portable battery jump starter

[chadchurchill]

I recently purchased one of those portable battery jump starters for use in my car and boat just in case I get stuck with a dead battery. The instructions say to connect the red lead to the battery's positive post and the black lead to a good ground, but not to the batteries negative post. On my car that's no problem since there are plenty of places under the hood to ground, but on my boat the battery is in the center console and the only place to atach the black lead that is grounded is the negative post. What is the reasoning behind them stating not to attach it to the negative post and what are the dangers of doing so?

 

[mikecjn]

Re: portable battery jump starter

The reason I was always told not to hook it directly to the battery post was because of the chance of a spark igniting the gases coming from the battery. <br />If you have no choice I would just try to make sure you had plenty of ventilation at the battery prior to hooking up the booster cables.

 

[wezie]

Re: portable battery jump starter

If you got one with a switch, the clamp connections will not be hot when you connect them. That is one value of the better chargers.<br />And Mike is very correct.

 

[chadchurchill]

Re: portable battery jump starter

Thanks for the response. The one I bought does have the switch and I'll just make sure that I leave the door to the console open for a while before I jump start it. My battery hasn't died on me yet, but thought it would be a good idea to bring along just in case.

 

[dakotashooter2]

Re: portable battery jump starter

Another option is to connect the boat battery first then your boosting source. That way there should not be any sparks on your boat battery to worry about. Make sure to disconnect the same way.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: portable battery jump starter

Yeah, you shouldn't have to worry if there is a switch. No chance of sparks as long as it is off.

 

[tprice]

Re: portable battery jump starter

I bought one in a water tight case at W Marine and it has an on/off switch. I just connect it with the switch off and then turn it on and it works great.