Anyone know a good source for jumping a car battery in the villages?
 

Good afternoon,

Can anyone suggest a good source for getting a car battery jumped?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Lou

Since the only thing I know about a car is where the gas tank is, I would call AAA. Or another road service company that may be covered with your car insurance.

Mighty Jump by Viatek
 

We carry a Mighty Jump by Viatek in our car under the passenger seat to use if we ever need to. It was the best $24 insurance and even with our roadside service. Here is the link if you want to look at it.

Mighty Jump Emergency Jump-Starter

Saves having to have another car or a service call. It will not work on a defective battery, but will provide a jump for a dead one.


LW888

Maybe the guy across the street..................

How about a jump from your gas golf cart's battery?

You can buy a battery charger for around $35 at Wally World.


.

I carry a high quality set of jumper cables but my first choice would be AAA.

Don't know if AAA jumps or not but I can sure put in a good word for their service in replacing a bad battery. When someone on TOTV reminded me about this service, I called, they sent someone out within a few hours and he installed a new battery for $125 with a three year warranty!

Do NOT use jumper cables under any circumstance on today's modern cars. They are mostly computers with a bus system some plastic and sheet metal and tires. You risk far more damage and danger than I could write in this post.

A battery jump pack is THE safest bet in the hands of someone who is car smart.

Your cars alternator is NOT a battery charger. It is a maintainer for a fully charged battery. So if the battery is not properly recharged after a jump start then you run the risk of overheating and burning out your Alternator.

Lets see , With Mr. Friendly jump man I have seen. The Battery blown up, Electrical circuits fried from crossed polarity. Damage to computer modules. Even seen airbags deployed from jump starting.

But I'm sure someone will jump in here with " I never had a problem" :shrug:
And they usually drive a pre 81 vehicle.

AAA is a good value for these situitions.:popcorn:

AAA does jump start cars and will check also check out your battery. In my case, the car would not start after the jump, so they left to car running so I could take it down to Hilton Auto for a full checkout.

Like CarGuys said with the new technologies I would preder AAA with their knowledge and experience instead of employing my driveway technology and end up having to buya new comupter for the car and all of the other devices I would probably blow out.

Z

Ditto these comments.

Last time I jumped a friends car (in 2001), my car wouldn't charge my battery the next morning costing me $300 for a new alternator. Too many expensive computers to risk by jumping a newer car. Get someone that knows what they are doing and charge the battery (or replace the battery if it's older that 3 years old).

I have never had a problem .... <just kidding> :1rotfl:

Actually, I have never heard this and likely never would unless reading this forum. In fact I recently jumped my 2001 Altima as I would any car. Thanks for the insight, I will have to do some reading on the subject.

Why
 

The battery is your vehicles only electrical surge protection/shock absorber. When severely depleted the acid is in the plates and you have nothing but water in solution. Hence the term sulfation for batteries stored to long.

If you jump a vehicle with a depleted battery the excessive current can travel into any circuit that is now open. Pressure moves from high to low. So lets say the dead car has a battery with 2 volts left in it. The Key is left on, The door is open and the good neighbor say's , " OK Hit it" You just forecd his ALternator to full field and produce it's max volts and Amps. That car does not know its being used as a donnor jumper. So 100 amps and 15 volts travels to any darn path it can go in the dead vehicle.

KaaaaaaaaaaaBam. Because electricity travels the speed of sound. FAST. In a nano second damage can occur.

Now with a cart or lawn mower or old school classic equipment no big deal. They have mechanical switches and components that can take a surge a spike or ac current. volate spike. Heck wait till these new fuel injected Carts with computers get jimped and tampered with!

Today cars are all inputs modules and processors. Most people do not know that the gear selector is a computer module that collects and sends data to the main processor. You push lets say the Air Conditioner button and really your just sending a input to a computer asking for AC. The vehicle will tell you if you get it or not. All enabeling conditions must be met.

Bottom line a dead battery should be brought up to at least 11 volts before trying to crank over a engine or run electrical componts. It's best practice to use a jump pack not cables from another vehicle.

Now I'm really going to rock some minds here in TV. That Wally World battery charger and even some large chargers in shops from the 70's - 90's can send out damaging AC current. So while they are charging your car they are playing dangerous with computer modules. A computer hates AC current. Don't believe me go turn on your charger and set your DVOM to AC current. Anything over half a volt is not good.

Had a friend with a $$$ New Range Rover. Battery went dead at school. Good old Bob the building trades teachers said. " I'll help you man. That idiot Herv is just a tech guy as I wanted the car pushed in the shop and battery put on my safe charger.

He jumped it with his pickup truck. Then it got towed to Land Rover to have a new computer installed. Thousand dollars plus later ole Herv was right.

Ignorance can be fixed with education but stupidity takes great salesmanship.

