Battery charging

ankspon

What is the correct order for charging a car battery with jump leads,is it positive to dead battery and pos to good battery,negative to good battery and neg to a bolt or similar on flat car.Then when charged remove in reverse order.I ask this because i have looked at various sites and the AA gives a different order to the rest.

scotsbob

Red lead to dead battery then to good battery
Black lead to good battery and metal of car with flat

Remove black from car with flat battery then from good battery
Remove red from good battery and then finally remove the other end.

john432

Why is it recommended to connect to the "metal on the car" and not just to the actual negative terminal?

wealdroam

john432 wrote: »

Why is it recommended to connect to the "metal on the car" and not just to the actual negative terminal?

To avoid any sparking near the battery when making the connection.

forgotmyname

The battery may gas where flammable gas escapes from the vents. Not where you want a spark from connecting and disconnecting the leads.

colino

Ideally you will connect the jump lead first to the good cars positive terminal, connect the other end to the dead cars +ve and then connect the negative of the good car and then the other end to a lump of engine block near the starter of the dead car. Its good practice to do it this way (-ve on last, off first) to prevent sparking and by not connecting to the dead battery, your helping start the car by bypassing that amp hungry deadweight.

Strider590

ankspon wrote: »

What is the correct order for charging a car battery with jump leads,is it positive to dead battery and pos to good battery,negative to good battery and neg to a bolt or similar on flat car.Then when charged remove in reverse order.I ask this because i have looked at various sites and the AA gives a different order to the rest.

If the battery is old, just replace it....... A face full of battery acid isn't going to be ANY good for your complexion.
Jump starting is dangerous, accidents are rare, but car batteries are not things to be messed about with lightly.

ankspon

The battery is about a year old,the owner lives abroad and visits to see his daughter every month so the car is hardly used.My wife turns the car over weekly but it has still gone flat.

maninthestreet

Check the respective handbooks for the car with the dead battery and the car with the good battery to ensure that they can both be used in a jump-start procedure.

ankspon

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/breakdown_advice/using-jumpleads.html.
This is what i found and why i asked as there is conflicting info on various sites.

espresso

ankspon wrote: »

The battery is about a year old,the owner lives abroad and visits to see his daughter every month so the car is hardly used.My wife turns the car over weekly but it has still gone flat.

Not surprised it goes flat if she "turns the car over weekly" but doesn't actually drive it. She is discharging the battery every week and not putting anything back!

Your thread title "Battery Charging" is what you should be doing with a car that is little used. You need a small trickle charger that can be left on 24/7 to keep the battery fully charged. This is what many classic car/bike owners do and they are regularly sold at Aldi and Lidl for a few pounds.