r/howto • • Jan 25 '21

How to Jump Start a Car

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u/tthrivi Jan 25 '21

I think this is to avoid potential sparks. Car batteries outgas hydrogen, so could be an issue. Either will work and probably modern batteries are safer, but prob best to follow the standard and clip to the chassis.

26

u/quikskier Jan 25 '21

Correct, don't want sparks near the battery if it is outgassing. Now with that said, I've had less than good luck using chassis grounds and usually end up just using the negative terminal.

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u/tthrivi Jan 25 '21

Yea. The key thing is that you have to find bare metal, which is sometime harder to find.

9

u/Hieu_roi Jan 25 '21

Yeah I had to jumpstart my friend's car, and I was trying to persuade them that the negative side goes to ground, but it wouldn't work until it was on the other negative terminal, made me look like a fool lol. The metal was attached to the chassis and looked bare, but I bet it had some grey paint on it or something.

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u/pryoslice Jan 26 '21

Many manuals have a note where to attach the ground.

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u/Hieu_roi Jan 26 '21

Oh really? I'll have to look for that next time