Bangkok--25 Jun--Verve
For motorists, safety is undeniably a top issue which covers not only on-road situations. Many other unexpected circumstances may also bring drivers into difficulties which can turn into danger, for instance, when their car battery goes dead and they can’t get their car started, especially when the car is parked in a place or the engine stops at a time that is not very safe. To get out of this kind of situation, a method called ‘jump starting’ is used to provide the initial charge required to start the engine.
Mr. Prakasit Phornprapha, Director of Siam GS Battery Co., Ltd. and Siam GS Sales Co., Ltd., the manufacturer and distributor of GS Battery for automobiles, said the problem of dead battery can result from a variety of problems, such as disconnected alternator power, dried-up distilled water, expired battery, or simply discharged battery. A makeshift solution, jump starting the vehicle with use of jumper cables can give the battery the initial charge to start the engine and let you drive to a garage for battery replacement and necessary checkup by a technician.
“Jump starting can be done yourself, but with some precautions. Automobile battery contains acidic liquid that is corrosive. In addition, operation of automobile battery produces hydrogen within battery cells and any spark while jump starting can cause explosion,” he explained.
Jump Starting a Car
- If the battery of your car goes dead, switch off the car’s electrical system and seek help from another motorist in order to have a car with good battery to provide a jump start to yours.
- Attach one end of the positive (red) cable to the positive (+) terminal of your car’s dead battery, then attach the other end of this cable to the positive (+) terminal of the good battery in the car that will provide the jump start.
- Attach one end of the negative (green or black) cable to the negative (-) terminal of the good battery. Make sure all the jaws are firmly in place.
- Attach the other end of the negative cable to unpainted metal surface on either engine block or body of the car with the dead battery. Look for a spot that is furthest from the battery. Start the car with the good battery, let it run for a few minutes and possibly accelerate the engine a little to charge the dead battery.
- Start the car with the dead battery and accelerate the engine to 1,500 — 2,000 round per minute to check whether the battery is being recharged. If the engine doesn’t stop, the process to restore charge to the battery is successful.
- Remove the cable connections in reverse order that you put them on, which means starting with the jaw on engine block or body of the car with dead battery, then the connection on negative terminal of the good battery, the one on positive terminal of the good battery, and lastly the one on positive terminal of the dead battery.
- Close back all the caps for addition of distilled water. Either keep the engine running for about 30 minutes or drive to a service center for engine checkup and battery replacement.
Safety Precautions When Jump Starting a Car
- Do not start the engine while connecting the cables.
- Do not smoke or create any spark near the battery while jump starting a vehicle and be careful about contact between each cable, which can also cause sparks.
- To remove lead sulfate that accumulates on the terminals of car battery, pour hot water on both the positive and negative terminals.
- Before jump starting a car, make sure that the batteries in both cars are the same voltage. A 6-volt or 24-volt battery cannot be used to jump start a car with 12-volt battery; doing so may cause explosion.
- Check your car battery regularly by looking at the built-in hydrometer that tells the state of charge in colors: green when the battery is fully charged, brown or black when it is discharged, and yellow when the battery has expired.
For further information, please contact Verve:
Prasit Kritsadaariyachon (Bob), Tel: 0-2204-8216
Pannarai Thaweechotkitcharoen (Ar), Tel: 0-2204-8212