The Procedure to Safely Jump Start A Car With A Dead Battery
Cars are a marvelous wonder. They have come a long way ever since they were invented and have completely revolutionized the way humans commute in their daily lives. From the world’s first fuel car to the world’s first electric car, the ever-evolving technology has taken cars on a new, challenging journey.
As much as technology has evolved cars, it has also limited them. Car batteries are one such marvel. While they have drastically developed ever since they have come into existence, they are still limited by their abilities and life of components. A person embarking on a trip of dreams, stopping on the way to get some snacks on the highway only to find a clicking car on returning is more likely to understand the terror behind a clicking car.
The clicking car is nothing but the sound of a dead car battery. It can be a pretty terrifying experience for people looking stuck with a dead battery in the middle of a lone highway. However, one still can keep their hopes up. If a person happens to keep an emergency car kit ready in the car trunk, there are chances that the car might just get by without having one to cry for help. The viable solution in this case is to give car battery jump start.
Things to have in an emergency kit:
- Jumper cables:
These are the most essential components to give a dead car battery jump start. The function of a jumper cable is similar to a defibrillator. Just like a defibrillator uses electric shock to get the heart beating again; in the same way, jumper cables are used to bring the car battery back to life. The cleaner and shorter the cable is, the better the chance to revive the battery. Undamaged, frayed, and rust-free cables ensure a seamless performance.
- A power source:
A deriving power source like another’s car battery would serve best. However, one needs to ensure that it should have the same voltage as of the dead car battery that is jump start. This count is usually around 12.6 volt. While most of the cars would get by using this technique, sometimes one might require something like a jump box instead of the secondary in case of luxury cars. This information is usually mentioned in the manual that comes with a car.
- Safety equipment:
A person is likely to deal with a lot of electrical power during the process. Hence, safety equipment like rubber gloves and safety goggles are highly recommended. Such kind of equipment ensures that the operating person stays safe from any kind of electric hazard while performing car battery jump start.
- Cleaning materials:
Materials like rags or paper towels can prove useful in case of dirty car components. They are generally used to clean battery terminals and jumper cables and get rid of contaminants for optimal results.
The procedure to revive the dead battery:
- Once it has been determined that the car’s battery is dead by opening the hood, it’s time to look for the secondary power source. Whether it’s a secondary car or jump box, one must ensure they are brought close to car battery that needs to be jump start in such a way that either of them doesn’t touch each other.
- Put the car/s or car and battery in such a way that they don’t move during the process. Once that has been done ensure that the car is completely shut off and disconnect any plugged-in devices to ensure a stress-free power delivery during the car battery jump start process.
- Inspect the primary and secondary batteries before connecting the cables. This ensures that batteries are safe to work upon and ensures a safe, hazard-free operation. Damaged car batteries should never be considered for the jump start procedure since they might cause fatal injuries due to battery explosion while carrying out the process.
- Locate the positive and negative terminals of power source and destination. Batteries usually have + as positive terminals while – as negative terminals. Both these terminals also have their unique colored identity as a red cap for the positive terminal and black cap for the negative terminal. Proceed to connect the jumper cables only and only when sure about the identified terminals. Wrong connections can lead to damaging the electric circuitry or battery explosions during the process.
- Some surfaces like batteries and contact terminals are likely to be covered with contaminants like dust and garbage chunks upon opening the car hood. Ensure that they are cleaned off of them before connecting the cables. This cleans the terminals and makes the cable clips to easily deliver the power efficiently without any kind of hiccups.
- Take out the jumper cables from the emergency kit, inspect them for any kind of wear and tear. They should be properly insulated and cleaned off before connecting. Damaged and non-insulated cables should be completely avoided for starting the car.
- If the cables are in good shape, it’s time to get started. Hold positive and negative jumper cables one after another and ensure that they do not touch each other during the process.
- Firstly, get a hold of the red-capped positive jumper cable and connect it to the positive terminal of the dead battery.
- Then, connect other ends of the jumper cables to positive and negative terminals of the secondary power provisioning source like a secondary car or jump box that has a good, working battery.
- Once done with that, ground the negative jumper cable by connecting it to the ground plug to get started. A ground plug refers to an unpainted, metallic part of an engine that is usually a part of the car’s frame or chassis. To ensure that the cable is properly grounded, it is usually held up by a bolt or a bracket so that it does not disconnect during jumping. The negative terminal is connected to the ground instead of the negative terminal of the dead battery so that battery doesn’t spark out the charges during the process. If the car interior lights pop up on doing these connections, it gives a green signal to move ahead with the car battery jump start process.
- Time to bring the battery back to life! Once all connections are done, start the car engine of the car having a good battery or turn on the power supply of the jump box, depending on the power source. Assuming that the person is using a secondary car as the power source, start the car by turning on the engine and keep it pushing till it reaches a stable value of 1500rpm. Such a static value helps the secondary car helps to drive the charge out of its battery to the dead battery of another car with the help of jumper cables. Keep pushing the car engine for about 5 minutes followed by turning it off and disconnecting all the connections. Forgetting to disconnect the cables or not turning off the car can lead to unnoticed excessive battery wear while proceeding.
- Once all the cables are disconnected, try starting the car with the dead battery.
- If the car does not start, reattach the cables and repeat the process as described in step number 11. However, this time do not disconnect the cables and try to start the car with a dead battery again. One might have to wait due to slower cranking. Forcing the car to crank often can lead to further damage to the battery. The success of starting the car depends on a variety of factors like weather, battery withholds capacity, etc.
- If the car happens to start by either of the approaches, disconnect the jumper cables in such a way that you follow the reverse order in which the cables were connected. Ensure that the ground cable comes out first and clamps don’t clap each other while doing this.
- Refrain from turning off the jumped off the car for about 10-20 minutes. Such a kick allows the battery to draw in enough power through the alternator to fill some power in the battery so that it could reach to the nearest garage or safe place.
These steps shall serve as a small guide to anyone looking for bringing their dead car battery to life. While the success rate completely depends on the ability of the battery to hold the charge, it gives a chance to people to get back on the road rather than getting stuck in the middle of an empty highway.