How To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery

How To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery

Here are few tips and instructions on jump starting a dead battery. First things first, though. You need to inspect the dead battery. If you see any damage such as leaks or cracks. DO NOT go any further. Put away the jumper cables and call a wrecker. A damaged battery can explode and really hurt you. If the battery looks ok, then park the cars close enough to each other for the jumper cables to reach and shut off both engines. Now make sure the terminals are not caked with corrosion. Try to clean them off as best you can. A corroded terminal will make it a lot harder to jump the battery. At this point you are ready to hook up your jumper cables to the batteries. (Normally, the red cable is (+) positive and black cable is (-) negative)

Jump Starter Battery

They must be connected in this exact order:

How To Jump Start A Dead Car Battery

1. Connect one end of the (+) positive cable to the (+) positive terminal on the dead battery.

2. Connect the other end of the (+) positive cable to (+) positive terminal on the good battery.

3. Connect one end of the (-) negative cable to (-) negative terminal on the good battery.

4. Connect the other end of the (-) negative cable to the engine block of the dead car.

You are ready to start up the good car's engine and charge the dead battery. First of all, shut off all electrical equipment on the good car. (head lights, radio, etc.) Let the good car's engine run for a minute or so before you attempt to start the dead one. Now get in the dead car and attempt to crank it. If it sounds like it wants to start but won't quite get there, give it some more time and try again. When the dead has started and is running, it is time to remove the jumper cables. This must be done in reverse order.

Here are the steps:

1. Disconnect (-) negative cable from the engine block on dead car.

2. Disconnect (-) negative cable from the (-) negative terminal on the good battery.

3. Disconnect (+) positive cable from the (+) positive terminal on the good battery.

4. Disconnect (+) positive cable from the (+) positive terminal on the dead battery.

After the dead car has been running for a while, turn it off. See if will start on its own. If it does, you should be OK on the drive home. If not, jump it again and have someone follow you home. When you arrive at home, you can then put a battery charger on it all night and see if it cranks in the morning.

Dead Battery? No Mechanic? Need a Battery Charger-Jump Starter?

Dead Battery? No Mechanic? Need a Battery Charger-Jump Starter?

If you have ever found yourself needing, or anticipate needing in the future, any of the following:

Jump Starter Battery

Jump start a car

Dead Battery? No Mechanic? Need a Battery Charger-Jump Starter?

Recharge or Power:

cell phonemusic player or iPodcomputerelectric toolstire inflator/ air compressoremergency heaterradio (incl. weather, emergency communications, am/ fm/satellite)vacuumany 120 volt applianceGPSoxygen concentratordefibrillator

then a battery jump starter is definitely a 'must have'. This is just a partial list of the possible uses for a battery jump starter. One or more of these uses may one day prove to be more than just a convenience, and could help save a life - YOUR life... or the life of a precious family member. There are many of us who would want one or more of these possible benefits. Yet, in purchasing this type of device, most potential buyers are unaware of the features, benefits and limitations of a battery booster.

Some things that need to be taken into consideration when purchasing a battery jump starter are:

Capacity (power output, resistance to effects of heat and cold on durability and output, weight, relative safety)Internal chargers which protect from overcharging.An alert that warns you of reverse connection hazards and protects a battery from overcharging or undercharged conditionsMultiple voltage output voltages. They can provide power in 5, 12, or 24 volts without the need for adapters.Internal air compressorsInverters to provide 120 volt power (some of these have up to three 120 volt outputs)Include work lights, emergency lights or both

Ideally, seller integrity, warranty/return policy, and support should drive your decision in buying a battery jump starter, then power requirements, followed by features. Also important are convenience, shipping costs and/or delays if not in stock or buying online. A product other than the most popular brand can often be a great value (brand name is not everything).

The biggest mistakes in buying a jump starter can turn out to be:

Not getting enough power to start the auto battery in their current vehicle (most buyers choose less power capacity than will serve them best)Not buying a unit with features which greatly enhance the use of the product (heavy duty 4 gauge cables, longer cables, heavy duty clamps, automatic charging, air compressor)Not immediately checking the internal battery's capacity to confirm it will provide how much current for how long, and its recharge characteristics.

The batteries used in battery jump starters are often sealed lead acid or gel cell batteries. These batteries are able to provide power for either short term high load requirements or lower demand over longer periods of time. These batteries prefer a slow to medium charge rate and to remain fully charged. They may be smaller in size and lighter in weight, than the battery that powers your car, which makes them a better choice for a portable jump starting use.

