How to Connect Jumper Cables

Emergency and difficult situations do not always take place with a prior warning. Everything and all procedures should be performed by taking all safety measures into account. Same must be done when changing a tire or connecting jumper cables, these are the most common known emergency protocols.

This particular article deals with the attachment of jumper cables. It is a general problem during the winters or in cold weathers that car batteries tend to die down and in order to boost them, we require Jumper cables or a portable battery booster. But when boosting a battery with jumper cables, one must look out for potential accidents; an incorrect connection can critically damage expensive electronic parts.

The steps of connecting Jumper Cables

Attach the positive (+) clamp to the positive terminal of the powerful battery and the other positive clamp to the corresponding terminal of the dead battery.

Next, the negative (-), or ground, terminal on the better battery and, the negative clamp to the engine block, frame or other grounded metal as distant as possible from the battery. You want to avoid sparks in the area of the explosive hydrogen gas that emits from the battery. Do not connect it to the ground terminal (negative).

When via a portable battery booster, the process is quite similar.

Join the positive clamp of the booster cable to the positive clamp of the dead battery. Then attach the negative cable to the engine block or other grounded metal away from the battery.

Car Junction offers a further suggestion: if you are buying jumper cables or a portable battery booster, buy the best quality you can pay for. Look for well-insulated clamps and 8-gauge wire. (Note: the lower the wire gauge number, the heavier the gauge.) Under the heavy electrical load of boost starting, lightweight cables may not be able to carry enough current to start some engines. In fact, they have been known to melt in the user`s hand.

Car Junction proposes that, if your battery’s age is three-years or older and you haven`t had it inspected, it`s an excellent precautionary measure to do so. A battery`s power is reduced as the temperature drops. And that`s when the engines begin to produce the starting problem.