Battery Info

[LouNY]

For the last 20 years it's been hard to buy good jumper cables, most of them are only #10 wire and some even smaller with lots of plastic coating on them.
#4 welding cable makes a good jumper cable.

 

[airbiscuit]

Not to hijack this thread, but this has me thinking about buying a new battery charger (and potentially spending Eddie's money). I want

Automatic (no overcharging)
Car Starting ability
Multiple amperage modes
Reasonably priced

Considering this one

Amazon.com

 

[ultrarunner]

My go-to jumper cables came from a tow truck supply in 1985 and I have both versions... one that has clamps on both ends and one that plugs into a receptacle in the grill of my service truck.

My brother was having trouble using his jumper cables and he told me the cable got really hot... Nice thick insulation on 10 gauge wire...

He was going to toss it but I said it could still work if you connected two batteries with one vehicle running for a few minutes before trying to start the other one..

The worst ones I have seen were aluminum in a road safety kit...

 

[airbiscuit]

When I was a teenager, a friends car needed a jump, but all any of us had were cheap jumper cables. connected a set, and no bueno. Connected two sets, and success!

 

[ultrarunner]

When I was a teenager, a friends car needed a jump, but all any of us had were cheap jumper cables. connected a set, and no bueno. Connected two sets, and success!

In high school it seemed several had marginal batteries...

Sometimes creativity is needed and I found a short length of barbed wire along the road but only enough for one connection so pressed the vehicle chrome bumpers together for the negative and it worked...

I had a VW bug for a short time and got real good at solo push starting and jumping in when I couldn't find a strategic incline to park...

 

[EddieWalker]

Not to hijack this thread, but this has me thinking about buying a new battery charger (and potentially spending Eddie's money). I want

Automatic (no overcharging)
Car Starting ability
Multiple amperage modes
Reasonably priced

Considering this one

View attachment 2095191

Amazon.com

This is what I have in my cart, but I haven't committed to buying it yet. I'll probably wait until I have all my taxes paid, and then make my final decision.

Amazon.com

 

[EddieWalker]

On the battery charger. How many amps is ideal for jump starting a dead battery? The link I just posted to on Amazon is rated for 200 amps. There are others on Amazon rated for 250. Is more better?

 

[airbiscuit]

My current battery charger has a 75 amp starter mode, and that generally works.

 

[EddieWalker]

The old one I'm using has 50 amps, and it's borderline. 200 amps would be a huge improvement, but am I going too far?

 

[ultrarunner]

When you jump from a good battery you might have 800 amps of boost or more if engine running.

Some of the jump packs provide phenomenal amps for the size.