Jumper Cables for Boosting Cars
Consider the red colour of your booster cables a ‘positive’ quality. Always connect the red clamps of your cables to the positive post on the battery of both the dead and donor car. Additionally, you should find you have a cable with a black clamp. The black clamp is always connected to the negative battery post of the donor car and bare metal on the dead vehicle. A helpful tip – write out this information and store it with the jumper cables in your car so you don’t forget!
Safety Tip When Boosting Your Car
An important safety tip before you begin the jumping process: Always make sure that both vehicles are in park and the vehicle contributing to the revival of the battery is shut off. Most importantly, never let the clamp heads touch each other at any point during this process.
Before you connect those cables and try to start your vehicle pay attention to a few extremely important safety issues:
Sparks
Even a seemingly dead car battery will maintain some charge. This means the “donor” vehicle will have plenty of power, and there is a potential for a shortage or sparking if the cables are mishandled. It is also recommended to have a pair of safety glasses in your car at all times. This will allow for the protection of your eyes in case sparks go flying in the air.
Damage:
Connecting cables incorrectly can not only be dangerous, but can destroy some very expensive electronics, so pay close attention and take your time.
Acid:
Car batteries rely on a corrosive combination of acid and water to store electric energy. Be extremely careful of any transfer of material from the battery to your hands or clothes, especially that powder-like white or light green residue around the terminals where you will be connecting the cables.
Now with a clear understanding of the function your cables, jump cables in hand, and a friendly person ready to help, follow the process below and begin to carefully to jump start your car.
Steps to Jump a Car Battery
Step 1: Connect red to dead + (positive battery terminal)
Step 2: Connect red to donor + (positive battery terminal)
Step 3: Connect black to donor – (negative battery terminal)
Step 4: Connect black to dead, bare metal
Step 5: Start donor vehicle
Step 6: Start dead vehicle
Step 7: Disconnect in reverse (steps 4,3,2,1)