How to Jump Start your Auto Battery safely in an emergency with Jumper cables!

Ok, so you went to work when it was dark outside and forgot to turn off your headlights! Some cars do turn your lights off automatically, but many do not! Now it's time to go home everyone has left work but you and a couple other workers with cars. Don't panic, sure it's only 18 degrees outside and getting darker with each attempt to get the car to start... But you are prepared! In a matter of minutes you will be on the road heading home to finish charging the battery after this quick and safe fix to your battery!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Car Battery Jumper Cables.
• Another vehicle available with a good battery.
• The person with the other car available can be talked into the favor?
• The knowledge provided here, to make the safe and proper connections.
• Patience

1. This can happen to any one, even this guy! So you left your car lights on and went inside to work or home. Upon your return to the car the engine won't start at all. The starter may crank (make a whining sound) a little, but soon that goes away and your stuck in the cold or heat with no way of starting the car without a jump from the other vehicle remaining in the lot with you! But even if you have that person to help you, you must be ready to do the rest on your own so they don't hav e to be put out! Assuming you have purchased or been given (if not, do so immediately) a small emergency kit which does have jumper cables included, to connect to your car and the car you have enlisted to help you. Assure the other person you know what your doing and that you just need a few minutes of their time to get your car started. Be kind and appreciative and assure them no harm will be done to their car! Hopefully they will go along with the program! Show a positive attitude and mechanical knowledge. That might help them understand using their car without much risk is all you need! This can be the biggest obstacle though, as few people want to take that risk in todays suspect society and economic climate! So convine them to use their car somehow. Now, with them navigating their car in this rescue effort you might alleviate some of the stress of this mission. The rest is a breeze using the steps provided below! Don't feel stupid or embarrased it can happen to anybody!
2. One post sticking up of this Battery is Positive and the other Negative! Now that you have a rescue car available and have convince the owner to help you... take control! Have the other driver pull his or her vehicle up as close to yours as possible. The battery of the car is on the left or right side of the engine compartment. The rescue cars battery maybe on the other side. However, just think it thru and pull the rescue vehicle to the side where there battery and your is the closest, which you can see when the hoods are up. By doing this the distance the Jumper cables have to reach is at a minimal distance and will reach the two batteries quite easily. Then take out the Jumper cables and pay close attention to the color of the connectors. A Red connector stands for positive and the Black for Negative. This is vitally important because if you mix them up when connecting them to the batteries, sparks fly and there is a chance of reversing the polarity of the battery which can be destructive on a number of levels. But be strong and be definitive. Red is Positive, Black is Negative! The jumper cable connectors, which are spring loaded are color coded and also the battery has a + sign on it to indicate Positive and a - sign to indicate Negative. They battery signs may be obscured due to dirt and grime, just wipe off the area around the 2 post or terminals on the battery and as long as you can even see one of the signs you know the other is the opposite. The cars are together, hoods open, batteries identified to Positive and Negative post and now the time has come to make the connections and proceed with the fix!
3. Home Battery Charger, next article! Make sure neither of the cars are running at this point! Uncoil the Jumper cables and stretch them out with out hooking them up to anything yet! Enlist the help of your new friend that's helping you, to keep the two connections on their end of the Jumper cables from touching each other until you need them. Now take the other end of the Jumper cables for your car and separate the two of them (Red'Pos and Black'Neg)and begin to connect the cable! Put the Red connector on your cars battery to the Positive side post and the Black connnector to the Negative side post! Now the connections must make contact very well with the post to insure a good Jump start. The connectors usually are a "squeeze to open" type and must be on the post with a good tight fit. It is crucial! Now that you have your car connected well, take the other side of the Jumper cables connectors proceed to do the same with the rescue car! The rescue Cars Engine should be running at thi spoint and therefore caution must be used to not get your fingers or the cables into the fan belt or other engine parts! You can do that, just be very careful! Again with the rescue car running, connect the cables Positive (red) to Positive (red or +) battery Post and exactly the same for the Negative side of the battery! You might hear the engine speed of the rescue car slow down, that's becaus eit's suppling power to your vehicle too... and this is a good thing. Wait for about 15 minutes or less and then get into your vehicle and start your car! Let it run! You did it! Now there are just a few things left to complete this job and you can be headed home. When taking the Jumper cables off the vehicles use caution not to hit the two connectors on each end of the cable because again, sparks will fly etc. Take off on side at a time keeping them away from each other and then do the same with the rescue vehicle! You can close the hoods of the cars and wrap up the Jumper cables for use in the "distant future" hopefully! I would ask the person who graciously helped me to folow me until you actually are driving away and everything seems to be working properly. Of course thank the other person and let them know in the future you would do the same for them! I would head straight to an Autozone or other car company and have them do a quick charge on your battery or invest in a Battery charger and charge the car overnight! How to charge a Battery at home is next! Have a good drive until then!

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you have the Negative and Positive sorted out properly before attempting this quick fix!
• Definetly get the car charged properly at your next opportunity
• This is a way for you to know you are not helpless when it comes to working on a car. You just use good logic and simple instructions, it's empowering!
• Use extreme caution when an engine is running, just assume anything under the hood can suck you in and hurt you...just stick to the Battery and you'll be fine.
• If you don't know or work with the person you might ask to help you, call a friend close by and they can do the same thing for you without any risky behavior!