Never Used a Jumpstarter Need some Help Please

[AAXR8]

Hi guys, I Just bought a Jump Starter Pack or Booster Pack for my BA XR8.
And it says to put the Negative Clamp Not on the - Terminal off your Battery only the + Positive Terminal and the Negative in the Engine Bay or Not a Moving part of the engine! So I Just wanted to ask you guys the Best Place to put the Negative Clamp when Jump starting with the Jump Starter Pack!
Any Places that anyone use's In Particular in the Engine Bay on a BA XR8!
Its mot the small one like that Minimax it's the Big Bulky Pack!
I Thank You for any Advice in Advance!
Cheers

[Silver Ghia]

I put the negative connector of my charger on one of the threaded studs on the side of the shock tower, after the positive connector is fixed on the positive terminal of the battery.

The idea of putting the negative connection well away from the battery is because as the negative terminal is connected after the positive connection so there could be a spark. That spark would then be well away from any gasses that may be lingering near the battery.

So when disconnecting its opposite, negative connection removed first, then the positive connection.

[AAXR8]

Ok thanks for that! I just wondered where the Best place was for the BA XR!
Cheers!

[AAXR8]

Any other spots that the clamps have easy assess? The shock tower can be a little tight to get to with the Coolant bottle on top of the shock tower with the BA XR8's & the drivers side and my Air intake pipe takes up a little to much room on the Passenger side Tower?

[Yellow_Festiva]

If the engine has a bit of plate with a hole to remove the engine I clamp the negative to that.

[AAXR8]

I know what your talking about! But the BA's XR8's have a lot of plastic around so it doesn't have that plate! There's two bolts that hold the coolant Tank to the Bay! And there's plastic straight underneath the Bolt head would that still give me an earth?

[Crazy Dazz]

The reason you clamp it to the engine, is so that when you engage the starter (which draws a few hundred amps) and the voltage drops, you get maximum current to your starter and not into your flat battery.

If your "flat" battery is mostly ok, and you just need a slight extra kick, you can connect it to the -ve terminal, no problems. But if you still struggle to crank, find a place on the engine. In a perfect world, as close to the starter as possible, but yes I find the lifting lugs to be ideal, or any of the brackets.

Don't connect it to your shock tower or anywhere else on the body, that won't help.

If you really can't find a good bare-metal purchase on the engine, then just use the battery -ve terminal or the earth strap. Its not ideal but it will still work fine 95% of the time.

[aussiblue]

Use the engine lifting hook near the dipstick.

[AAXR8]

Thanks Guys!
With the dipstick Is it below the Head?
And Crazy Dazz you say just put it on the Negative Terminal!
Cheers!

[aussiblue]

The engine lift hook loop is grounded through the head with its attaching bolts that screw into the head.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by AAXR8

Thanks Guys!
With the dipstick Is it below the Head?
And Crazy Dazz you say just put it on the Negative Terminal!

At the risk of over-simplifying:
Your -ve lead form your charge-pack is a source of electrons. Those little blighters are trying to get home to the +ve lead.
What you want them to do is run through your engine, into the starter, do a few hundred laps around the motor, then make there way out via the solenoid and power-strap to the +ve terminal.
However some of them are bludgers, they will look for a short cut, and try ducking back through your battery, especially if its flat.

For low current applications, it doesn't much matter. Positive is positive, and earth is negative. But when you're sucking down hundreds of amps, it matters.

If you are ever stuck in a jumping situation where its still not quite enough. Connect your positive jumper cable directly to the solenoid, and the negative to the bellhousing. That will give you the best possible current to your starter.

The +ve terminal is almost as good for the +ve lead, because there is generally a big thick cable running directly to the solenoid. However the path from the -ve terminal is usually quite circuitous. Hence why you should try to shorten it by connecting direct to the engine.

[AAXR8]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

At the risk of over-simplifying:
Your -ve lead form your charge-pack is a source of electrons. Those little blighters are trying to get home to the +ve lead.
What you want them to do is run through your engine, into the starter, do a few hundred laps around the motor, then make there way out via the solenoid and power-strap to the +ve terminal.
However some of them are bludgers, they will look for a short cut, and try ducking back through your battery, especially if its flat.

For low current applications, it doesn't much matter. Positive is positive, and earth is negative. But when you're sucking down hundreds of amps, it matters.

If you are ever stuck in a jumping situation where its still not quite enough. Connect your positive jumper cable directly to the solenoid, and the negative to the bellhousing. That will give you the best possible current to your starter.

The +ve terminal is almost as good for the +ve lead, because there is generally a big thick cable running directly to the solenoid. However the path from the -ve terminal is usually quite circuitous. Hence why you should try to shorten it by connecting direct to the engine.

I do understand what you mean!! I'm not a Auto Electrician so I just got a little worried when I heard it say connect to the motor because I was worried it would short out the Computer or do something Electronically bad! But you have taught me how it actually works!
(How A Jumpstarter pak, jump starting a motor ) So Thankyou!
With me I like to ask a few questions if i'm not sure!
I just thought we were acting as an aid for the battery to get the right Volts up to just make the car think the Battery is fully charged! So it will turn it over with the right CC amps! Thanks