Jump Start
For what most would consider a simple task, you would be surprised at how much can go wrong. The most common mistake being the mix up between your positives and negatives. It’s labeled, but let’s consider that maybe the battery is covered, the labels have rubbed off or someone installed the battery backwards. Not knowing, you come along and suffer the consequences.
To protect you and the company, look at the battery in detail in order to confirm which side is negative, and which is positive. A way to do that is to check which direction the mount takes you, from the battery. The one leading to the ground/engine is most likely the negative, vs. the positive will typically go into a large wiring harness typically leading to a power distribution box.
Check the posts of the battery. They could be loose or corroded, causing the battery connection to fail. This could be a simple fix without the need of getting a new battery.
Using jumper cables
Step 1: Black goes to the negative, red goes to the positive.
Step 2: Start the vehicle that’d doing the jumping and wait for the broken down vehicle to charge.
Using a jump pack
Step 1: Make sure the jump pack is charged.
Step 2: Black goes to the negative, red goes to the positive.
Step 3: Wait a few minutes, then start the vehicle.
Step 4: Leave the jump pack attached for 3-5 minutes while the vehicle runs. (This re-charges your jump pack)
A side note, if the car was jumped, has been running for a few minutes and you take the cables off and it dies… then it’s most likely an alternator that has gone bad.
That’s it for this lesson. I understand for some of us this may sound rudimentary, but for someone just starting out I know this will be very helpful.
To protect you and the company, look at the battery in detail in order to confirm which side is negative, and which is positive. A way to do that is to check which direction the mount takes you, from the battery. The one leading to the ground/engine is most likely the negative, vs. the positive will typically go into a large wiring harness typically leading to a power distribution box.
Check the posts of the battery. They could be loose or corroded, causing the battery connection to fail. This could be a simple fix without the need of getting a new battery.
Using jumper cables
Step 1: Black goes to the negative, red goes to the positive.
Step 2: Start the vehicle that’d doing the jumping and wait for the broken down vehicle to charge.
Using a jump pack
Step 1: Make sure the jump pack is charged.
Step 2: Black goes to the negative, red goes to the positive.
Step 3: Wait a few minutes, then start the vehicle.
Step 4: Leave the jump pack attached for 3-5 minutes while the vehicle runs. (This re-charges your jump pack)
A side note, if the car was jumped, has been running for a few minutes and you take the cables off and it dies… then it’s most likely an alternator that has gone bad.
That’s it for this lesson. I understand for some of us this may sound rudimentary, but for someone just starting out I know this will be very helpful.