Before using any battery jump starter, you can increase the likelihood of a successful result by making certain that the connections at the battery are clean and free of oil or corrosion. Ideally if corrosion is present, the battery connections should be taken apart, cleaned thoroughly and a protective coating applied. Commercial products are readily available. Baking Soda added to a small amount of water may be applied to the corrosion present at battery connections to increase current available for starting the vehicle. In an emergency, some drivers report using various liquids to temporarily increase battery performance for starting, including Pepsi Cola or even water with a little salt in it.

When using a battery jump starter, it is recommended that you connect the jumper to the positive terminal on your car battery first and then to the negative terminal. After use, disconnect in the reverse order (i.e. remove negative clamp first, then the positive clamp). This helps reduce the chance of unwanted sparks, and is therefore safer.

By some estimates over 50% of car problems are battery related. Battery mis-use accounts for a high percentage of battery failure. Lead acid batteries are best stored at approximately 60 deg F fully charged. Other types of batteries are ideally stored under different conditions. All batteries perform best at moderate temperatures. When an average car battery is not kept fully charged poorer performance and shortened battery life often result. The electrolyte in an under charged lead acid battery may actually experience changes in the acid concentration levels within the cells. This causes an increased likelihood of sulfating of the cells, also causing lower performance and shortened battery life. Sulfation can be reduced or prevented by regular charging to a fully charged state and physical movement of the battery, and the electrolyte within. It is common for a vehicle to be driven a short distance during which time the alternator may not fully charge the vehicle's battery. A driver may not notice the problem if the battery retains enough charge after remaining parked for some period of time, to start the vehicle. The more power options a vehicle has, the more likely the alternator may not fully charge the battery during short trip driving. Batteries do eventually wear out, but proper maintenance is essential to ensure your battery lasts the maximum time possible. If you are unsure of the present condition of your car battery, your mechanic will be able to quickly check your car battery's efficiency.

Start It Jump Starter With Portable Power

Start It Jump Starter With Portable Power

Start It Jump Starters can be a life saver in emergency situations. These devices will allow you to jump start your car battery without the need for another vehicle. That means even if you are stranded in a remote location and find yourself hearing that dreaded clicking sound when you turn your ignition, you can easily start you car with this device.

Jump Starter Battery

Here are a few reasons why everyone needs a car jump starter. First of all, you may not always have a kind stranger or a friend conveniently around whenever you have a dead battery. If you are like me, I love to hike and often don't get back to my car until the park is just about to close, which also means that there are usually no other cars around by that time. There are a million other situations where you might be in a remote location with no other vehicles around to give you a boost.

Start It Jump Starter With Portable Power

Secondly, your car may not always be in a convenient position to be able to get a jump from another car. The most common example of this I can think of is if you live in an urban area with parking garages with tight and cramped spaces, it would be difficult to get another car positioned correctly for the jumper cables to reach far enough to connect both car batteries. In a situation like this, you may not be able to get your car into a position to get a boost nor a kind stranger to help you maneuver the two vehicles to make this happen.

Believe me, the peace of mind of having a Start It Jump Starter that can conveniently be pulled out to jump start your car is invaluable. You may have a car with a lot of mechanical or electrical issues which cause your battery to die from time to time. If you have one of these cars, these devices are that much more of an essential item for you to buy.

Start It Jump Starter Has Portable Power

In addition to getting a jump for your car, these devices also give you the ability to have portable power. This device comes with a DC outlet, enabling you to power any electronic device that uses direct current or DC electricity, which is the same type of power you get from your cigarette lighter in your car. This means that you can recharge you cell phone or laptops when you're out camping or doing other outdoor activities.

Some models also come with AC outlets, which is the same outlet you find in your house. That means you can plug in any normal electrical device to this particular type of jump starter for your portable power needs. So when you go camping, you can plug in your stereos, radios, laptops, and even televisions when you're camping.

Speaking of the cigarette lighter in your car, you can also recharge these jump starters using that DC power outlet as well. That means after you have jumped your car, you can turn around and plug it into your car cigarette lighter to recharge it for the next time you need it.

How can a car that just had a dead battery go on to turn around to recharge the thing that started it back up? That's simple. Because your engine is constantly recharging your car battery with it's alternator. The alternator takes the energy generated by the engine and converts it to charge your car battery. That same engine then can turn around to recharge your battery booster jump starter.

