What did I do with the jumper cables?

What did I do with the jumper cables?

I pulled my wife’s minivan in front of my Tucson, popped the hood of both vehicles, and proceeded to hook up the jumper cables. I’m embarrassed about what happened next. All my experience helping to jump other people’s batteries fed me the lie that this was not a big deal.

Why did I Cross the jumper cable on my minivan?

I hooked up one side of cables to my wife’s car and turned around. Apparently, this was the critical moment. I must not have been paying attention, and swapped the cables ends when I turned around. Then, I connected the leads to the battery on my Tucson in the wrong positions. I turned on the minivan. The van started fine.

What kind of battery do I need to hook up jumper cables?

A “Donor” Vehicle. This should be a vehicle with a fully charged battery that can be placed near enough to the car that has the flat battery, which we shall refer to as the “casualty” vehicle. Make sure that both batteries are 12v – most are but it’s worth checking.

Do you have to remove red clamps from jumper cables?

Remove the red clamp from the “good” battery car and then remove the clamp from the “bad” battery car. It is important that you follow all instructions carefully when dealing with a live battery. Jumping the car is fairly easy, but you do need to proceed with caution. Make sure that the red and black clamps never touch.

I pulled my wife’s minivan in front of my Tucson, popped the hood of both vehicles, and proceeded to hook up the jumper cables. I’m embarrassed about what happened next. All my experience helping to jump other people’s batteries fed me the lie that this was not a big deal.

I hooked up one side of cables to my wife’s car and turned around. Apparently, this was the critical moment. I must not have been paying attention, and swapped the cables ends when I turned around. Then, I connected the leads to the battery on my Tucson in the wrong positions. I turned on the minivan. The van started fine.

Remove the red clamp from the “good” battery car and then remove the clamp from the “bad” battery car. It is important that you follow all instructions carefully when dealing with a live battery. Jumping the car is fairly easy, but you do need to proceed with caution. Make sure that the red and black clamps never touch.