SF LX2 to the rescue, but I fell short

[EV_007]

Nothing earth shattering but as i was walking by, a woman flagged me down and asked if I knew much about cars. I'm like "um, I know where the oil and windshield fluids go."

It was pouring out and she had the hood up on her SUV, not dark, but hard to see some of the internal components. I instinctively pulled out my LX2 without a second thought and lit up the whole compartment. She was trying to figure out how the external battery attaches for a jump. The LX2 on low easily lit up the polarity marks under the slightly oxidized contacts. Save the day, right. NO, I couldn't remember for the life of me how that dang thing connects.

She proceeded to attach the connectors and SPARK. Ooops. I think the negative needed to be grounded to the engine block, which I didn't think of at the time.

I mentioned that there was a garage across the street which may help her out instead of risking damaging her car myself.

So yeah, light came in handy, but brain fart equalized the emasculating experience. LOL

No guys, she was married and I'm secure in my manhood to admit that I was pretty much useless in that particular situation. But I did Google that brand and now know what to do next time.

 

[qip]

red to red , black to black start car , if jump doesnt start right up then give it a few minutes and let the charge build up ...cmon its as easy as swapping flashlight batteries , im revoking your mancard

 

[EV_007]

Yeah, she had one of those external backup batteries and the wrong cables as turned out. Still, I should have caught that.

 

[ninjaboigt]

uhh..i think its pos to pos , and neg to the working batt, and the other neg is grounded to the dead batt's car...if not the working batt goes...

 

[jake25]

uhh..i think its pos to pos , and neg to the working batt, and the other neg is grounded to the dead batt's car...if not the working batt goes...

I've done both, Negative to bad battery and Negative to ground, either one works.

 

[RobertM]

uhh..i think its pos to pos , and neg to the working batt, and the other neg is grounded to the dead batt's car...if not the working batt goes...

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner!

You are correct, this is the proper procedure.

-Robert

 

[Vesper]

Keep your mancard... There's no guarantee you're dealing with a totally dead battery, or that it's even the true problem. Always connect the negative cable on the dead car to a non-painted part of the engine block. It's easy to forget these days as we have to do it so infrequently. There's a definite chance of boom followed by engine fire otherwise. :tired:

 

[divine]

I would have put my money on the battery starter being junk.

How is a battery the size of a 12v 7aH supposed to start a car?

 

[Braddah_Bill]

This is the main reason I hate to jump other peoples cars, far too many people think it is OK :shakehead to connect pos to pos and neg to neg.

Upon re-reading the first post I see that she had one of those external starters I guess it would be the same procedure....I'll have to google that one.

EDIT:

Back from Google and the Black & Decker site:

Jump-Starting Instructions

This jump-starter is equipped with a manual switch that only allows jump-start energy to flow when proper
connections are made to battery and frame.
Connect — Red clamp first, then black clamp. Disconnect — Black clamp first, then red clamp.

1. Turn OFF vehicle ignition and all accessories (radio, A/C, lights, cell phone, etc.). Place vehicle in "park" and
set the emergency brake.

2. Make sure jump-start system's ON/OFF power switch is turned to OFF.

3. Connect jumper cables to unit.

4. To jump-start a NEGATIVE GROUNDED SYSTEM (NEGATIVE battery terminal isconnected to the chassis —
the most common configuration), follow steps 4a and 4b, then proceed to step 6.

4a. Connect the positive (+) red clamp to vehicle battery's positive ungrounded post.

4b. Connect the negative (–) black clamp to the vehicle chassis or engine block away from the battery. Do not
connect the clip to carburetor, fuel lines or sheet-metal body parts. Connect to a heavy gauge metal part ofthe frame or engine block.

I guess I get to keep my mancard, and the LX2 is going on my "list to get lights".

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner!

You are correct, this is the proper procedure.

