jumper cables smoked when tried jumpstarting (1 Viewer)

[swirvenirvin]

I had them hooked up correctly afterwords I noticed fuse box humming?

 

[Spike]

I know you said they were hooked up correctly but the ONLY times I have heard of them smoking is when they were not hooked up correctly.

 

[peaces]

so weird...I had a dream involving jumper cables last night.

 

[Courtjester]

I know you said they were hooked up correctly but the ONLY times I have heard of them smoking is when they were not hooked up correctly.

This....

I know because I did it one time.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Kind of a side question....do you guys ground one of the cables? I never do and am wondering if this is trouble waiting to happen.

 

[SWC]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

 

[playin4beer]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

SWC speaks the troof...

If you are sure they were hooked up correctly (red to red, black to black on BOTH sides) then you didn't have a good ground.

 

[kutta]

I know you said they were hooked up correctly but the ONLY times I have heard of them smoking is when they were not hooked up correctly.

This....I know because I did it one time.

Me too

 

[Mene]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

SWC speaks the troof...

If you are sure they were hooked up correctly (red to red, black to black on BOTH sides) then you didn't have a good ground.

You really should connect the black on the dead vehicle to an unpainted surface on the vehicle, as far from the battery as possible. A spark from the ground could ignite gasses from the dead battery.

 

[NCCommish]

I know you said they were hooked up correctly but the ONLY times I have heard of them smoking is when they were not hooked up correctly.

This....

I know because I did it one time.

Me too. Felt so stupid.

 

[culdeus]

In newer cars they usually put a scr circuit so even if you #### this up it won't kill you. That may be what you heard as it will make some noise when firing.

 

[glumpy]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

SWC speaks the troof...

If you are sure they were hooked up correctly (red to red, black to black on BOTH sides) then you didn't have a good ground.

You really should connect the black on the dead vehicle to an unpainted surface on the vehicle, as far from the battery as possible. A spark from the ground could ignite gasses from the dead battery.

This. I often ignore it myself but this is book.

 

[Fat Nick]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

SWC speaks the troof...

If you are sure they were hooked up correctly (red to red, black to black on BOTH sides) then you didn't have a good ground.

You really should connect the black on the dead vehicle to an unpainted surface on the vehicle, as far from the battery as possible. A spark from the ground could ignite gasses from the dead battery.

This. I often ignore it myself but this is book.

I'm not disputing that this is the age-old recommendation, but I've NEVER understood this because it's not like JUST the ground terminal sparks. The positive will spark too. It's a circuit. From a spark standpoint, there's really no difference between positive or negative.

I've always done + to +, - to - because I know the terminal metal is clean and will get me the best ground. By the book or not...

But to the OP's comment, it had to be hooked up backwards, OR a sign of another problem. What caused the battery to die in the first place? Maybe you have a computer going bad and it's causing battery drain. I'm taking my car into the shop Monday AM for this exact thing to have the computer re-flashed with updated software (known issue on my car) A weak ground wouldn't do anything except just not start. It's not going to cause issues other than just not working.

 

[Doug B]

Swirvenirvin, any chance the cables were too thin? A lot of el cheapo jumper cables are #10 wire, when at least #6 (or better, #4) wire is needed. Good, reliable jumper cables should feel heavy, and run about $70 and up.

 

[Doug B]

But to the OP's comment, it had to be hooked up backwards, OR a sign of another problem. What caused the battery to die in the first place? Maybe you have a computer going bad and it's causing battery drain. I'm taking my car into the shop Monday AM for this exact thing to have the computer re-flashed with updated software (known issue on my car) A weak ground wouldn't do anything except just not start. It's not going to cause issues other than just not working.

Yep. Something else that could cause smoking would be a short in the battery itself.

 

[Austin Tiger]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

SWC speaks the troof...

If you are sure they were hooked up correctly (red to red, black to black on BOTH sides) then you didn't have a good ground.

You really should connect the black on the dead vehicle to an unpainted surface on the vehicle, as far from the battery as possible. A spark from the ground could ignite gasses from the dead battery.

This. I often ignore it myself but this is book.

I'm not disputing that this is the age-old recommendation, but I've NEVER understood this because it's not like JUST the ground terminal sparks. The positive will spark too. It's a circuit. From a spark standpoint, there's really no difference between positive or negative.

I've always done + to +, - to - because I know the terminal metal is clean and will get me the best ground. By the book or not...

But to the OP's comment, it had to be hooked up backwards, OR a sign of another problem. What caused the battery to die in the first place? Maybe you have a computer going bad and it's causing battery drain. I'm taking my car into the shop Monday AM for this exact thing to have the computer re-flashed with updated software (known issue on my car) A weak ground wouldn't do anything except just not start. It's not going to cause issues other than just not working.

the positive won't spark if you connect the positive first then connect the negative to a ground (will spark)

 

[SWC]

brohans who knows maybe the guy was trying to jump an electric car i had to help a buddy get his going last week and it was one of these new things with a remote terminal for the battery i opened that sucker up and was like now what in the hell do we have here you could not even see the engine honestly just all plastic it made me want to puke ends up the gear shift just got knocked or something and the car did not think it was in park so i just moved that back and forth a couple times and bam fired right up but all the same cars have gone to hell if you ask me take that to the bank brohans

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Did you point out the No-Smoking sign that was posted?

