[roamer012]

Originally Posted by bblost

4. Connect the positive and then the negative cable to my (good) car.
7. Immediately Connect negative wire to negative terminal of the dead battery.

Isnt the negative of good car supposed to be connected to ground?

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by roamer012

Isnt the negative of good car supposed to be connected to ground?

The best part with least Electrical Resistance is the Battery Terminal itself. None of the Car part is unpainted and exposed parts are mostly Ferrous.
You must have noticed some sparks flying by for the connection to establish.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by roamer012

Isnt the negative of good car supposed to be connected to ground?

That is what is recommended. I would actually prefer that as well.

But what I was doing was actually working with a far higher success rate.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by roamer012

Isnt the negative of good car supposed to be connected to ground?

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

The best part with least Electrical Resistance is the Battery Terminal itself. None of the Car part is unpainted and exposed parts are mostly Ferrous.
You must have noticed some sparks flying by for the connection to establish.

All modern cars have a designated spot/bolt in the engine bay where the black clamp has to be attached instead of attaching it to the negative of the dead battery. The designated grounding point will be mentioned in the car's user manual.

Two things should never be done from a safety perspective (as per the standard process)
1. Never connect the black clamp directly to the negative of the dead battery. This can result in a spark and potentially ignite hydrogen gas emitted by a dead battery and cause the battery to explode. There are recorded instances of this happening and the explosion seriously injuring the people nearby.

2. Never connect the black clamp to a non-designated grounding spot in modern cars. Always ground it to the designated stud bolt as per user manual.

Many of the online sites mentions that it can be connected to any bare metal part in the car as grounding. But if that random bare metal part is made to conduct 400 Amps of power during the Jump Start process and if this huge current happens to flow through any sensitive electronic compoents, it can seriously damage the car's electronics and electrical parts. So keep in mind that the negative clamp has to be grounded to a designated grounding spot as per the user manual.


For Example: Below is the manufacturer recommended jump start procedure using the designated grounding spot in a Honda Jazz:
The designated grounding stud bolt is clearly indicated.

https://www.hondacarindia.com/owners...06278046-15113

[ruzbehxyz]

I always keep a jump starter in my car as I travel a lot in India.

Here's a review of the one I have:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...p-starter.html (Review: Noco GB70 jump starter)

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

I always keep a jump starter in my car as I travel a lot in India.

Here's a review of the one I have:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...p-starter.html (Review: Noco GB70 jump starter)

Have you tried it with a completely dead battery?

I have one DBPOWER 500A 10800mAh Portable Car Jump Starter (up to 3.0L Gas/ 2.0L Diesel Engine) and it couldn't jump-start my Verna. I have used it in the past for multiple cars, but this time it wasn't up to the task. The battery was gone since I couldn't even start using jumper cables connected to my Polo. Luckily the car was in my parking and I could get a replacement battery the next day.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Have you tried it with a completely dead battery?

Honestly. No.
There are various YouTube videos which claim that Noco jump starters can start a dead battery. However what I feel is that even if it is a dead battery, the health of the battery should be good. If the battery is old, weak and then dead, even the best jump starter will not be able to start it.

[bordawekar]

I have Tata Bolt Petrol/ CNG of 2018. My driving is 150 kms per day. I have Exide Mileage Battery since 1.5 years. Since March, I am facing unknown problem. Every Morning, I find my Battery Dead, even if it is fully charged (Green Indicator on Battery). So I have to call nearest Battery walaa for Jump Start. Car immediately starts when Jump Start is given. After few second Alternator also starts. The whole day Car runs finely. Starts finely even after a break of 5 hrs. But after parking in the night, next day morning same problem occurs, Dead Battery ! that too when there is a Green Indicator in the Battery. So again call for a single second jump start. Some mechanics say the fault is with Battery, Some say Problem is with Alternator, Some say There is Current Leakage.
Any idea Where is the problem? I doubt if I install new Battery and same problem occurs then it will be waste of money. Hence I request your valuable opinion abt the problem. Thanks in advance.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by bordawekar

I have Tata Bolt Petrol/ CNG of 2018. My driving is 150 kms per day. I have Exide Mileage Battery since 1.5 years. Since March, I am facing unknown problem. Every Morning, I find my Battery Dead, even if it is fully charged (Green Indicator on Battery). So I have to call nearest Battery walaa for Jump Start. Car immediately starts when Jump Start is given. After few second Alternator also starts. The whole day Car runs finely. Starts finely even after a break of 5 hrs. But after parking in the night, next day morning same problem occurs, Dead Battery ! that too when there is a Green Indicator in the Battery. So again call for a single second jump start. Some mechanics say the fault is with Battery, Some say Problem is with Alternator, Some say There is Current Leakage.
Any idea Where is the problem? I doubt if I install new Battery and same problem occurs then it will be waste of money. Hence I request your valuable opinion abt the problem. Thanks in advance.

