Hey all, Why is this? I was jumping a coworker's truck today, and my car took a minute to charge his battery enough to start it...but, why don't the jumper cables effectively bypass his battery so that mine should start his car instantly, even if it has a dead cell? Is it because my battery can't handle both electrical systems at the same time? Enlighten me about electrons!!!
I'm mechanical so I can only guess, but it seems to me that when you hook up your battery to his car your battery/system is being LOADED DOWN trying to CHARGE the dead battery - not enough oomph to CHARGE his battery AND turn over his starter. Probably would IF you disconnected the dead battery. But I'm just guessing.
That's what I was kind of thinking...this board is actually amazing...two responses in five minutes!!!! Awesome...any of you guys want to come over and help clean some hydraulic lifters from a '53 Buick? Maybe it'll get done in 5 minutes too! Ha ha!
It's the connection, it's not secure enough to bypass the battery. Further, most jumper cables are 4-6 guage, which is not enough to carry the current. IF you could bolt a cable between your car and his, it WOULD bypass the battery and start his, because the connection would then be secure. Another brain teaser: You have only one jumper cable, how can you jump the dead car?? Cosmo P.S. I know for a fact about this 'teaser', I've done it.
even if you have 00 gage cables, if the cells of the battery being jumped are shorted( like sulfated) you might never start, unless you use a commercial jump unit that puts out a lot of amps... This might be OT but have you heard of the OE's going to a 42v system?
answer to the one-cable question...just touch bumpers...although on some of the newer impact-crush styles...you might have a problem getting a good ground, some of the bushings and tubes are not metal-to-metal. or...have his girlfriend lick her fingers and touch both cars...won't work of course, just like to watch hotties lick their fingers dj
No hit the dumbass.. I'm trying the bumper thing someday. The starter doesn't care about voltage much, but there must be all the amps it can get. The better batteries drop voltage, but pump out current. This is the effect of low internal resistance. IF a battery has volts. but won't pump out amps it has high internal resistance. The old junkyard trick was to short the battery, get a whopping big spark but pull the battery down, then recharge it quick with a big battery, then a trickle charge. If the battery lived it was to be counted apon
If ya got steel bumpers ya can. Or is you can establish a mechanical ground between the vehicles some other way. Usta do it alot specially where the dead car was front in in a one car garage or between parked vehicles. Connected the two cables together for length, the put the bumpers togehter and crank em up.
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