 

[Mene]

brohan you did not have a good ground on one of them or you had them crossed my advice is to stick to another hobby like maybe model railroads take that to the bank brochacho

SWC speaks the troof...

If you are sure they were hooked up correctly (red to red, black to black on BOTH sides) then you didn't have a good ground.

You really should connect the black on the dead vehicle to an unpainted surface on the vehicle, as far from the battery as possible. A spark from the ground could ignite gasses from the dead battery.

This. I often ignore it myself but this is book.

I'm not disputing that this is the age-old recommendation, but I've NEVER understood this because it's not like JUST the ground terminal sparks. The positive will spark too. It's a circuit. From a spark standpoint, there's really no difference between positive or negative.

I've always done + to +, - to - because I know the terminal metal is clean and will get me the best ground. By the book or not...

But to the OP's comment, it had to be hooked up backwards, OR a sign of another problem. What caused the battery to die in the first place? Maybe you have a computer going bad and it's causing battery drain. I'm taking my car into the shop Monday AM for this exact thing to have the computer re-flashed with updated software (known issue on my car) A weak ground wouldn't do anything except just not start. It's not going to cause issues other than just not working.

the positive won't spark if you connect the positive first then connect the negative to a ground (will spark)

Exactly. If you go + to +, then live - to dead Ground, you shouldn't see spark on the + connections.

Chances are slim of the battery exploding, but I prefer not to be that slim chance guy. Sucks being the subject of those stories, especially when it can very easily be avoided, with no extra work.

 

[NCCommish]

brohans who knows maybe the guy was trying to jump an electric car i had to help a buddy get his going last week and it was one of these new things with a remote terminal for the battery i opened that sucker up and was like now what in the hell do we have here you could not even see the engine honestly just all plastic it made me want to puke ends up the gear shift just got knocked or something and the car did not think it was in park so i just moved that back and forth a couple times and bam fired right up but all the same cars have gone to hell if you ask me take that to the bank brohans

I prefer older cars myself.

 

[Fat Nick]

I'm not disputing that this is the age-old recommendation, but I've NEVER understood this because it's not like JUST the ground terminal sparks. The positive will spark too. It's a circuit. From a spark standpoint, there's really no difference between positive or negative.

I've always done + to +, - to - because I know the terminal metal is clean and will get me the best ground. By the book or not...

But to the OP's comment, it had to be hooked up backwards, OR a sign of another problem. What caused the battery to die in the first place? Maybe you have a computer going bad and it's causing battery drain. I'm taking my car into the shop Monday AM for this exact thing to have the computer re-flashed with updated software (known issue on my car) A weak ground wouldn't do anything except just not start. It's not going to cause issues other than just not working.

the positive won't spark if you connect the positive first then connect the negative to a ground (will spark)

Good point...order matters. I get that. I guess basically you're just allowing your last connection to be away from the battery.

 

[Joe Summer]

Kind of a side question....do you guys ground one of the cables? I never do and am wondering if this is trouble waiting to happen.

It's not a big deal on newer cars. But just remember "RED-RED-BLACK-GROUND" and you'll be fine.

 

[belljr]

I like hooking up to the good battery then touching the other ends together. Sparks are fun

 

[playin4beer]

I like hooking up to the good battery then touching the other ends together. Sparks are fun

That used to be how we tested batteries back in the old days

Batteries we were selling that were out of the vehicle.. hooked up a pair of cables and "swatted" the ends together a couple of times to test the spark..

The bigger the snap and spark, the more juice it had...

 

[DrJ]

brohans who knows maybe the guy was trying to jump an electric car i had to help a buddy get his going last week and it was one of these new things with a remote terminal for the battery i opened that sucker up and was like now what in the hell do we have here you could not even see the engine honestly just all plastic it made me want to puke ends up the gear shift just got knocked or something and the car did not think it was in park so i just moved that back and forth a couple times and bam fired right up but all the same cars have gone to hell if you ask me take that to the bank brohans

I prefer older cars myself.

Don't you guys care about the environment?

 

[SWC]

brohans who knows maybe the guy was trying to jump an electric car i had to help a buddy get his going last week and it was one of these new things with a remote terminal for the battery i opened that sucker up and was like now what in the hell do we have here you could not even see the engine honestly just all plastic it made me want to puke ends up the gear shift just got knocked or something and the car did not think it was in park so i just moved that back and forth a couple times and bam fired right up but all the same cars have gone to hell if you ask me take that to the bank brohans

I prefer older cars myself.