And you wanna know why I love this guy. Any one concerned about a battery going dead over time should invest in a product called a "Battery Tender" it will maintain any battery indefinately

Battery Tender Parts and Accessories - SummitRacing.com

Amazon.com: Automotive Jump Starters

Unless you left your lights on or you are stranded in the middle of no where, remove the battery and have it tested. I buy batteries at Sears who will test them for free and prorate the cost of a new battery if the old one fails before the end of the advertised life span.

I checked the Owner's Manual of my 2010 vehicle. Not only did it not warn against jump starting, it explained exactly how to do it properly. The same instructions came with my jump cables.
I also researched this subject on the internet. I did not find anything but instructions on how to do it.

In the hands of a qualified person. Most at the time of no start panic and do not follow directions. You might and then you might just cross the terminals or touch cables together and short out the donors car.

OK this may sound harsh but you thrw out the glove. So here goes.

My information comes from direct factor data and training not a owners manual. The for your eyes only certified technician stuff. Go to school pay for the service take the national exams you get the good material.

Factor trainers for Ford BMW Chrysler GM and Toyota have all warned us. Heck even car salesman are taught how to use a battery jump pack.

37 years of teaching Automotive, Co - Hosting a Radio Talk Show. Co- owner of ATCS consulting service. ASE Master certified, L1 certified has let me be mentored by trainers who say NOOOOOOOOO bad habit old school jump starting cars period. Can it be done yes. Is it best practice no. Does your car company care if you cross the cables and let them repair you car. NO!

Heck most people can't even find the battery any more. It's hidden on many cars. And cables! Unless you can substitute them for bar bells and do bicep curls from the heavy copper weight they are no good. Those whimsy aluminum Jumpers cannot carry the current.

They get so hot the burn your hands.

So unless were talking apples to apples it's still best practice to use a jump pack and not risk your car the one jumping starting you and the risk of damaging both vehicles electrical systems.

Wanna jump start my Toyota Prius! 500 volts if you hit the wrong terminals! That will fry you in second. We train on how to drag a dead smoldering body away from the vehicle with a long wooded staff and lineman's gloves.

If your a tech were done with this discussion. This advise is for those not in the " Repair Business ". A dead battery CANNOT BE TOTALLY recharged by a vehicles Alternator. A Alternator is a battery maintainer not a battery charger.

You get jumped and take off with a near dead battery you can cause failure of the Alternator. Today's cars are running electrical fuel pumps injectors and other loads that require a battery to act as the reserve capacitor. At a light your car is not charging. The battery is keeping the car alive.

Just like spare tires that are going away. The old procedure of Jump starting a car is being discussed as a outdated task and may soon be out of a owners manual.

Thanks for your point of view.

"Battery Jump Pack = Mighty Jump"??
 

CarGuys - thanks for all the good info - i always thought jumper cables were safe if you used them correctly, but you have convinced me otherwise. Sooo, if i don't want to rely on AAA and want to use a "Battery Jump Pack" as you suggested, is that "Mighty Jump" referred to in reply #3 on this thread what you are talking about? Thanks!

Jump packs are available in parts stores, some AAA do carry them and of course on-line. They are also refered to as emeregency jump start packs.

The nice thing about them is many have emergency lights on them and a electrical plug outlet for a phone charger or what ever.

Storm comes and Power goes off you can run a 12 volt light or use it to recharge a cell. Stranded in your car you have back up power.

They can be recharged in the car through a power outlet or at home plugged in to an electrical outlet.

If you need to start a car or cart or lawn tractor they carry to the dead vehicle. No running cords or trying to manuver a jump vehicle. They also provide a in parallel support battery if the other is so dead it cannot run the car.

You still must follow the same safety rules and hook up procedures as in the owners manual. Always make and break the jump pack with the negative cable as the last hooked and first released. Many make and break on the positive and that can cause voltage spikes that can set off a air bag.

How long do they hold their charge when kept in the car in Florida heat?

Battery jump packs hold their charge pretty darn well. Another option is Emergency starter batteries. These are a sealed system that will sit in your trunk for up to 10 years. When the car is dead a adapter allows the unit to be hooked up to the power outlet in the car.

I just heard about this today. A caller on my radio show told me about it. Will have to research that. Makes sense and is more compact and less weight that a jump pack. A one time use item. Jump Packs last much longer.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Auto-Emergency-Jump-Start-Battery/dp/B000TN2BFA]Amazon.com: Auto Emergency Jump Start Battery, Start Me Up 2: Automotive[/ame]

AAA Jump
 

several days last spring our 08 expedition didn't get driven as we packed it for our trip north. Power lift gate multiple uses apparently ran battery down. The morning we were leaving would not start. Called AAA got it jumped and the guy said it tested bad and we would never make it home. He tried to sell us a new battery he had with him at a price that was inflated. We decided to wait and get a new one at Sams Club if needed. Almost four months and 5,000 miles later just had the battery tested and it is still good.

I think you should call AAA and tell them about the company and what happened. I have never had anyone they sent try to sell me something!