So I needed a jump this weekend, apparently the cold weather and the cars weak battery couldnt get the car to start after i left the radio playing for 30 mins. Anyway, i didn't know where to put the ground to since there was nothing on the engine block of our cars that allow something to clamp it... I didn't now at the time so i just put it on the neg terminal which i know now not to do cause it could've exploded. But wehre would you guys put the neg cable next time?

 

Pretty much any metal part of the engine that you can get a good bite on should do it. Of the course the end of the negative battery cable that's bolted to the engine is best, but with all the crap under the hood these days, it's often impossible to find it.

 

I usually just use the negative terminal anyway. A sealed battery doesn't vent much hydrogen (which is the concern here). Plus, hydrogen is the lightest most diffusible gas there is so if you're outside it's very, very unlikely that enough of it will collect anywhere to present a problem. As long as you hook up the dead car first and unhook it last you won't get any sparks anyway.

I have personally witnessed a motorcycle battery explode when being removed from the charger (the dumb ass didn't unplug the charger first) so I wouldn't suggest this method on a serviceable battery.