Black & Decker's Start It Jump Starter is one of the best jump starters you can buy out on the market made by one of the best hardware companies in the world. And it can basically boost any 12 volt battery, which is in most normal sized vehicles. The normal 300 amp device has enough power to jump any normal car like Honda Accords, to Toyota Tacoma's and even luxury vehicles which usually have larger engines. The more powerful 450 amp model can also jump larger heavy duty work trucks. I have a friend who used to work as an engineer for them and testified to how well they control quality and build for innovation. It's one of the highest quality devices out there.

In addition, most of the models also come with an air compressor. This will allow you to inflate your car tires, bicycle tires or sporting equipment like basketballs, volleyballs and soccer balls. You can also use this to inflate pool toys like balloons and flotation devices.

Most models also come with an ultra-bright LED light so you can jump your battery even when you're in the dark for road side assistance. Sometimes you don't know what you're missing until you don't have it. Daylight is one of those things. You'll be thankful you have this ultra-bright LED light when you have a flat tire on the side of the road or when you need to jump start your car in the middle of a dark parking lot. You can also use this powerful LED light when the power goes out in your house or when you need illumination at night during outdoor activities like camping and outdoor barbecue's.

Emergency Power

Devices like the Start It Jump Starter are also great to have around for just about any emergency situation where you need portable power. Even in the model western world like the US, we still have natural disasters and the occasional power outage. I've lived through at least one hurricane and one snow storm that took out power for more than a week and one of these devices would have come into very good use during those episodes. Not only does it provide light, but it also provides power for your radio, cell phones, laptops and other communication devices that can be life savers during emergency scenarios. Not only that, because you can recharge it using your car, it can continue to give you power and light for days without a problem.

Prius Hybrid Battery - How to Fix Your Dead Prius Hybrid Battery

Prius Hybrid Battery - How to Fix Your Dead Prius Hybrid Battery

Are you looking to fix your dead Prius hybrid battery because your car won't start? Well, before you jump to the conclusion that your hybrid battery is root of your car troubles, you may want to first take a look at your 12 volt battery in your Prius.

Jump Starter Battery

If the 12 volt battery is dead, your car will be unable to start as well. Fixing your 12 volt is much easier than dealing with the hybrid cells.

Prius Hybrid Battery - How to Fix Your Dead Prius Hybrid Battery

To repair your 12 volt battery, here is what you want to do:

1. Open the Prius' hood by pulling on the handle located on the bottom left of the steering wheel.

2. Open the plastic protector to the battery on the top right-hand side of the engine and open the small red plastic lid covering the positive port to the battery.

3. Hook the positive cable, which typically has a white line painted on the rubber, to the positive port of the car giving the Prius current.

4. Hook the negative cable (all black) to the negative port of the car giving current, making sure the opposite end does not touch any other metal before connecting it to the Prius, because the cables may already be electrically charged.

5. Turn on the car giving the charge and press the accelerator slightly to pass enough current to spark the battery in the Prius.

6. Turn the Prius on and drive for a minimum of 20 minutes without turning the engine off; this will re-charge the battery enough so it won't go dead when turning off the engine. If using a battery charger, start the Prius and leave it charging overnight.

If this did not fix the problem, then you may have a more serious problem with the hybrid cells. Replacing your entire hybrid battery will cost you roughly 00 without warranty from Toyota.

This option is far too expensive... If you want to know a much cheaper method to fix your dead Prius cells, you may want to try this alternative.

Save 4000's of dollars by fixing your dead batteries yourself with the Prius battery repair guide. If you want the best way to fix your dead HB cells without breaking your wallet, it is highly recommended to repair your it yourself with the Prius Battery Repair guide.

The repair guide is created from seasoned mechanics that specialize in rebuilding HB packs. The guide will teach you exactly how you can rebuild and repair your dead batteries yourself with the support of step-by-step instructions and detailed pictures.

If you do not want to go to Toyota and let them replace your dead HB cells for 00, you could spend half the money by purchasing a rebuilt batteries from other people. However, this is still expensive as it can still cost 1000's of dollars, so it is highly recommended to use the Prius Hybrid Battery repair guide to repair it yourself.

Starter Clicks But Engine Does Not Turn Over - Tech in Trunk?

Starter Clicks But Engine Does Not Turn Over - Tech in Trunk?

If the car's starter clicks and the engine does not turn over, this could be caused by several things. The most common cause of clicking when the car is being started is a low battery. Most people would assume that the starter is bad if it only clicks, but low-voltage can cause the starter to make this sound.

Jump Starter Battery

The battery is the heart of the starting and electrical system. If the battery has been drained or has a weak cell, this can cause the starter to only click. Many times the battery could just been drained due to a door left slightly open, making the dome light stay on. Other times a vanity light or a phone charger could be left on. During my time as a master auto technician, I've had a trustworthy co-worker close me up in the trunk so I could make sure the trunk light went off when the trunk was closed!

