I had a similar experience with an idiot only mine happened after his car started. With both engines running, and without so much as a "by your leave, sir", he yanked both connections off of his battery. In doing so, he shorted the jumper cables which immediately blew the regulator block of MY alternator.
For absolute safety, the last connection should be a negative, to the frame (away from the battery) and not to the negative terminal of the battery itself. Very rarely, there is a concentration of hydrogen gas in the immediate vicinity of a charging battery.
Had to jump my truck last fall, brain fogged over. I noticed when the cables were melting, No damage done, modern cars maybe or luck or God watches me a little better as I get older. Daryl
Any time I jump start someone I have them hook up to their car first, and after taking a good look at it I hook up to mine the same way. I have had some connect black to positive.
I probably would have been one of those people. I used to think black was positive(neutral) and white / red was negative(hot), but this is apparently backwards now. Either I misread an electrical book or the book was wrong because an electrician doing some work here told me that black is hot and white is neutral.
To compound the confusion, people now refer to the positive wire as being the carrier of current and the negative as being the neutral. I've always been under the impression that the negative wire carries current and the positive was the neutral since electrons are negatively charged, leave the negative terminal and flow toward the positive terminal.
That there isn't a universal standard across AC, DC, etc wiring makes it all even worse. I went ahead and looked up how to jump a car despite getting lucky in the past with incorrect jumping.
Okay, I need to know which car Needed the jump. Being a cynical bastid I'm guessing the orange car was stranded and the Burnt to the Ground car belonged to the guy trying to help someone out, because good deeds Must be Punished.
About five years back, I was pretty trashed with my wife at our local drinking establishment. Some guy says 'hey, anyone have jumper cables'? Me, being the nice guy, I jumped up to help. I told him to make sure to hook up red to positive and black to ground - not the battery ground. I started my truck, got out, and saw smoke coming from his engine bay, and my jumper cables glowing red and the insulation was melting off.
I disconnected the cables from my truck as fast I could, and told him he's on his own. I figured I fucked up my truck, but all was well. I'm sure he fried all kinds of shit though.
Tried helping an idiot once. Hooked up me end of the jumper cables while he did his. Backwards. Blew the filler caps off my battery.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience with an idiot only mine happened after his car started. With both engines running, and without so much as a "by your leave, sir", he yanked both connections off of his battery. In doing so, he shorted the jumper cables which immediately blew the regulator block of MY alternator.
DeleteI wanna see the results when someone tries to jump-start a Dodge Charger from a Tesla.
ReplyDeleteFor absolute safety, the last connection should be a negative, to the frame (away from the battery) and not to the negative terminal of the battery itself. Very rarely, there is a concentration of hydrogen gas in the immediate vicinity of a charging battery.
ReplyDeleteDidn't work when tried to jump-start my 1949 Ford business coupe. Found out the 6V system was positive ground.
DeleteHad to jump my truck last fall, brain fogged over. I noticed when the cables were melting, No damage done, modern cars maybe or luck or God watches me a little better as I get older.
ReplyDeleteDaryl
Any time I jump start someone I have them hook up to their car first, and after taking a good look at it I hook up to mine the same way. I have had some connect black to positive.
ReplyDeleteI probably would have been one of those people. I used to think black was positive(neutral) and white / red was negative(hot), but this is apparently backwards now. Either I misread an electrical book or the book was wrong because an electrician doing some work here told me that black is hot and white is neutral.
DeleteTo compound the confusion, people now refer to the positive wire as being the carrier of current and the negative as being the neutral. I've always been under the impression that the negative wire carries current and the positive was the neutral since electrons are negatively charged, leave the negative terminal and flow toward the positive terminal.
That there isn't a universal standard across AC, DC, etc wiring makes it all even worse. I went ahead and looked up how to jump a car despite getting lucky in the past with incorrect jumping.
- Arc
Dang! Thats a bad way to start 2023
ReplyDeleteMy nephew hooked a battery charger to a battery backwards & it actually changed the polarity,then he hooked it up in his car ruined the electronics.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I need to know which car Needed the jump. Being a cynical bastid I'm guessing the orange car was stranded and the Burnt to the Ground car belonged to the guy trying to help someone out, because good deeds Must be Punished.
ReplyDeleteAll the jumper cables I've ever had came with an instruction tag on the cables. I know, that takes too long. Ready, Fire, Aim!
ReplyDeleteAbout five years back, I was pretty trashed with my wife at our local drinking establishment. Some guy says 'hey, anyone have jumper cables'? Me, being the nice guy, I jumped up to help. I told him to make sure to hook up red to positive and black to ground - not the battery ground. I started my truck, got out, and saw smoke coming from his engine bay, and my jumper cables glowing red and the insulation was melting off.
ReplyDeleteI disconnected the cables from my truck as fast I could, and told him he's on his own. I figured I fucked up my truck, but all was well. I'm sure he fried all kinds of shit though.