It is either Alternator not charging or a leak in the system. To diagnose do the following

If you do not have a DC current meter approach an automotive Electrician

1. Get the charging current checked. You simply put the current meter in series to the cable attached to the battery. There will be two, one the thick cable that goes to the starter motor and a thinner one that carries all the current to and from the battery.

2. In case the Alternator is charging then, use the meter to quantify the discharge current. With engine stopped and switched off, it should show none or at the most very little current (< 0.1A). If it is more - say > 1A then there is a leakage.

The leakage can be as simple as a light (interior or boot) that remains on, or a wire shorting some where. That will require a lot of patience and trial and error.

If there is no leakage and the alternator charges properly, then your battery cannot retain charge and needs to be replaced,

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by bblost

I have a pair of Jumper Cables that I got from Amazon Basics.

Since you have jump started petrol cars and diesel SUVs with your cable, can you please share what's the gauge/amp rating of your cable? I can see variants starting from 10 gauge to 4 gauge.

I have to jump start a petrol Honda city but then I have a diesel car with a bigger battery. I would prefer the best fit version here.


If anyone has good experience with any specific jump cable, please share the purchase link.

Edit: Apart from AmazonBasics one, I found couple of options but with mixed reviews.

Option 1: Mammoth

Option 2: VRT

[bblost]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Since you have jump started petrol cars and diesel SUVs with your cable, can you please share what's the gauge/amp rating of your cable? I can see variants starting from 10 gauge to 4 gauge.

AmazonBasics Jumper Cable 8 Gauge, 16 Feet

Costs around 1200.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by ashis89

...I can see variants starting from 10 gauge to 4 gauge.



If anyone has good experience with any specific jump cable, please share the purchase link.

I got the TAGLab J440 Car Suv Tempo Truck Tractor Jumper Booster 2 gauge Copper Cable a couple of years back.
Its very thick and heavy with a length of 8 feet and cost me about 3K.
The higher cost is for the pure copper used unlike copper clad aluminium cables found in most starter cables.

[Aroy]

Best to buy a longer cable ~ length of a car, that is > 4m, so that it can be used in any orientation of both the cars. Shorter cables require both bonnets to be near each other which may not be possible in many cases.

Regarding the quality and thickness of the conductor, pure copper of at least 10 mm sq. As a guide the minimum thickness should be same as as the starter motor cable, though considering the length difference increase the crossectional area by 1.2 to 1.5 times.

Considering the variability in copper purity as well as hard sell by online stores it is best to build your own cable :

1. Buy the cable from a automobile electrical repair shop. The best ones are those that deal with truck repairs, as they will have long cables.

2. Get solid copper/brass clamps from similar shops.

3. Get the clamps soldered to the cables by Radiator Repair person. They have the equipment and expertise.

If you cannot get two cables of different colours; use red cable if the cable is black and black tape if the cable is red; to diferentiate positive and negative cables.

[Mnjdnght]

I hope this is an appropriate thread for my query.

Recently, and for the first time since buying, my car (BMW X3 30D) didn't start and the car indicated that the battery was low. I called up RSA and got the car jump started. I was anyway headed to the service centre so decided to report this and have them check for any issues. They kept the car for a couple of days and did their tests finding none.

Car was not used for about 18 days prior to this, but I have parked the car for longer or similar durations in the past without having any trouble. The previous battery had started showing signs of impending issues after about 5 yrs and I had made sure of driving the car often, at times just to keep the battery charged, even during the covid years. The current battery is fairly new (Nov 2022) and hence didn't expect this to happen.

I am doing a long road trip in September and hence this started bothering me a bit. I've been going through this thread and a few others related to the issue and understand that using the car often, using a trickle charger (battery maintainer), maybe just having jumper cables in the car, calling on RSA etc. are practical solutions in that order. I don't see much favour for buying a portable jump starter mostly, seemingly, due to the economy of it. I would've preferred the trickle charger solution but don't have a provision to do that in my basement apartment parking.

Leaving the economics of buying a portable car starter aside, I would like to know if these products actually work or are there things that should specifically be checked before purchase to make sure it works for a specific car make/ model? The product currently available on Amazon that I am considering is https://www.amazon.in/70mai-Starter-...8FBCWXGT&psc=1

I would like your feedback/ guidance before buying. I don't want to miss some detail that makes the product not work for my car. Hope more experienced users can guide me well.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

I.......................
Car was not used for about 18 days prior to this, but I have parked the car for longer or similar durations in the past without having any trouble. The previous battery had started showing signs of impending issues after about 5 yrs and I had made sure of driving the car often, at times just to keep the battery charged, even during the covid years. The current battery is fairly new (Nov 2022) and hence didn't expect this to happen.

.................................................. .........
I would like your feedback/ guidance before buying. I don't want to miss some detail that makes the product not work for my car. Hope more experienced users can guide me well.

Many cars consume a lot of battery power even when they do not run. This especially true of some BMW models. So either start and run the car every couple of days, or get a decent battery charger and charge the battery every week.

This is what I bought last year, when my battery discharged itself. The charger has a battery healing function which resurrected the batter perfectly.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B09...?ie=UTF8&psc=1