How to Connect Jumper Cables

Most drivers have faced an emergency or unforeseen situation and asked for a jump start to get the car engine up and running. Events like this are pretty common, but few people really know how to proceed safely when connecting jumper cables between a charged and a discharged battery. You have to be ready to prevent a possible explosion and serious injuries to yourself or other people around us. Here are some simple steps to help you not only connect two batteries in an emergency situation, but do it in a safe way.

Things You'll Need

• Piece of clean cloth
• Jumper cables

Instructions

1. Drive the vehicle with the good battery close enough to the car with the dead battery so the jumper cables easily reach both batteries. Make sure the cars do not touch each other or this may cause an electric short.

2. Turn off the engine with the good battery and set the transmission on both vehicles to Park-automatic-or Neutral-standard, and turn off lights, radio and other accessories that might be set to on.

3. Turn the heater blower switch to on at the car with the dead battery. The blower motor will help absorb any excessive current and protect the car’s computer as you try to jump start the vehicle.

4. Take the vent caps off from the good battery and cover the holes with a piece of clean cloth.

5. Make sure that none of the jumper cables’ ends will touch each other, any metal part or chassis ground on the vehicles as you proceed to make the connections and continue exactly as follows.

6. Connect one end of the red jumper cable to the positive terminal of the dead battery first.

7. Connect one end of the black jumper cable to the negative terminal of the good battery.

8. Connect the other end of the black jumper cable to a good ground-an unpainted bolt or bracket on the engine-on the car with the dead battery. This will help any possible spark to burn away from battery gas.

9. Inspect the cables and make sure they will be away from any engine moving parts.

10. Start the engine of the vehicle with the good battery and step lightly on the accelerator.

11. Start the engine of the vehicle with the dead battery. As soon as the engine starts, turn the heater blower motor off and let the engine idle or run for a few minutes in order to charge the dead battery.

12. Disconnect the jumper cables in the reverse order they were connected.

Tips & Warnings

• If the engine with the dead battery does not start right away, wait a couple of minutes before attempting to start the engine again.

• Be careful not to let jumper cables come in contact with each other once their other ends are connected to a charged battery. This could cause serious damage to the car computer and charging system.

• A dead battery exposed to freezing temperatures may explode when attempting to jump start it if the battery is frozen.

• It is a good idea to wear goggles whenever you try to jump start a dead battery.