I connected the jump leads to the wrong ports

[Corradobrit]

This. One of my best buys was NOCO Boost X GBX155 4250A 12V UltraSafe Portable Lithium Jump Starter. Will start any truck, no problem with pos/neg issues and a massive back up source , bit expensive but paid for itself on a couple of occasions.

My friends was about the size of one of those blue coolbox packs and cost around $100. Definitely not a budget buster and had enough CCA to turnover a V6 motor.

 

[rod_vw]

Obviously if you're not 100% confident then don't do it. But on the other hand it's surely useful for everyone to know how to do a jump start, maybe out in the middle of nowhere, it might be someone else's vehicle who's stuck in the sticks.

Red-to-red, black-to-black surely isn't all that hard to retain as useful knowledge?

(Just my view, and no implied criticism of anyone on here.)

Ah, that is where you are so very wrong!

German automotive wiring standard has Brown for the Negative and in the case of a battery connection usually a Black or Red for the Positive. What is more as I explained earlier you should not connect the negative jumper lead direct to the negative of the battery, it should go to a chassis or engine earth point. Often on new vehicles there is a prescribed point to connect the negative to.

As Brown is negative on a German car it is quite understandable for those who are not aware of the DIN standard of wire colours they may well assume that brown is 'live' as in domestic 240v wiring.

 

[m10chkcalifornia]

Ah, that is where you are so very wrong!

German automotive wiring standard has Brown for the Negative and in the case of a battery connection usually a Black or Red for the Positive. What is more as I explained earlier you should not connect the negative jumper lead direct to the negative of the battery, it should go to a chassis or engine earth point. Often on new vehicles there is a prescribed point to connect the negative to.

As Brown is negative on a German car it is quite understandable for those who are not aware of the DIN standard of wire colours they may well assume that brown is 'live' as in domestic 240v wiring.

Thanks. Really useful information. I have never seen a car with German wiring but will be better prepared if I do! Also the negative connection issue I did know but is often overlooked - thereby cooking the battery monitoring system. So to those who say “its really simple” - well not quite.

 

[sidepod]

Yeah VD, what do you know ?

 

[Velma's Dad]

Okay fair enough with the German cars black/brown thing. Actually if it's a car I don't know I'd invariably run a thumb over the embossed + symbol on the battery case. Some of the post-war British cars I come across in classic motorsport still have pos earth.

As for picking up a chassis earth rather than the neg battery post, well okay yes that's good practice but TBH I've never witnessed a battery exploding and I wonder who actually has (someone on here now, inevitably so I'll go back down my hole).

 

[rod_vw]

As for picking up a chassis earth rather than the neg battery post, well okay yes that's good practice but TBH I've never witnessed a battery exploding and I wonder who actually has (someone on here now, inevitably so I'll go back down my hole).

The reason for using a chassis / engine earth is so that the battery monitoring module which is normally part of the vehicle negative connection can record all of both charge and discharge current into and out of the battery, it is this monitor that controls the level of charge applied to the battery. Vehicles with 'Stop - Start' technology normally only charge the engine battery to about 80% of its capacity leaving headroom for regenerative braking. This one of the requirements for reducing pollution.

The possibility of exploding a battery is either by igniting the hydrogen gas given off when a battery is charged or by causing sudden very high currents being drawn. The former is less likely now that we have what are commonly known as 'sealed maintenance free' batteries.

I have a friend whose working life was in the motor trade, he had one explode and the whole battery top narrowly missed his face as it exited an engine bay. I myself have had one blow the end out and spill its acid down the floor of the car (the battery on this 'lived' under the rear seat).

The moral of this is never to be complacent with these items.

 

[m10chkcalifornia]

The reason for using a chassis / engine earth is so that the battery monitoring module which is normally part of the vehicle negative connection can record all of both charge and discharge current into and out of the battery, it is this monitor that controls the level of charge applied to the battery. Vehicles with 'Stop - Start' technology normally only charge the engine battery to about 80% of its capacity leaving headroom for regenerative braking. This one of the requirements for reducing pollution.

