Safest way to jump off another vehicle

This brings back memories of the 1996 winter where we had about 5 days with a high temp under -30F (unusually cold for my area) and every day after work we were jumping each others cars in the parking lot.

Cars are much more reliable at starting in the cold these days.

 

I was worried about getting things wrong, or shorting when connecting, so I installed a dedicated Anderson plug to my battery so that I can just clip on my jumper cables (also Anderson) to ensure a solid connection. I have not had any issues jumping my wife's car with this setup.
This isn't my setup, but basically what I'm talking about - https://www.batterycablesusa.com/2-gauge-anderson-cable

 

Well, I was leary of jumping someone off with a jacked up electrical system and possibly causing an issue with my electrical components. I've read a lot of posts with peolple just putting in LEDs and now they have some problems. I will get a portable jumper and put this to rest. Thanks.

 

I was taught to always hook the ground to the vehicle being jumped last and use any ground point other than the battery post.

 

Sparks and a bad battery leaking gasses are no bueno. Start with the good battery and hook up in the following order to reduce sparking near batteries.

Positive of good battery, positive of bad battery, negative of bad battery, finally ground of good vehicle.

Remove cables on reverse order. Obviously ensure the clips on the other end aren't grounded when connecting.

 

Good pair of shoes so you don’t slip , make sure your landing area is clear of any obstacles, confirm distance to the ground and just jump .

 

do a flip

 

The jump packs are a game changer.

I can't tell you how many times it's gotten awkward because I've had to repeatedly say "hands off, I got it." (Seriously, I'm the donor, I don't know your level of expertise, don't fucking touch my cables). Some people have an innate psychological desire to not only lay hands on it, but they need to leap two steps ahead so that they don't feel so helpless or something.

The jump pack protects the victim from rat-fucking my truck. My hood stays closed. And if they yank the alligator clips out of my hands (yes that has happened) then worst case, they fail to jump start.

If cables are the tool you have, despite the proper sequence of neg-neg, pos-pos, trust me when I say walk those cables to their vehicle first. Wait until they're done touching it and already leaping into the driver's seat before you even walk the cable back to your truck.

 

Yep, I rarely lift my hood for anyone..
Last month the last minivan of kids at ski lessons were stuck in the dark parking lot after lessons. I rolled up, hooked everything up myself, got them started, and bought a Noco 70 the next day.

 

For you all with a jump pack, do you leave it in the truck year round?

Any issues with summer heat like most battery powered items are susceptible to?

 

Yes

no


oldest one is 4 year old, never a problem. Around Christmas, we had a bad cold snap (for us) we had negative temps for 4 or 5 days. So I pulled all of them to charge, they all had 3 of 4, or 4 of 5 lights charged (I don't remember which, but you get the idea). I usually charge them about quarterly and same thing, they barely need topping off. I have used to start 4 wheelers, diesel tractors, etc down at the farm,,, nothing I want to be in cold temps jackin around with jumper cables.

 

I too want to know how risky it is to leave these jump packs in a hot car, day after day. Can they explode? Has someone looked into this extensively?

 

The truth is that the instruction book says not to. My dives into battery nerdom also say not to (most of my hobbies are battery powered, so I studied batteries.)


But I still do it. I keep mine behind the rear seat and out of sunlight, but it stays in the truck year round. I haven't experienced any problems. My experience isn't evidence towards it being safe, but I'll still store it in the truck. I check the charge every 3 months or after every use. After 2 years and Texas summers it's still going strong.

 

So have I. But there are a lot more electronics on newer vehicles. There is a chance of frying something on a newer vehicle. In the past I always left the engine running on the good vehicle, but they now suggest doing it with the engine off. If you do it at all. If you have both engines running at the same time, and both alternators running, with the 2 vehicles connected by the cables bad things can happen.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTEwPXohTP4

 

@tonered and @ColoradoTJ have already showed the way to do it, but I would like to add ALWAY double check polarity of the vehicles and batteries before making any connections. I once attempted to jump start a European vehicle in a dark parking lot for a coworker. I got better lighting when the clamps started glowing red hot!!! Turned out the damn thing was a Positive ground system!!!

 

You gotta live dangerously. Go battery to battery!

 

And, flip the polarizties!!

 

I carry one of these all the time. I know you can get the newer smaller packs, but I’m old school so lead-acid for me.

$121 Clore Automotive Jump-N-Carry JNC660 1700 Peak Amp 12 Volt Jump Starter , Blue

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JFJLP6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details