Don't you guys care about the environment?

hey political guy they could still build a car that does not have the engine buried under the cab and do all of the good stuff they do to reduce emisions the real question is why do you need such a big interior i guess you support people eating too much and being too big to fit in a real car so let me ask you dr the j is for junkfood why do you hate americans health bam that one did not turn out like you planned score one more for the old swcer take that to the bank brohans

 

[NCCommish]

brohans who knows maybe the guy was trying to jump an electric car i had to help a buddy get his going last week and it was one of these new things with a remote terminal for the battery i opened that sucker up and was like now what in the hell do we have here you could not even see the engine honestly just all plastic it made me want to puke ends up the gear shift just got knocked or something and the car did not think it was in park so i just moved that back and forth a couple times and bam fired right up but all the same cars have gone to hell if you ask me take that to the bank brohans

I prefer older cars myself.

Don't you guys care about the environment?

I have a preference. I think the Tesla is pretty cool tech and I wish them nothing but the best. But I would rather have this .

 

[belljr]

I like hooking up to the good battery then touching the other ends together. Sparks are fun

That used to be how we tested batteries back in the old days Batteries we were selling that were out of the vehicle.. hooked up a pair of cables and "swatted" the ends together a couple of times to test the spark..

The bigger the snap and spark, the more juice it had...

werd....or filling up a battery with water so it would hold its charge

 

[swirvenirvin]

Swirvenirvin, any chance the cables were too thin? A lot of el cheapo jumper cables are #10 wire, when at least #6 (or better, #4) wire is needed. Good, reliable jumper cables should feel heavy, and run about $70 and up.

that's what I thought so grabbed neighbors and did they same thing started smoking again

 

[Short Corner]

I know you said they were hooked up correctly but the ONLY times I have heard of them smoking is when they were not hooked up correctly.

This....

I know because I did it one time.

I know you said they were hooked up correctly but the ONLY times I have heard of them smoking is when they were not hooked up correctly.

This....

I know because I did it one time.

Ha! Was a valet in college and lit up a battery of a customer. Good times. Confusing as hell of you do any kind of bookkeeping. Had to jump our car a few weeks ago after a 12 hour flight and insisted that my wife double check.

 

[swirvenirvin]

Swirvenirvin, any chance the cables were too thin? A lot of el cheapo jumper cables are #10 wire, when at least #6 (or better, #4) wire is needed. Good, reliable jumper cables should feel heavy, and run about $70 and up.

that's what I thought so grabbed neighbors and did they same thing started smoking again

also both set of cables were fried afterwords

 

[Rustoleum]

Can you bypass the battery completely and try to start it by disconnecting the dead battery completely and connecting the jumper cables to the battery lead cables? Downside here is that if something is shorting somewhere else in the car you could fry a third set of cables or the battery in the "good" car -wouldn't that be awesome?)

Otherwise, if the battery is accessible and not one of those stupid designs where you have to pull a wheel off to get at it, just yank it and take it to Autozone to let them test it.

 

[swirvenirvin]

Can you bypass the battery completely and try to start it by disconnecting the dead battery completely and connecting the jumper cables to the battery lead cables? Downside here is that if something is shorting somewhere else in the car you could fry a third set of cables or the battery in the "good" car -wouldn't that be awesome?)

Otherwise, if the battery is accessible and not one of those stupid designs where you have to pull a wheel off to get at it, just yank it and take it to Autozone to let them test it.

yep will try that Bad part of this whole thing was we were leaving for a 12 hour trip to NC. So just left it and swapped out cars and luggage. Didnt have a ton of time to d1ck around and play with stuff. Will have time when we get back from our trip

 

[DrJ]

brohans who knows maybe the guy was trying to jump an electric car i had to help a buddy get his going last week and it was one of these new things with a remote terminal for the battery i opened that sucker up and was like now what in the hell do we have here you could not even see the engine honestly just all plastic it made me want to puke ends up the gear shift just got knocked or something and the car did not think it was in park so i just moved that back and forth a couple times and bam fired right up but all the same cars have gone to hell if you ask me take that to the bank brohans

I prefer older cars myself.

Don't you guys care about the environment?

I have a preference. I think the Tesla is pretty cool tech and I wish them nothing but the best. But I would rather have this .

Now that I have this Energi, my next car is slated to be a Tesla.

 

[Chaz McNulty]

On the car with the dead battery, you should check the wires that lead from the positive post and see if the sheething is scraped off anywhere and if it could possibly be touching ground somewhere in the car.

I would suggest the same for the cables, but if you have already used two sets than this would be a longshot.

When you first connected the cables did it spark immediately? You connected + to + and then connected - to -. When you connected the final - was there an immediate spark? Or did it start to smoke after a little while?

 

[Mr. Retukes]

Maybe your car is The Mask?

 

[swirvenirvin]

On the car with the dead battery, you should check the wires that lead from the positive post and see if the sheething is scraped off anywhere and if it could possibly be touching ground somewhere in the car.

I would suggest the same for the cables, but if you have already used two sets than this would be a longshot.

When you first connected the cables did it spark immediately? You connected + to + and then connected - to -. When you connected the final - was there an immediate spark? Or did it start to smoke after a little while?

immediate spark though nothing of it, got in good car to start, went behind bad car after hopped in bad car turned key and nothing hit out saw some smoke. Second time I didn't even attempt to start as I waited a few seconds and was already smoking

 

[swirvenirvin]

autozone guy said reverse polarity on the old battery