Just wanted to remind everybody to get a set of high quality jumper cables. There's been a proliferation of cheap jumper cables and they really are worse than having no cable at all because they give a false sense of security.

Every car I own has a set of 25' 4 gauge jumper cables in the trunk. Now these are pricey, but those $10 specials or the ones included in "emergency kits" are crap. They are either too small to carry enough current, have poor quality internal connections, or are too short.

With the recent "cold snap" in Houston killing worn batteries, I had to jump 3 friends' vehicles this week. Two of them had a set of crappy cables and the third didn't have cables at all. One person tried jumping his car using his crappy cables before I got there and it wouldn't go. He was about to call for a tow when I arrived with my good cables and got his car started right up.

Get long ones too because you know the one time your car dies is going to be when it is parked head in against a wall.

With my 25' 4 gauge cables, I could be considered a superhero with how many times I have helped out a friend or fellow motorist. People are willing to help you jump, but almost nobody carries cables.

Just a courtesy reminder.

 

great reminder, had to a do a jump once on a busy street and it wasnt working, turns out we had shitty cables and a passing by motorist saved the day. never again.

 

even better I carry a portable battery jumper. Don't need to worry about long cables and have helped more people than I can remember

 

I better get one, Honda batteries are shit.

 

I need to get one too.

 

+ 1

Good to know that the ones included in the emergency kit are crap.

 

There's two points of failure I've seen with the emergency kit ones.

Firstly, the connection between the clamps and the cable itself can be poorly made. This often also ends up being a point where the jumper cable is folded for compactness and I think this causes even more stress on a poorly soldered point.

Secondly, the emergency kit cables tend to be very small. Cables are made up of a bunch of very thin strands of copper wire. Especially in those emergency kits where the cable is folded in on itself multiple times, individual copper wires at the folds can break. Since the emergency kit cables are smaller gauge and have less excess capacity to begin with, they end up not being able to carry a sufficient load. Cables should always be coiled, not folded.

Jumper cables range from 10 gauge (the thinnest ones) to 1 gauge. I recommend getting at least 6 gauge. Something a lot of people don't know or don't realize is that larger cars draw more current to start. A 10 gauge jumper cable in the best shape would be able to supply enough power to start a Honda Fit, but it would be hard pressed to start a Ford Expedition or even a TL.




Never used one of these. Good to hear they work though. I'm just a simple technology person I guess.

 

You might as well use speaker wire if you're going to use the ones in the kits. The gauge of wire is way to small. I have a long and thick set that i use occassionally.

A couple years ago i purchased a set of michelin blue ones where it doesn't matter which clamp goes on what terminal. My wife's 4runner had a completely dead battery and it was parked in the garage. I instructed her on how to use the michelin ones but her battery was too drained for it to work.

The box in the middle only had one green light on the car with juice and the other side didn't.

Then i had her use the good ones and she didn't have any problems.

Before she hooked up the ground on the dead car, i warned her that it will really spark when connecting it to a good ground. It did, and i am very sure she was thankful that i warned her about it.

 

Anyone have a link to a quality set they are happy with?

 

i need to pick up another one...

 

I have one that is 0 gauge! Is that an overkill then since you guys are recommending 4-6 gauges?

 

This is what I have:


You can get shorter runs to lower the price.


These look like they have good reviews but I don't have any personal experience:





Since you already got em, I see no reason to get a smaller set.

 

This is the way to go, mine has a light and a small air pump too.

 

Have a pair in the trunk that's outlasted three cars... Works fantastic to this day, but probably should be replaced.

 

I have good cables and I've always have a portable Battery Booster which has come in handy many times.

 

remember, the longer the cables are, the thicker the cable needs to be. It loses power the onger it is.

 

Shit this reminds me I left my cables in my last car when I sold it and never replaced them. They were really good thick cables too.

