I know? We learn this stuff from experience (mistakes).

Quote:

During the final stages of charging, all lead-acid batteries break down some of the electrolyte in a battery into hydrogen and oxygen. With sealed batteries, such as gel cells and AGMs, the gases are normally contained within the battery, although in certain circumstances (notably, persistent overcharging), enough internal pressure can build up to open pressure release valves and vent the gasses. With wet cell batteries – the type that need topping up from time to time – the gases are always vented.

Hydrogen, which is highly explosive, is much lighter than air, so typically will rapidly rise and disperse, so long as there is even minimal venting from the top of a battery box and from the top of the compartment in which the battery box is housed. However, if a pocket of gas forms, any spark (such as from a brushed electric motor kicking on) may set off the hydrogen, on occasion resulting in a powerful explosion. This is what blew the top off the Fukushima nuclear power plants in Japan. Occasionally, internal short circuits create a spark inside batteries that can set off a hydrogen explosion within the battery, blowing the case open. Note that this can occur with sealed batteries as well as with wet cell batteries.

Read more at http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/archi...KbDlWLr9yWh.99

I've always connected negative first on both ends. Just because I figure hooking up the ground isn't going to put any current into the cable. If I have the positives connected, and one neg, what if I drop the other end of the negative, and it touches a grounded surface? bzzt. I've never hurt myself or the battery.