The possibility of exploding a battery is either by igniting the hydrogen gas given off when a battery is charged or by causing sudden very high currents being drawn. The former is less likely now that we have what are commonly known as 'sealed maintenance free' batteries.

I have a friend whose working life was in the motor trade, he had one explode and the whole battery top narrowly missed his face as it exited an engine bay. I myself have had one blow the end out and spill its acid down the floor of the car (the battery on this 'lived' under the rear seat).

The moral of this is never to be complacent with these items.

Thanks. Very informative (again!). I had been told that connecting to battery -ve might harm the battery monitor. But it is more a case of upsetting the calibration of the system? Anyway - useful to know and further evidence of how useful this forum can be

 

[Kev56]

The reason for using a chassis / engine earth is so that the battery monitoring module which is normally part of the vehicle negative connection can record all of both charge and discharge current into and out of the battery, it is this monitor that controls the level of charge applied to the battery. Vehicles with 'Stop - Start' technology normally only charge the engine battery to about 80% of its capacity leaving headroom for regenerative braking. This one of the requirements for reducing pollution.

The possibility of exploding a battery is either by igniting the hydrogen gas given off when a battery is charged or by causing sudden very high currents being drawn. The former is less likely now that we have what are commonly known as 'sealed maintenance free' batteries.

I have a friend whose working life was in the motor trade, he had one explode and the whole battery top narrowly missed his face as it exited an engine bay. I myself have had one blow the end out and spill its acid down the floor of the car (the battery on this 'lived' under the rear seat).

The moral of this is never to be complacent with these items.

Not a battery explosion as such, but a long while ago my uncle put a battery into his classic pride and joy 'Ford Zodiac' Brought the bonnet down and a massive flash and bang as the battery was to tall and shorted out across the bonnet. Quite heavy gauge steel back then.

 

[Fish111111111.]

Maybe we are all missing the point, before doing something read the manual !
Secondly brave of dessyparkerwigwam to own up to this mistake, and remember we are all on here for help and lets not be to sensitive detracting from the original issue. just saying.

 

[silversurfer]

experienced ? refuse to jump start to/from any of my vehicles. !!

Yup, that's me. The penalty for putting a surge or likewise through your electrics is just too great, and I have seen it go wrong (obviously not by me, an experienced DIYer). I've now bought one of these lightweight jump starting modules in case anyone needs help. That only costs £50, so it can blow up all it likes.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

As an utter novice and the risk of sounding really thick, can these modern portable emergency charging packs not detect if they've been attached to the correct terminals before dispensing the power. Particularly with all the battery technology there is today?

 

[lohr500]

As an utter novice and the risk of sounding really thick, can these modern portable emergency charging packs not detect if they've been attached to the correct terminals before dispensing the power. Particularly with all the battery technology there is today?

My Noco boost charger certainly can, unless you hold down the override button which bypasses all the built in protection systems!!!

The only time I have used that option was on a totally flat battery where the Noco wouldn't allow the automated sequence to initiate.

It then managed to start a completely dead Land rover Discovery TD5 with no drama.

 

[DessyParkerWigWam]

This. One of my best buys was NOCO Boost X GBX155 4250A 12V UltraSafe Portable Lithium Jump Starter. Will start any truck, no problem with pos/neg issues and a massive back up source , bit expensive but paid for itself on a couple of occasions.

Cheers - I’m going to get one for sure

 

[BikerGran]

Oh behave you snowflake! Where’s your sense of humour?

Your sense of humour if that's what you call it tends to be fairly regularly out of synch with most people's.

 

[BikerGran]

I didn't see it happen, but my daughter had a battery explode on her motorcycle - fortunately when she wasn't on it! It resulted from fitting an aftermarket regulator, which turned out to be a known problem with Hondas at that time.
A good lesson on why it's better to pay an expert when you're dealing with things that can be dangerous, like electricity.