How to safely care for your battery
Automotive electrical systemsaren’t as complicated as they may seem.
Positive should be connected to positive, and negative should be connected to negative.
Connecting in the reverse order can damage both vehicles and create potentially hazardous sparks.
J. Ronald Lee / Moment / Getty Images
Connect one jumper cable to the positive (+) terminal of the donor battery.
Connect the same cable to the positive (+) terminal of the dead battery.
Connect the other jumper cable to the negative (-) terminal of the donor battery.
There are some exceptions where positive is ground, but in most automotive electrical systems, negative is ground.
Because you don’t want your battery to explode.
The presence of lead is the primary reason why car batteries have to be carefully and properly disposed of.
Small amounts ofhydrogen gasare produced during both the process of discharge and during charging, and hydrogen is flammable.
The first ignition source is a spark created when connecting or disconnecting a jumper or charging cable.
That, in turn, can ignite any hydrogen present in the cell, causing the battery to explode.
What About Sealed Car Batteries?
Sealed batteries that use a liquid electrolyte, however, can cause issues later in life.
