# Jumper Cables **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858 "2004-05-30T23:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mithgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mithgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithgard)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/1 "2004-05-30T23:49:40Z")
I have never had to use them yet, but is there an easy way to remember which end the red and which end the black cable goes to to jump start a car?? Tanks -Mith ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/2 "2004-05-30T23:54:13Z")
It doesn’t really matter, as long as they are hooked up the same way: positive to positive and ground to ground. Generally though red is considered positive and black ground. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/3 "2004-05-30T23:54:21Z")
> [@Mithgard](#): > > I have never had to use them yet, but is there an easy way to remember which end the red and which end the black cable goes to to jump start a car?? > Tanks > > -Mith Generally, the cables to the battery are also color coded. Plus, my cables have a semi-permanent instruction sheet attatched to them which is helpful because I can never remember which one to ground. ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/4 "2004-05-30T23:54:51Z")
Red is positive and black is negative, but it really doesn’t matter since the cables don’t care which way you hook them up. ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/5 "2004-05-30T23:55:54Z")
Dang, a triple simulpost. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/6 "2004-05-30T23:56:57Z")
Just be sure to connect the negative cable to a grounded metal part of the dead car and not the battery. You _could_ damage the dead battery. And yourself. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/7 "2004-05-30T23:57:03Z")
It’s also best to hook up the positive first, then the ground to somewhere on the engine, so that any sparks occur away from the potentially explosive battery. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/8 "2004-05-30T23:58:10Z")
We are just full of battery cable advice! ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/9 "2004-05-31T00:02:21Z")
Also, don’t buy the cheapest set you can get. I’ve seen these things actually melt and melt the plastic headlight on a car. ---
**Author:** ![Mithgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mithgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithgard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/10 "2004-05-31T00:13:22Z")
hahah ok, dont buy cheap ones, and basically connect red first, then the black to ‘dead meta’ part of the car??? Am i understanding this correct? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/11 "2004-05-31T00:17:46Z")
To easy for a novice to burn something out. And then at times it’s hard to find someone to jump you. Get an emergency jumpstart system such as this. And it only costs a bit more than a good set of jumper cables. [http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dotcoms/co3in1emjusy.html](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dotcoms/co3in1emjusy.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mithgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mithgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithgard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/12 "2004-05-31T00:34:13Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > To easy for a novice to burn something out. And then at times it’s hard to find someone to jump you. > > Get an emergency jumpstart system such as this. And it only costs a bit more than a good set of jumper cables. > > [http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dotcoms/co3in1emjusy.html](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dotcoms/co3in1emjusy.html) hehehe…now why doesnt EVERYONE have one of those??? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/13 "2004-05-31T00:39:06Z")
OK, so after years of hearing ‘positive to positive, ground the other one’, I have decided that I can laugh in the face of death no more. For years, I have given others jumps by connecting positive to positive, and negative to negative. When I say I have done this a lot, I mean a LOT. I went to school on the cold, windswept wasteland that is known as the flatlands of Minnesota, in Morris. Nary a week went by during the winter time (AKA Mid September to mid May, or it seemed like it, anyway) that there wasn’t at least one below-zero morning when 95%+ of the cars would not start. So, I would go out and fire up the trusty '86 Toyota Corolla (GOD I miss that car), and spend an hour or two firing up other cars, who would then fire up others…I would send my minions to warm the frozen hearts of mine horde, and we would then wage battle on…the SuperValue!! Or Pamida!!! Ok, from out of the mists, and into the present. I’m with you on positive to positive, but next, are you supposed to hook the other clamp to the negative terminal of the live battery, and the other end to the car frame (to ground)? Or do both ends of the cable not attached to the positive terminals get attached to the car frames? I’m serious, I’ve given 100+ jumps over the years, and I worry that my number may be up soon, if I don’t repent and change my ways. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/14 "2004-05-31T00:45:26Z")
You know…I remember a time when you only needed one cable to jump start. You hooked positive to positive and touched the bumpers together. Boy am I old. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/15 "2004-05-31T00:57:10Z")
> [@Lambo](#): > > Ok, from out of the mists, and into the present. I’m with you on positive to positive, but next, are you supposed to hook the other clamp to the negative terminal of the live battery, and the other end to the car frame (to ground)? Or do both ends of the cable not attached to the positive terminals get attached to the car frames? I’m serious, I’ve given 100+ jumps over the years, and I worry that my number may be up soon, if I don’t repent and change my ways. The negative cable is hooked up to the negative terminal of the live car with the other end of it hooked up to some metal part under the car’s hood, away from the battery, such as the engine. This is assuming, of course, that the cars are grounded negatively, which, I think, is the case for all cars now. But not too long ago some cars were grounded positively, and you could not mix such cars when charging a battery. BTW, I too have hooked both negatives to the negative terminals when I could not get a good attachment to metal under the hood. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/16 "2004-05-31T01:17:01Z")
When you go to ground the cable to a metal part of the car MAKE SURE you’re clamping onto metal, not fiberglass or plastic. This used to be a lot easier when there was more metal in cars, but these days you have to be a little more observant. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/17 "2004-05-31T02:25:49Z")
Of course maintenance free batteries are sealed units, and don’t give off gasses, right? – that’s a question, because the answer helps or hinders what I’m going to say next: wouldn’t that obviate the need to remember to hook to a ground rather than the negative terminal on the dead car? My previous car never had the occassion to jump or be jumped – but there was no battery under the hood, so I guess it was a moo\* point. \*not a typo; just a _Friends_ ripoff. ---
**Author:** ![Mithgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mithgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithgard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/18 "2004-05-31T02:54:45Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Of course maintenance free batteries are sealed units, and don’t give off gasses, right? – that’s a question, because the answer helps or hinders what I’m going to say next: wouldn’t that obviate the need to remember to hook to a ground rather than the negative terminal on the dead car? > > My previous car never had the occassion to jump or be jumped – but there was no battery under the hood, so I guess it was a moo\* point. > > \*not a typo; just a _Friends_ ripoff. ahahhaha…a moo point “is anyone else scared that it kinda makes sense?” hahahaha…great line =) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/19 "2004-05-31T03:33:53Z")
It’s really very simple: When hooking up the cables, make the _last_ connection a _chassis_ connection. (This, of course, is negative.) When removing the cables, remove the chassis connection _first_. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858/20 "2004-05-31T04:15:57Z")
And for goodness sake get some good thick cables. Most of the ones I see are good for a subcompact only. With a solid thick set of cables you can jump a big ass truck with a tiny car. With a thin set it can often be difficult to get enough juice through. The difference is immediately obvious. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumper-cables/247858.md?page=2)