-Robert

 

[NonSenCe]

question: why to the grounded spot not into negative?

is it because of newer cars with their weak electronics, that may go haywire if connected neg and neg directly?

or to lessen the likelyhood of "grenading battery" syndrome?

my cars are old. and when i was a kid, i was taught to connect plus to plus, and then neg to neg. and when connecting.. to look away in case of spark and *boom*.

eyes + battery acid= not nice. (althou i have had worse acids in my eyes too.. luckily with little damage. hated to work at the acid tanks. never again.)

**today i got to impress my boss.. by providing flashlight when needed.

i gallantly gave her my quark as she had to work in dark room for good 45minutes without any light.. (electrician had taken the fuses out)

but.. i did let her cuss in there for lack of light and electricity for 5minutes before i decided to help her out and collect "free points" and loaned the quark.. hahahh

good and evil in me are both doing well.

 

[outersquare]

i think it's in case there is hydrogen gas coming from the bad battery, you don't want a kaboom.

 

[ninjaboigt]

i admit i have done it pos to pos, neg to neg for the longgggest time, until my friend told me that if the dead batt had a short then it can explode...( I THINK HE SAID SHORT! I DONT REMEBER EXACTLLY WHAT BUT I REMEBER THE IMPORTANT PART, THAT IT'LL EXPLODE IF I DONT GROUND A CABLE )



OP good job on helping out though! i remeber when my car died at a red light i was happy to see a lady pull up to me and asked if i needed to use her cell phone to call someone, though i didnt need it, it made me feel good that random strangers actually care and would help out even in the simplist ways.

 

[jankj]

The engine block, the chassis and the negative therminal are both "ground". Look where the negative cable goes... - yep, the big, fat black cable goes to some solid part of the chassis.

I can see why connecting to a painted chassis is a really bad idea, but I have no idea why one of these "ground" points (engine block) is preferred to the other (neg. battery). Electrically, they SHOULD be the same.

I'm sort of second guessing that the reason may have something to do with the abundance of sensitive electronics in modern cars, but I would appreciate an explanation of exactly WHY...

I can see the hydrogen spark argument, but I think it is very little relevant. Hydrogen gas is mostly formed when overcharging the battery, right? So with a depleted or defect battery why should hydrogen gas be a problem... :shrug: Enlighten me, please...

 

[outersquare]

because as mentioned earlier already, the battery may not actually be dead..

 

[Superdave]

It's because the high current draw of a dead battery can overheat the terminals and actually melt the plastic of the battery.. causing the discharge of sulfuric acid.

Typically the connections of a jumper cable are less than ideal, more resistance to large amounts of current = more heat.


the car's electronics aren't an issue, the battery acts as a capacitor and absorbs any voltage spikes.

 

[EV_007]

Yup, as soon as she connected the black negative clamp to the negative terminal on her car battery is when it sparked like an arc welder complete with the popping sound.

I think if I had remembered to have her attach it to the unpainted portion of the engine block or car frame, it may not have sparked and worked.

I'm also wondering if the rain getting on the terminals had contributed to the SPARKING effect. I did tell her not to come in contact with the metal with her body since the danger of water conducting electricity came to mind.

 

[Superdave]

12-14V isn't enough to worry about, it's bark is worse then it's bite. It's a little worse than sticking your tongue on a 9V battery.


Then again, i've taken 30Kv a few times.. now that's a quick way to ruin your day.

 

[GarageBoy]

uhh, its not the 12V, it's the capacity of the battery to deliver uber amperage through you

 

[hurricane]

As was mentioned above, one of the biggest issues of doing this wrong is a battery explosion. Many people have lost sight due to this. Careful.

 

[Braddah_Bill]

This link covers a lot of useful information:

http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/battery_electrical/ques136_3.html

Read the whole article and you find it covers:

1. Hydrogen gas, which can ignite and explode if a spark occurs anywhere near the battery.

2. The danger to your vehicle is if someone reverses the jumper cables.

3. Why you don't make the final jumper connection directly to the low or dead battery itself.

4. Why continuous cranking of the dead cars starter could lead to damaging both cars.