Starter Clicks But Engine Does Not Turn Over - Tech in Trunk?

In order to test the battery it must have a good charge. If the battery is not charged completely the tester will indicate that it needs to be charged before testing can proceed. The first step when checking the starter and electrical system is to make sure the battery is in good condition. Most parts stores will check batteries for free. Once it's determined the battery is good the rest of the system can then be checked. Loose or corroded connections can also cause a clicking and for the car not to start.

Starter

The starter solenoid on many Ford vehicle's is on the inner fender well, on most other vehicles the starter solenoid will be mounted on the starter. The clicking that is heard many times is the solenoid. But low-voltage either from a drained battery, bad battery or poor connections can cause this. Most of the time if the vehicle can be jump-started the starter is okay. This would also indicate that the connections to the starter are good.

Alternator

Once the vehicle is running the alternator output can be checked. If the alternator is not charging the battery, it will be drained during the process of starting the car and driving. When the alternator is checked, the voltage and amperage output can be measured. Also the diode pattern will be checked to make sure the alternator won't drain the battery when the engine is turned off. In the past do-it-yourselfers could disconnect the battery while the vehicle is running to check the alternator, if the car kept running the alternator was good. Doing this on computerized vehicles can be harmful. If the battery is disconnected while a computerized vehicle is running the alternator output can increase sharply allowing excess voltage to spike the computer.

Battery

When purchasing a replacement battery the cold cranking amps required for the vehicle should be checked. It's best to purchase a battery with more cold cranking amps than the minimum required. Also when purchasing a battery you should consider if you want maintenance free or not. If the battery is hard to access or has a cover then a maintenance free battery is preferred. For instance on some Chrysler Sebrings and Chevrolet Corvettes the battery is located behind an inner fender and on a Chevrolet SSR. the battery is located underneath the bed where the spare tire would normally go. If installing the battery yourself be sure to notice which side is positive and negative in case you were sold the incorrect battery.

Terminals

The terminals should be free of corrosion and should tighten up well. Sometimes especially on import vehicles the battery terminals will be very thin and can have hairline cracks causing a poor connection. Avoid forcing the battery terminals on by tapping them. The battery casing can be damaged causing a leak, if the battery acid seeps out it can cause fast corrosion. If the battery terminal bolts will not tighten, then replacing the terminals is recommended. When the connections are tight you should not be able to twist them by hand.

So, Your Starter Is Just Clicking

So, Your Starter Is Just Clicking

Does you starter make a *click* sound when you try to start your vehicle?

Jump Starter Battery

Each time you turn the ignition switch to start, does the starter just *click* one time?

So, Your Starter Is Just Clicking

That is probably the starter solenoid.

If it goes, *click-click-click-click*, and so on, it may just be a low battery.

A low battery that makes the starter *click* a few times doesn't have enough *juice* in it to turn the starter over to turn the flywheel over to turn the crankshaft over to make the engine start...phew!

A simple way to tell if the battery is at fault is to turn the headlights on and turn the ignition switch to start.

If the lights go out, then the battery is probably at fault.

Course, you'll have to run real fast after you hit the start position in order to see if the lights go out...or have someone out there watching for you.:-)

You can purchase a small inexpensive battery charger at most malls, or parts store.

The best way to use a *trickle* chargers is to charge the batter all night, or all day, whichever pleases you.

You can try charging the battery. If it runs down again, then you need to do something.

Remove the battery terminals from the battery post, if you have the *post* type, and clean the post and the inside of the cable clamp.

If you have the side mount just loosen the 8mm bolt and clean the terminal where it comes into contact with the battery. Clean the part on the battery, too. :-)

Sometimes the battery will build up a lot of corrosion on the outside of the cable clamp.

When this happens, usually, the inside part of the clamp and post will create a hard metallic-like surface.

This stops the flow of electricity from the alternator to the battery.

When you use the battery's reserve, it's gone, no more being put in.

If the vehicle does crank, it will run off the alternator, which ain't good. :-(

If cleaning the post and recharging the battery doesn't solve the problem, you may need a new one.

Don't run to the nearest *convenience store* and buy a battery.

Take your battery to a place that sells batteries and have it checked.

If it is gone to where old dead batteries go, then you will have to purchase a new one.

You may have other problems...like the alternator; the tension on the alternator belt... several things could make the battery be low...did you leave the parking lights on when you parked, to go shopping? :-)