jumper cables

grumpyvette

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Staff member
one of my neighbors kids stopped by this morning to ask if I could look over his car as it seems the battery voltage was low and he was having trouble jumping the battery,and he needed to get to work.
I drove over to his house and he had a car idling with a crappy set of auto store jumper cables between his truck and the car, a quick check showed there was no voltage transfer because the cheap cables had a bad connection in the clamps, (obviously from corrosion/age, as they were blue/green and had a partially melted connector clamp.
I'm always amazed at the guys that buy crappy, discount store, jumper cables, but after asking several guys it became rather obvious that many guys figure that low cost is a huge plus because they simply rarely use jumper cables.
the same could be said about bullet resistant vests, but in both cases when the product is used it damn sure needs to function as its designed too!
and most guys don,t understand why the larger ga cables cost a great deal more.
larger cables carry the heavier amp loads and transfer the amps more effectively without the high resistance of the smaller cables, that causes many of the small & cheap designs to heat up excessively at times.
well, the larger the gauge, the more copper is used in the connector cables, and copper costs a good deal more than aluminum used in the cheapest cables sets, plus a good set will be 20-22 feet long with 2 ga copper wire a cheap set could cost less than 1/5 the cost of a quality set but be only 12-16 feet long and made from 10-8 gauge wire with flimsy thin stamped clamps and on the better cables the clamps tend to be MUCH higher quality, and insulated except for the jaws surface.
wire gauge size varies and something like a 4 ga is far smaller than a 1/0 ga copper cable
wiregac.png

I installed my jumper cables and there was an instant difference in the sound of the car that was providing the jumping current and within 2 minutes he could start his truck, he said he had been trying to jump the car with his jumper cables for over an hour, and never realized the cables were defective.
STEP 1: Connect one end of the Positive(+) cable to the Positive(+) post of the dead battery.
STEP 2: Connect the other end of the Positive(+) cable to the Positive(+) post of the good battery.
STEP 3: Connect one end of the Negative(-) cable to the Negative(-) post of the good battery.
STEP 4: Connect the other end of the Negative(-) cable to a good solid SHINY, NON PAINTED metal part of the engine on the dead car. Usually a giant shiny nut on the engine block will do. A painted, dirty, or oily nut will not work. You usually want to avoid placing the Negative(-) cable directly on the dead battery to minimize the chance for explosions. You should only use the ground post on the dead battery as a last resort. On this step you'll get a normal spark as you connect the ground and complete the circuit
.

http://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.co...P170939.aspx?gclid=CIqRl4uM4swCFQusaQodgYwPDg

jumpcx.png

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/XYZ-AABC06-16/
jumpercable2.jpg
$16


heres some decent 2 ga copper cable jumper cables

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-BCX220/
jumpercable1.jpg
$109
http://www.db-starter-alternator.com/p- ... 00183.aspx
jumpercable.jpg
$89
READ
http://www.carbuyingtips.com/jumpstart.htm


If you find its the cars alternator thats at fault, before just replacing the O.E.M. alternator you may want to UPGRADE to a 200 amp alternator that puts out a good deal more current that the stock alternator does in most cases
theres no reason you can,t convert to a one wire alternator if you do the required modifications to your wiring in the car, read this
http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical ... wire.shtml

these guys sell an alternator Ive used on several corvettes with excellent results
http://www.db-starter-alternator.com/c- ... 0-amp.aspx

one wire
http://www.db-starter-alternator.com/c- ... 0-amp.aspx

good related info

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=355&p=436#p436

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1169&p=5267&hilit=corvette+alternator#p5267
 
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I have six sets that are all 2 ga except a set I bought in 1979 that cost $55 then, that say on the box (ga-1.5) and they are bigger than the 2's. All but 2 sets came from Snap On, including the 1.5's. Last set cost over $100, all were made in USA. ;)
 
Honestly - I think most people just don't know any better. They don't realize the difference huge difference between a $15 set and a $100 set. And it never occured to them that there could be such a difference.
 
some people don,t have a CLUE how things really work,

A neighbor that bought a new alternator when his battery died, after Id diagnosed it as a dead battery, causing the starter not to work, because the alternator was not charging the system, once called me to complain, that Id mis-diagnosed the problem, because he installed the new 200 amp alternator on his corvette, exactly as I described,and his car still wouldn't start. I asked if he tried testing the battery or had he been recharging charging the battery , before he started the car,to which he replied, "the new alternator is supposed to charge the battery,back up, now that its installed, isn,t it?"...I held my tongue, I wanted to say DUUUUUUH, ONLY AFTER THE ENGINE STARTS
 
Sometimes jumping and running a car with a dead battery will kill the alternator, bad practice all around, always charge the battery to near normal before starting if possible.
 
Id also point out that over time the end of cable clamps and clamp to cable connections, on many jumper cables, tend to degrade and corroded making them far less effective, especially if they get stored where theres moisture in the air or get wet occasionally , it certainly won,t hurt to carefully inspect and test them with a multi meter, the same thing happens to battery charger cables, over time!
Ive seen guys spend a good deal of wasted time before they realized the cables needed to be cleaned before they would conduct full current loads
HEAVY DUTY INDUSTRIAL JUMPER BOOSTER CABLES 900 AMP 1 GAUGE 25 FEET SUPER DUTY





Price: $69.99 & FREE Shipping
https://www.amazon.com/HEAVY-INDUSTRIAL-JUMPER-BOOSTER-CABLES/dp/B07CVM6T6C
 
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I like to attach cable to each side of each clamp.

In a U shape, so the spring never has to carry any current.

They seem to last forever this way and never get corroded.

Thanks
Randy
 
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