How to use jumper cables

If the car battery is empty, the vehicle can be revived using a jump lead. Find out here how you can give the right jump-start and what you need to do it. In this article, we read about How to use jumper cables?

If the car does not start, there could be various reasons. Often the cause is simply a dead battery. For drivers, it is usually initially a shock when the car does not start.

However, with a jump start cable or a bridging cable and an auxiliary vehicle, it is possible to revive the battery without great effort, with our step-by-step instructions.

Giving start-up help: The preparation

To give jump starters and to bridge the car battery, two things are essentially required: a jump start cable (a red and a black jumper cable, at the cable ends of which there are clamps with which the contact to the poles of the car battery is made) and a donor vehicle or a car battery.

The battery voltage must be the same for both vehicles. For most vehicles, this voltage is 12 volts. Make sure to use jump leads of the correct length and cross-section so that enough current can flow and the cable does not overheat. The accurate cross-section depends on the vehicle – the more engine power and displacement the broken down vehicle has, the thicker the line.

First, park the vehicle with the working car battery as close as possible to the recipient vehicle. To be on the safe side, switch off all electrical consumers, such as the lighting, ventilation, etc., take the gear out of both vehicles and apply the handbrake. Now open the hoods of the two cars.

Step-by-step instructions: give jump-start help.

Now take the following five steps to get started right away:

1. Connect the positive cable to use jumper cables

First, connect the empty car battery’s positive terminal to the whole battery’s positive terminal with the red cable. Correct connection and the correct sequence are vital to prevent damage to the vehicle electronics or the battery.

2. Connect the ground point to use jumper cables

Then use the black cable to connect the negative pole of the whole battery to a metallic, unpainted part on the receiving vehicle. The ground point should be away from the storm, for example, the engine block.

3. Give jump-start help to use jumper cables

Keep the donor vehicle engine running to jump-start the car. After this has been running for a while, try beginning the receiving vehicle’s engine as well.

If the bridging does not work after several seconds, you should interrupt it briefly and try again.

Let the engine of both vehicles run for several minutes after the bridging and the successful jump-start.

4. Connect electronic consumers

After a successful jump-start, switch on some electrical consumers on the receiving vehicle to avoid electronic damage. After the engine has been running for a while, you can switch off the loads again, but the engine remains on.

5. Remove the cable

You can then remove the jump starter cables, precisely the other way around than when connecting: First, the black line is drawn, then you can also loosen the clamping pliers of the red line from the positive terminals. To make sure that the car battery is recharged after a jump start, it is best to drive a long distance in one go.