 

i have a set of pretty damn heavy ones that i keep in my trunk. i've jumped the car several times ( 2010 TSX battery BLOWS). sister called me last week stuck in NYC streets with my car. told her there were cables in the trunk, and i'd tell her how to do it, but she needed to find another car lmao. she nearly cried. car died while at a car wash once, and they had a battery, and connected it with one set of small cables. i laughed but said whatever. 5 min later, nada. the guys like its cool, i have another pair. HE DOUBLED UP THE CABLES. i almost flipped a shit. i've never seen it done and though it should be fine by my knowledge of physics, i didn't wanna experiment. it worked, but i almost pissed my pants thinking the car would blow up. i was like dude i have good cables, just stop. please.

 

Just need to remember to keep it charged lol.

 

+1

I've had mine for like 20 years now. Still in perfect condition too.

I think they're like 10 or 12 feet. And 4 gauge.

 

i have 3 sets of crappy cables. I've had to use all 3 sets at once to jump a car before, haha. Got them all pretty much for free. Maybe I should invest in a good set eventually, but at least the weather here shouldn't effect batteries too much, and I just bought a new nice battery.

 

Just make sure your cables are, first thick, second long. Thick and long don't forget it.

 

I'm bumping my old thread because Sears is selling a pretty good set of cables for cheap:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...=1225267&aff=Y

They are showing up at $15 for me with local pickup.

They're not as long as I like, and the cable is aluminum instead of copper. Copper cables can withstand more bending before they finally break. But for a set to leave in the trunk until you really need it, these cables look like a good buy.

 

I don't really want a huge set of cables taking up space in my trunk to be honest. Anytime I've ever needed a jump I've just called roadside and they are usually there within 30 minutes...

 

99% of the time it's the way people hook them up and not the cables themselves. I have used cheap ones for years and never had an issue jump starting a car. Most people think hooking up battery to battery is the proper way when it is not. That will not do the job. I can't count how many times I have had to fix someone trying to jump start a car and couldn't get it jump started because of them going battery to battery. Once I put the negative on the engine for ground it instantly started.

It should be battery on the good car, to Positive on the battery of the bad car, to the negative on an METAL PART on the engine itself somewhere for ground. This will start the car every time and is the proper way to jump start a car and not battery to battery which can also ruin your car.

 

if you get a booster pack to jump your car, how much amp should you look for? i'm seeing anywhere from 300 to 1700 amp booster packs

 

I have this one I got from Amazon. It recently got kidnapped by Swoosh, but it works fine and it was pretty inexpensive at the time I bought it ($40 IIRC). I'm sure he can chime in with his review of it.

 

Spare tire well FTW

Half an hour seems like a pretty long time to wait for a battery boost.

 

It's not like its something that should be happening all the time...

 

being able to help random stranded people on the road with dead batteries

 

With my old VWs I had an old set and a fire started using them. I have since a quality set.... even difficult to bend!

 

Sorry but I ain't jumping off anybody with my car....

 

Just had to jump my wife's Ody tonight with the cables I've had for 20 years.

How often to you have to top off a battery booster to be sure that it will be ready to go when needed?

 

Not very often, mine has a meter to tell you the battery life. Probably once a month would be sufficient.

 

I am all for having the portable battery, have had one in my car for the last 10 yrs; also has an air compressor and two AC plug outlets. Not very big at all, and much more useful than just a pair of cables, allows you to be self sufficient.

 

That's a pretty crappy attitude to have...

 

Maybe so but my owner's manual specifically states not to do it....

 

What kind do you have? Can you link to it on Amazon, I might want to get one soon. Thanks.

 

I had to jump a 2005 Durango with my Volvo XC90. Cables? Yep, nice 4 gauge set with a very good copper alligator end. Had to move it a bit to make good contact on the dead battery (very corroded).

One thing to also remind people is to check your battery connections. Ensuring they are tight, not rusted, and you have a very sturdy connection to the chassis. This solves a lot of problems in the cold weather months.