Jumper cables?

[Neil]

No show for Chuck this evening   Bloody unreliable that bloke

[Sazabi]

No show for Chuck this evening   Bloody unreliable that bloke

   Didn't you know?  He was kicking some stereotypical 80's city badguy tonight.

[Mike]

Now, get yourself something to put them in so they don't get damaged while riding around in your trunk. Plastic bucket, carrying case ..... something. Then Toss in some gloves, a flashlight and you'll be in good shape should the need arise. Now, this is important. Read the instructions so you know how to properly hook them up and disconnect them.

1) red (+) to dead battery
2) red (+) to live battery
3) black (-) to live battery
4) black (-) to dead cars engine block, or bolt or bracket
5) Before starting dead car, make sure the cables will not get caught up in the belts, fan or other moving parts.
6) Let idling car sit connected to dead car for a couple minutes before trying to start dead car.
7) Try starting dead car.
8  After dead car starts, remove cables in reverse order that they were connected in.

But don't trust me, read the instructions.


Mike

[jzmtl]

What do you need cable that thick for, jump a tank?

[50ft-trad]

What do you need cable that thick for, jump a tank?

You can't have jump leads that are too heavy 

My car's only a 2 litre petrol engine, but I've jump started boats up to 65ft, 3.5 litre diesel engined cars and a 10 tonne diesel forklift with my jump leads 

Jump leads are great! Bump starting boats and 10 tonne forklifts isn't easy 

[Carlos]

I've a set of jumper cables which have cost at the time about 25 eur. I think the price is still the same today, give it or take. These have 3 meters long with 16mm² of cable copper section (thats 9,8 feet and somewhere between 5 to 6 gauge). 

Now, get yourself something to put them in so they don't get damaged while riding around in your trunk. Plastic bucket, carrying case ..... something. Then Toss in some gloves, a flashlight and you'll be in good shape should the need arise. Now, this is important. Read the instructions so you know how to properly hook them up and disconnect them.

1) red (+) to dead battery
2) red (+) to live battery
3) black (-) to live battery
4) black (-) to dead cars engine block, or bolt or bracket
5) Before starting dead car, make sure the cables will not get caught up in the belts, fan or other moving parts.
6) Let idling car sit connected to dead car for a couple minutes before trying to start dead car.
7) Try starting dead car.
8  After dead car starts, remove cables in reverse order that they were connected in.

But don't trust me, read the instructions.


Mike

That's exactly as described in the instructions, I've just checked.

[Sazabi]

Now, get yourself something to put them in so they don't get damaged while riding around in your trunk. Plastic bucket, carrying case ..... something. Then Toss in some gloves, a flashlight and you'll be in good shape should the need arise. Now, this is important. Read the instructions so you know how to properly hook them up and disconnect them.

1) red (+) to dead battery
2) red (+) to live battery
3) black (-) to live battery
4) black (-) to dead cars engine block, or bolt or bracket
5) Before starting dead car, make sure the cables will not get caught up in the belts, fan or other moving parts.
6) Let idling car sit connected to dead car for a couple minutes before trying to start dead car.
7) Try starting dead car.
8  After dead car starts, remove cables in reverse order that they were connected in.

But don't trust me, read the instructions.


Mike

That sounds correct; it roughly matches the instructions on the reverse of the box.  I'm thinking about getting a bag to put the cables in, but for now, I'm just going to keep them in the box.  I went with longer, thicker cables because I've had experience where a ten foot cable wasn't quite long enough; when the battery is on one side of the engine, and the nearest available car can only pull up so far, the extra footage is worth the cost.

As for the gauge of the cable, the research I found suggested getting the thickest gauge, longest all-copper cable jumper cables that doesn't break the bank.