1. Remove the car battery from your car and place it on a flat surface
2. Connect one end of the red jumper cable to the positive terminal of your car battery, and connect the other end to the positive terminal of your donor car’s battery
3. Connect one end of the black jumper cable to an unpainted metal surface on your donor car’s engine block, and connect the other end to an unpainted metal surface on your car’s engine block
4. Start your donor vehicle’s engine and let it run for at least 15 minutes—this will help improve your chances of starting your own vehicle later
Can you overcharge a dead car battery with jumper cables?
Yes, you can overcharge a dead car battery with jumper cables.
Overcharging is when you keep a battery connected to an electrical source for too long. This can damage the battery and reduce its life expectancy.
If you’re trying to jump-start your car and the battery is completely dead, don’t keep the cables connected to it for more than 15 minutes.
If nothing happens after 15 minutes, turn off the jumper cables and wait at least 30 minutes before trying again.
How do connect the cables?
You should connect the red cable to the positive + terminal and the black cable to the negative – terminal.
The positive terminal is marked with a plus sign, while on some older cars it will be marked with a P or an upward-facing arrow. Connecting the cables incorrectly could cause damage to your car and/or battery.
What are the types of jumper cables?
There are two types of jumper cables positive and negative. The positive cable is the red one, and it carries electricity to start your car.
The negative cable is the black one, and it carries electricity away from a battery when it starts your car.
Why do you need jumper cables to charge your car battery?
The reason you need jumper cables to charge your car’s battery is that the electricity in your car’s battery can’t make the journey from the battery to the alternator without help.
The alternator is like a gearbox, but instead of driving wheels, it drives a generator that produces electricity.
That electricity goes through cables and then through an electrical system that helps distribute it throughout your vehicle.
The problem is that there’s no direct connection between your battery and your alternator so when you turn on the engine, there isn’t enough power for both at once.
If you tried to start up your engine with just a charged battery, it would run for less than a minute before dying out again.
The cables provide just enough juice to get everything going long enough for the engine and alternator to get started up together and produce their own energy on their own terms!
Conclusion
To charge a car battery with jumper cables, you should allow the engine to run for at least five minutes before disconnecting the cables.